The Great Depression of the United States was a key turning point in American history. Politicians on the right, businesses, and all of their supporters had failed to provide methods in which the majority of Americans could enjoy methods of prosperity and stability. The major economic slump that started in 1929 brought about massive social unrest among millions in the United States and in other industrialized nations. Because of the massive changes that people suddenly were experiencing in employment and economic stability, the political landscape and social thought on common rights in the United States naturally began down a course of liberal evolution. The citizens of the United States were able to personally experience the impact that social …show more content…
Labor unions were formed, worker strikes were held, protests and demonstrations were held, in which many were more militant and radical, become more common. To meet this increase in demand of change, once unstoppable businesses, politicians, political parties, and labor groups all played key roles of the formation of policies that would be aimed towards bettering the unfortunate situations that many American’s had been forced to face. Among these groups, one of the more central I argue, were the American Communists. The American Communist Party was a collection of common men and women, immigrants, people of color, and social thinkers, that throughout their heyday of the 1930s, played a particularly significant role in the United States labor movement, and in many ways were able to help shape the politics, labor standards, intellectual thoughts, and racial rights of the United States. Some scholars have argued that the Party was not wildly successful in its agenda of fighting for socialistic policies, helping workers gain full control over industry, or even in converting their influence in any particular union into membership gains for the Party. However, I argue that this is an extreme oversight that in many ways, shows a bias against the importance the Party held in the 1930s. I argue that the Party was able to help form and assist labor unions through propaganda and …show more content…
Though the Party was not always so out spoken against the issue until the Third Period, they were willing to endure the ridicule from other left organizations and discuss the goal of national self-determination for blacks. The Party’s efforts on concrete issues, such as organization of miners and steelworkers, fighting against utility shutoffs evictions, and advocating for unemployment benefits in many ways assisted those of color as a supplementary benefit. The Party was also willing to campaign against racial segregation both in independent Unions and in the AFL unions they were attacking (Soloman, Mark). Though the Party was forced to denounce moderate organizations in the outset of the Third Period, including many black advocacy groups to which some have argued that this greatly diminished the influence of the Party. However, this was undone during the Popular Front which allowed the Party to form the National Negro Congress with other non-communist groups (Soloman Mark). From fighting against Jim Crow laws since the early 1920s, to organizing black workers in the National Miners Union and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, the Party was able to make progress for those of color through utilizing bright