American Labor Party
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American Labor Party
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| Chairman | Henry Stern |
| Spokesperson | Martin I. Hassner |
| Founder | George Counts |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Dissolved | 1956 |
| Split from | Socialist Party |
| Headquarters | New York City, NY, U.S. |
| Ideology |
Socialism (American) Democratic socialism Social democracy Laborism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| Colors | Red |
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of America who had established themselves as the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). The party was intended to parallel the role of the British Labour Party, serving as an umbrella organization to unite New York social democrats of the SDF with trade unionists who would otherwise support candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties.
In 1934, the factional war which had dominated the life of the Socialist Party of America had reached a turning point. After beating back a challenge to their position and authority in 1932, the New York-based "Old Guard" of the party had been resoundingly defeated at the 1934 National Convention of the Socialist Party. A coalition of radical pacifists surrounding the charismatic former preacher Norman Thomas and a growing body of young Marxists, known as the Militant faction, had won control of the organization's governing National Executive Committee. They passed a provocative Declaration of Principles, which the Old Guard regarded as a direct call to insurrection. Further galling from the perspective of the Old Guard, was the eagerness of Thomas and the Militants to build what they called an "all-inclusive party," bringing radical intellectuals into party ranks from various oppositional communist orbits and working with the Communist Party USA in united front actions.
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