Date of Award

6-1951

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Francis B. Simkins

Abstract

In 1912, the Socialist candidate for President, Eugene V. Debs received 5,249 votes in Louisiana. This is the only time in the history of the state that such a large radical vote was polled. A similar phenomenon did not occur in other Southern states, and the uniqueness of the Socialist vote in Louisiana is the query of this thesis.

The Socialist Party became active in Louisiana in 1904. Two years later the more militant comrades broke with the mild radicalism of the Socialist Party and joined the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1910, with the forming of the Brotherhood of Timber Workers, a radical union which appealed to the less intellectual element of the state, the extreme left wingers found an outlet for their energy. The long range aims of the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World, which included the Brotherhood of Timber Workers by 1912, were the same, but their method was altogether different. Through circumstances and a compromise at the Socialist National Convention, these two groups worked in close harmony for a short period in 1912. Their efforts climaxed in the vote given Debs, but because of differences in methods, this was their last cooperative effort. The rapid decline of both the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World throughout the United States after 1912 is reflected in the fate of radicalism in Louisiana.

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