The Socialist Workers Party in World War II: Writings and Speeches, 1940-43

by James P. Cannon

Preparing the communist movement in the U.S. to stand against the patriotic wave inside the working class and unions supporting the imperialist slaughter and to join with other working people in campaigning against wartime censorship, repression, and antiunion assaults. Photos, notes, glossary, index. Now with enlarged type.

Genres: World War II

483 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1975

About the author

James P. Cannon was born in Rosedale, Kansas, in 1890. His father, who had originally come from Ireland, was a socialist and was a regular reader of Appeal to Reason.

At the age of 18 he joined the Socialist Party of America and became a devoted follower of Eugene Debs. His friend Tom Kerry claimed that Cannon considered Debs as "one of the greatest orators, agitators, and propagandists that the American working class radical movement had produced."

Cannon was also an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) where he worked under Frank Little, who was lynched in 1917. Cannon also got to know Vincent Saint John. He later recalled: "Despite his modesty of disposition, his freedom from personal ambition, and his lack of the arts of self-aggrandizement, his work spoke loudly and brought him widespread fame."

According to his friend Joseph Leroy Hansen: "Fundamentally, Jim was an angry person. He was angry at injustice, at inequities, at special privileges, at exploitation. He was angry at poverty, lack of opportunity, oppression, racism, and sexism."

Reviews

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preparing the communist movement in the US to stand against the patriotic wave inside the working class and unions supporting the imperialist slaughter and to join with other working people in campaigning against wartime censorship, repression, and antiunion assaults. See also, Socialism on Trial: Testimony at Minneapolis Sedition Trial.