Oklahoma socialism



Oklahoman socialist parties date back to the time when Oklahoma was trying to become a state. When George W. Steele was elected territorial governor he met with the Oklahoma Socialist Party, as well as many others, including the Farmers Alliance Party, Greenback Party and the Populist Party.[1] The two factors of low crop prices and high credit costs restricted most farmers in Oklahoma to live in debt and in poverty. Many responded to this by turning to the Socialist Party. Difficult conditions prevailed throughout the South, and in no other southern state did a mature socialist movement emerge on a scale even approaching Oklahoma's.[2] In 1907, the Democratic Party took control of the primarily Republican territorial government. All the while, the Socialist movement was gaining momentum.

[edit] Formation
The Socialist Party of America was formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party and a wing of the older Socialist Labor Party.

[edit] Rise and fall
The party's supporters were mostly trade unionists, immigrants, miners, and intellectuals from the midwestern and Plains States. Many Oklahoman farmers were in a poor economic situation due to bad weather, poor crop prices, and high credit costs. Many of the state's farmers, miners, and others had emigrated from countries with strong socialist movements, and others believed the current form of government were creating poverty for the common people.[3] In the seven years following statehood, the socialist vote increased exponentially. By 1910, there were more Socialist Party members than in any other state.

However, the Socialist Party opposed World War I, and came under fierce attacks for being unpatriotic. It also had many German immigrant members, and suffered from widespread Germanophobia, which also saw the cities of Kiel, Bismark, and Korn were renamed Loyal, Wright, and Corn, respectively.[4]

In late 1917, the leadership of the Oklahoma Socialist Party disbanded the state party, in the tumultuous aftermath of the failed Green Corn Rebellion, for which Socialists and Wobblies were blamed. However, this decision was contested by many rank and file as being illegal under party rules.[5]

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, much of the Socialist Party split off to form the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party, which further eroded the socialist movement in Oklahoma.

[edit] Revival
A group affiliated with Socialist Party USA created a Greater Oklahoma City chapter of the party on January 31, 2009.[6] [7]