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Inspiration Or Distraction: Eugene Debs At The Head Of American Socialism 1895-1921, Stanley Schwartz

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This project seeks to provide historical context for the modern revival of avowed socialism in America through an examination of Eugene V. Debs leadership of American Socialism from 1895 to 1921. The paper argues that Debs’ leadership of American socialism was unsuccessful because he left the critical task of convincing the American people that the ideology of Socialism is correct and fundamentally different from traditionalism, capitalism, and progressivism, incomplete. Reform Socialism did not distinguish itself from local progressivism, and revolutionary Socialism adopted violent, opportunistic methods which prevented broad support. Debs’ unique ideology of Founding ideals, faith in democracy, and total …