Lucy Parsons and Socialism

Reaction to Readings: The Rise of American Socialism and Unionization

Although America is often said to be founded upon the concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness being accorded to all citizens in its Declaration of Independence, it is important to remember that the formulation of that philosophy began as an endorsement of life, liberty, and property being the foundation of all human rights. In other words, the ideal of American prosperity has long been linked to property ownership and capitalism. However, as the increased wealth inequities of the late 19th and early 20th century increased, there was greater and greater resistance to the notion that it was possible to pull one’s self up by one’s own bootstraps and all persons who had accumulated great wealth had done so justly.

It is important to remember that when the Preamble to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor (1881) was written there were few protections for employees at the factories of wealthy industrialists. Workers labored under no safety protections, with no limits on hours, and with no protection from unions or the laws. The Preamble states that if the imbalance of rich and poor continue, this will result in degradation and poverty for the vast majority of people, and unionization is the only solution. In fact, many of the demands of the Preamble have been realized today and are taken for granted, such as keeping track of the true state and nature of labor in the U.S. via the creation of a Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a demand for the end of child labor and weekly payment of wages (or payment according to a specified agreement). The fact that such notions were contentious highlights the unfairness and inequities which existed at the time.

Similarly, Lucy Parsons on Women and Revolutionary Socialism (1905), delivered as an address to the International Workers of the World (IWW) reflects her position as an African America, a working-class woman, and a communist—as a marginalized person, she questions establishment values that view property rights as something intrinsic to American citizenship and fairness. Rather than endorsing the right of people to use their property as they wish, she stresses that tools belong to toilers. In other words, the workers whose sweat and labor earns money for the capitalist, who merely owns the means of production, gains priority in her vision of a just world. For her, the revolution belongs to wealth producers, or those who work and actually produce useful goods.

These two works highlight the degree to which capitalism was being questioned as America grew more industrialized and less agriculture. Unionization was a highly radical movement, devoted to questioning what are, even today, considered essential truths of the capitalist system. In some ways, the ideas suggested are even more radical than the points of view articulated today in unionization discourse, given that Parsons and the Knights of Labor were questioning the right of private property to exist versus ownership of land in common.