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{{Anarchism}} {{Anarchism}}
'''Anarchism in the United States''' spans a wide range of ] ], from ] to ] and other less known forms. The U.S. anarchist ] has a fundamental importance for the history of the country.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Individualist anarchism in the United States is strongly influenced by ] and ]. The first (non-indigenist) American anarchist was ], whose earliest experiments and writings predate ], who was also influential. Other major thinkers were ], ], and ].<ref>"Individualist, as distinct from socialist, anarchism has been particularly strong in the USA from the time of Josiah Warren (1798-1874) onwards and is expressed today by Murray Rothbard and the school of 'anarcho-capitalists'." ]. ''''. Peace Pledge Union Publications</ref><ref name="Madison">{{cite journal | author = Madison, Charles A. | year = 1945 | title = Anarchism in the United States | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 46-66}}</ref><ref name="Madison2">{{cite journal | author = Madison, Charles A. | year = 1943 | title = Benjamin R. Tucker: Individualist and Anarchist | journal = New England Quarterly | volume = 16 | issue = 3| pages = 444-467}}</ref><ref name ="Rocker"> '''Anarchism in the United States''' spans a wide range of ] ], from ] to ] and other less known forms. The U.S. anarchist ] has a fundamental importance for the history of the country.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Individualist anarchism in the United States is strongly influenced by ] and ]. The first (non-indigenist) American anarchist was ], whose earliest experiments and writings predate ], who was also influential. Other major thinkers were ] and ].
{{cite book| author = ] | year = 1949 | title = Pioneers of American Freedom: Origin of Liberal and Radical Thought in America | publisher = Rocker Publications Committee | location = Los Angeles, Calif}}</ref>


==Background== ==Background==
More than any other regional variety of anarchism, American anarchism is marked by a sharp schism between ], ], and ] strains.<ref name ="deCleyrequote">"Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom." - Voltairine de Cleyre</ref>{{Disputable}} There is also an ongoing debate about definitions with many anarchist-socialists declaring anarcho-capitalists are not anarchists at all. While at times the distinction between these groups have been blurry and many individuals have at times been identified with more than one of them, they are briefly summarized here in the American context. Refer to the articles on each school for a broader more general discussion. More than any other regional variety of anarchism, American anarchism is marked by a sharp schism between ] and ].<ref name ="deCleyrequote">"Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom." - Voltairine de Cleyre</ref>{{Disputable}} While at times the distinction between these groups have been blurry and many individuals have at times been identified with more than one of them, they are briefly summarized here in the American context. Refer to the articles on each school for a broader more general discussion.


===Indigenist anarchism=== ===Indigenist anarchism===
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The U.S., with its tradition of radical ], which is "enshrined in the ]", was a congenial environment for individualist anarchism.<ref name=Phillips>Phillips, William M. ''Nightmares of Anarchy: Language and Cultural Changes 1870-1914, Bucknell University Press, p. 58</ref> Josiah Warren cited the Declaration of Independence and Benjamin Tucker said that "Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats." In 1833 Josiah Warren began publishing "the first explicitly anarchist newspaper in the United States",<ref>Brooks, Frank H. ''The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908), Transaction Publishers (1994), p. 4</ref> called "The Peaceful Revolutionist." Beginning in 1881, Benjamin Tucker began publishing "Liberty" which was a forum to propagate individualist anarchist ideas. By that time, ] and ] was arriving in America, "both of which Tucker detested."<ref>Adams, Ian. ''Political Ideology Today'', Manchester University Press, (2002), p. 119</ref> The U.S., with its tradition of radical ], which is "enshrined in the ]", was a congenial environment for individualist anarchism.<ref name=Phillips>Phillips, William M. ''Nightmares of Anarchy: Language and Cultural Changes 1870-1914, Bucknell University Press, p. 58</ref> Josiah Warren cited the Declaration of Independence and Benjamin Tucker said that "Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats." In 1833 Josiah Warren began publishing "the first explicitly anarchist newspaper in the United States",<ref>Brooks, Frank H. ''The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908), Transaction Publishers (1994), p. 4</ref> called "The Peaceful Revolutionist." Beginning in 1881, Benjamin Tucker began publishing "Liberty" which was a forum to propagate individualist anarchist ideas. By that time, ] and ] was arriving in America, "both of which Tucker detested."<ref>Adams, Ian. ''Political Ideology Today'', Manchester University Press, (2002), p. 119</ref>


Individualist anarchism has historically been split between ], egoist and natural-rights schools. ], which emerged in the 20th century, is held by some to be a form of individualist anarchism. Some modern ] describe themselves as individualists as well. Individualist anarchism has historically been split between ], egoist and natural-rights schools. Some modern ] describe themselves as individualists as well.


===Social anarchism=== ===Social anarchism===
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'''Nicola Sacco''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) and '''Bartolomeo Vanzetti''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) were two ]-born American ], influenced by ], that were ]ed, ], and ] in the ] ] of ]. Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of the killings of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory ], and Alessandro Berardelli, a ], and of ] of ]15,766.51 from the factory's ] on ], ]. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had ]s, but they were the only people accused of the crime. As a result of what many historians feel was a blatant disregard for political ], and a strong ], Sacco and Vanzetti were denied a retrial. Judge Webster Thayer, who heard the case, allegedly described the two as "] bastards". The song "Two good men" by ] recounts the tale. '''Nicola Sacco''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) and '''Bartolomeo Vanzetti''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) were two ]-born American ], influenced by ], that were ]ed, ], and ] in the ] ] of ]. Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of the killings of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory ], and Alessandro Berardelli, a ], and of ] of ]15,766.51 from the factory's ] on ], ]. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had ]s, but they were the only people accused of the crime. As a result of what many historians feel was a blatant disregard for political ], and a strong ], Sacco and Vanzetti were denied a retrial. Judge Webster Thayer, who heard the case, allegedly described the two as "] bastards". The song "Two good men" by ] recounts the tale.

===Murray Rothbard===
{{main|Murray Rothbard}}
]
Murray Rothbard (], ] – ], ]) was an American economist and political philosopher who is best known for theorizing ], which opposes the state and supports a free market. The relationship between anarcho-capitalism and the forms of free-market anarchism that preceded it is controversial. <ref>Sources explicitly saying it is a type of individualist anarchism:
* Alan and Trombley, Stephen (Eds.) Bullock, ''The Norton Dictionary of Modern Thought'', W. W. Norton & Company (1999), p. 30
* Outhwaite, William. ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'', ''Anarchism'' entry, p. 21, 2002.
* Bottomore, Tom. '' Dictionary of Marxist Thought'', ''Anarchism'' entry, 1991.
* Barry, Norman. ''Modern Political Theory'', 2000, Palgrave, p. 70
* Adams, Ian. ''Political Ideology Today'', Manchester University Press (2002) ISBN 0-7190-6020-6, p. 135
* Grant, Moyra. ''Key Ideas in Politics'', Nelson Thomas 2003 ISBN 0-7487-7096-8, p. 91
* Heider, Ulrike. ''Anarchism: Left, Right, and Green'', City Lights, 1994. p. 3.
* ]. ''''. Peace Pledge Union Publications
* ]. ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America, Abridged Paperback Edition (1996), p. 282
* Sheehan, Sean. ''Anarchism'', Reaktion Books, 2004, p. 39
* Tormey, Simon. ''Anti-Capitalism'', One World, 2004. pp. 118-119
* ]. ''Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century'', Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS, 2004.
* Offer, John. ''Herbert Spencer: Critical Assessments'', Routledge (UK) (2000), p. 243
* Levy, Carl. Anarchism. MS Encarta (UK).
* Heywood, Andrew. ''Politics: Second Edition'', Palgrave (2002), p. 61</ref><ref>Sources denying that anarcho-capitalism is a form of anarchism
* Marshall, Peter. Demanding the Impossible, London: Fontana Press, 1992 (ISBN 0 00 686245 4) Chapter 38
Sources denying any compatibility between capitalism and anarchism in general
* Peikoff, Leonard. 'Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand' Dutton Adult (1991) Chapter "Government"
* Doyle, Kevin. 'Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias' New York: Lexington Books, (2002) p.447-8
* Sheehan, Seán M. 'Anarchism' Reaktion Books, 2003 p. 17
* Kelsen, Hans. The Communist Theory of Law. Wm. S. Hein Publishing (1988) p. 110
* Egbert. Tellegen, Maarten. Wolsink 'Society and Its Environment: an introduction' Routledge (1998) p. 64
* Jones, James 'The Merry Month of May' Akashic Books (2004) p. 37-38
* Sparks, Chris. Isaacs, Stuart 'Political Theorists in Context' Routledge (2004) p. 238
* Bookchin, Murray. 'Post-Scarcity Anarchism' AK Press (2004) p. 37
* Berkman, Alexander. 'Life of an Anarchist' Seven Stories Press (2005) p. 268 </ref> Rothbard was "a student and disciple of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, combined the laissez-faire economics of his teacher with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state he had absorbed from studying the individualist American anarchists of the nineteenth century such as Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker."<ref>Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, 1987, ISBN 0-631-17944-5, p. 290</ref> In ], Rothbard asserted the right of 100 percent ], as the only principle compatible with a moral code that applies to every person - a "universal ethic" - and that it is a natural law by being what is naturally best for man.<ref>Rothbard, Murray Newton. The Ethics of Liberty. NYU Press. 2003. pp. 45 - 45</ref>

Like the nineteenth century individualists, Rothbard believed that security should be provided by multiple competing businesses rather than by a tax-funded central agency.<ref> {{cite book |editor=William Outhwaite |title= The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought |edition=2nd |year= 2002 |publisher=] |location=Malden, MA |id= ISBN 0-631-22164-6}}</ref> However, he rejected their ] in favor of the modern neo-classical ] view. Thus, like most modern economists, he did not believe that prices in a free market would, or should be, proportional to labor, or that "usury" or "exploitation" necessarily occurs where they are disproportionate. Instead, he believed that different prices of goods and services in a free market are ultimately the result of goods and services having different ] and that there is nothing unjust about this.<ref>Rothbard also disagreed with Tucker that interest would disappear with unregulated banking and money issuance. Rothbard believed that people in general do not wish to lend their money to others without compensation, so there is no reason why this would change where banking is unregulated. Nor, did he agree that unregulated banking would increase the supply of money because he believed the supply of money in a truly free market is self-regulating. And, he believed that it is good that it would not increase the supply or inflation would result. - Rothbard, Murray. The Spooner-Tucker Doctrine: An Economist's View </ref>

According to mutualist ], "most people who call themselves 'individualist anarchists' today are followers of Murray Rothbard's Austrian economics."<ref name="carson"> Carson, Kevin. Mutualist Political Economy, </ref> Some individualists reject anarcho-capitalism.<ref>Peacott, Joe 'An Overview of Individualist Anarchist Thought' Libertarian Alliance (2003)</ref> Rothbard strongly opposed communism in all its forms and other related ideologies that demand that wealth be distributed collectively instead of held individually. In anarcho-capitalism, the individual has no obligation to any other member of the community other than to refrain from aggressing against others or defrauding them (the ].) It is important to mention that many social anarchists do not consider anarcho-capitalism to be "true" anarchism, just as many anarcho-capitalists do not consider anarcho-socialism to be "true" anarchism.


===Murray Bookchin=== ===Murray Bookchin===
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==Contemporary anarchists== ==Contemporary anarchists==


Contemporary anarchists in the United States include ], ], Jon Bekken, ], Alexis Buss, ], ], ], ], David Watson, Liz Highleyman, Larry Gambone, Evan Greer, ], ], ], ], Keith Preston, ], ], Michael Webb, ], ], ], ], Rebecca Solnit, David Solnit, ], Wayne Price, ], ], ], Howard Ehrlich, ], Flint Jones, ], and ]. Contemporary anarchists in the United States include ], ], Jon Bekken, ], Alexis Buss, ], ], ], ], David Watson, Liz Highleyman, Larry Gambone, Evan Greer, ], ], ], ], Keith Preston, ], Michael Webb, ], ], ], ], Rebecca Solnit, David Solnit, ], Wayne Price, ], ], ], Howard Ehrlich, ], and Flint Jones.


Recently deceased American anarchists include ], ], ] and ]. Recently deceased American anarchists include ], ], ] and ].

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  • Anarchism in the United States spans a wide range of anarchist philosophy, from individualist anarchism to anarchist communism and other less known forms. The U.S. anarchist workers' movement has a fundamental importance for the history of the country. Individualist anarchism in the United States is strongly influenced by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. The first (non-indigenist) American anarchist was Josiah Warren, whose earliest experiments and writings predate Pierre Proudhon, who was also influential. Other major thinkers were Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker.

    Background

    More than any other regional variety of anarchism, American anarchism is marked by a sharp schism between Mutualist and Socialist. While at times the distinction between these groups have been blurry and many individuals have at times been identified with more than one of them, they are briefly summarized here in the American context. Refer to the articles on each school for a broader more general discussion.

    Indigenist anarchism

    In general, indigenist anarchism describes the majority of pre-Columbian native North American societies as anarchist in structure and function. Such claims are easiest to document among indigenous peoples in some parts of what is now California, but the Iroquois League, the Mohawk Federation, and many other indigenous tribal governing structures throughout North America have been described as anarchist in structure. Despite this, some Native groups were far from an anarchist ideal; the Mississippian, Aztec, Inca, and Maya cultures were clearly statist.

    More recently, many participants in the American Indian Movement have described themselves as anarchist and cooperation between anarchist and indigenist groups has been a key feature of movements such as the Minnehaha Free State in Minneapolis, Minnesota - (which is built on an Ojibwa Reservation) - and at Big Mountain.

    The best known modern indigenist writer is Ward Churchill. Outside of indigenous communities, green anarchists have been the most vocal in declaring solidarity with ongoing indigenous struggles, but social anarchists in general are supportive as well.

    Individualist anarchism

    Main article: Individualist anarchism

    The U.S., with its tradition of radical individualism, which is "enshrined in the Declaration of Independence", was a congenial environment for individualist anarchism. Josiah Warren cited the Declaration of Independence and Benjamin Tucker said that "Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats." In 1833 Josiah Warren began publishing "the first explicitly anarchist newspaper in the United States", called "The Peaceful Revolutionist." Beginning in 1881, Benjamin Tucker began publishing "Liberty" which was a forum to propagate individualist anarchist ideas. By that time, anarcho-communism and propaganda by the deed was arriving in America, "both of which Tucker detested."

    Individualist anarchism has historically been split between mutualist, egoist and natural-rights schools. Some modern green anarchists describe themselves as individualists as well.

    Social anarchism

    Main article: Social anarchism

    The social anarchist current within anarchism is by far the largest and most influential globally and within the contemporary United States and has roots tracing back to well before the American Civil War. Early leaders included Albert Parsons, his wife Lucy Parsons, and Voltairine DeCleyre, along with many immigrants who brought their radicalism with them such as Johann Most, Emma Goldman, and Big Bill Haywood, and many others. Their influence on the early American labor movement was dramatic, with the execution of Albert Parsons and the other Haymarket Martyrs providing a key rallying cry for the early American labor movement and spurring the creation of radical unions throughout the country. The most powerful and notorious of these, the Industrial Workers of the World, was founded in 1905. Swedish-American musician Joe Hill is also one of the most famous social anarchist protest singers to have ever lived.

    Social anarchism includes anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, libertarian socialism, and other forms of anarchism that take the creation of social goods as their first priority.

    Insurrectionary anarchism

    Main article: Insurrectionary anarchism

    Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which opposes formal anarchist organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political program and periodic congresses. Instead, insurrectionary anarchists advocate direct action (violent or otherwise), informal organization, including small affinity groups and mass organizations which include non-anarchist individuals of the exploited or excluded class.

    Many anarchist communists, such as the publishers of Barricada magazine in the United States and foreign immigrants to the US such as Luigi Galleani and Johann Most have been insurrectionary anarchists.

    Re-emergence of anarchism in the U.S.

    At the beginning of the 20th century, there were millions of anarchists in the United States. Over the course of the first two decades of the 20th century, the number of anarchists dropped for a variety of reasons, including: 1) the rise of the labor movement; 2) the Russian Revolution and its influence on American left politics; and 3) government repression, which included deportation of anarchists, imprisonment, and criminalization of anarchist organizations.

    Anarchism dwindled into obscurity until the 1960s when it resurfaced and then "shattered into various anarchist splinters. These ranged from Anarcho-Capitalists who desired the organization of society solely on the basis of a "free market" to Anarcho-Communists who sought an individualized society of decentralized communes." Anarchism started making a comeback in the United States in the early 1960s, primarily through the influence of the Beat artists. Later in the 1960s, activists such as Abbie Hoffman and the Diggers identified with anarchism and were notable for the spectacular ways they put anarchist ideas into practice. In the late 60s, Murray Rothbard and Karl Hess start to call themself anarchists and published Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought. In 1969, The Match!, which bills itself as a "Journal of Ethical Anarchism" began publication and has published continuously since then.

    In the 1970s, anarchist ideas caught on in the anti-nuclear, feminist, and environmental movements. Murray Bookchin was a widely read anarchist thinker whose books on the environment were influential on the environmental movement. Anarchist tactics such as the affinity group were adopted by women involved in the radical feminist movement.

    Anarchists became more visible in the 1980s, as a result of publishing, protests and conventions. In 1980, the First International Symposium on Anarchism was held in Portland, Oregon. In 1986, the Haymarket Remembered conference was held in Chicago, to observe the centennial of the infamous Haymarket Riot. This conference was followed by annual, continental conventions in Minneapolis (1987), Toronto (1988), and San Francisco (1989).

    In the 1990s, a group of anarchists formed the Love and Rage Network, which was one of several new groups and projects formed in the U.S. during the decade. American anarchists increasingly became noticeable at protests, especially through a tactic known as the Black bloc. U.S. anarchists became more prominent in 1999 as a result of the anti-WTO protests in Seattle.

    Notable anarchists

    Josiah Warren

    File:JosiahWarrenprofile.jpg
    Josiah Warren
    Main article: Josiah Warren

    Josiah Warren published a periodical called The Peaceful Revolutionist in 1833, which some believe to be the first anarchist newspaper. Warren had participated in a failed collectivist experiment headed by Robert Owen called "New Harmony," but was disappointed in its failure. He stressed the need for individual sovereignty. In True Civilization Warren equates "Sovereignty of the Individual" with the Declaration of Independence's assertion of the inalienable rights. He claims that every person has an "instinct" for individual sovereignty, making individual rights inalienable and inviolate.

    Basing his economics on the labor theory of value, Warren's economic principle was "cost the limit of price," with "cost" referring to the amount of labor incurred in producing a commodity and bringing it to market. He opposed what he called "value the limit of price," where prices paid are determined simply by subjective valuation irrespective of labor costs, as being inequitable or unfair. In 1827, Warren put his theories into practice by starting a business called the Cincinnati Time Store where the trade of goods was facilitated by private currency denominated in hours of labor. Warren was a strong supporter of the right of individuals to retain the product of their labor as private possessions. This position was shared by fellow anarchist Stephen Pearl Andrews.

    Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    Main article: Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862; was an American author, development critic, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden, on simple living amongst nature, and Civil Disobedience. In 1849, Henry David Thoreau wrote "I heartily accept the motto, 'That government is best which governs least'; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe -- 'That government is best which governs not at all'; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which we will have." Thoreau never described himself as an anarchist, despite having many anarchists as contemporaries, so despite his vocal anti-statism his classification as such remains controversial.

    William B. Greene

    Main article: William Batchelder Greene

    William Batchelder Greene (1819-1878) was an author, soldier, Unitarian minister and philosopher, active in transcendentalist circles. In works such as Equality (1849) and Mutual Banking (1850) he synthesized the work of French socialists such as P.-J. Proudhon and Pierre Leroux with that of American currency reformers such as William Beck and Edward Kellogg. The result was a unique form of Christian mutualism, which attempted to harmonize elements of capitalism, communism and socialism. Greene was later involved with the New England Labor Reform League, and with the anti-death penalty work of The Prisoner's Friend. He was a regular contributor to Ezra Heywood's The Word until his death.

    Stephen Pearl Andrews

    Main article: Stephen Pearl Andrews
    Stephen Pearl Andrews

    Stephen Pearl Andrews was an individualist anarchist and close associate of Josiah Warren. Andrews was formerly associated with the Fourierist movement, but converted to radical individualism after becoming acquainted with the work of Warren. Like Warren, he held the principle of "individual sovereignty" as being of paramount importance.

    Andrews said that when individuals act in order to serve their own self-interest, they incidentally contribute to the well-being of others. He maintained that it is a "mistake" to create a "state, church or public morality" that individuals must serve rather than pursuing their own happiness. In Love, Marriage and Divorce, and the Sovereignty of the Individual he says: "Give up...the search after the remedy for the evils of government in more government. The road lies just the other way--toward individualism and freedom from all government...Nature made individuals, not nations; and while nations exist at all, the liberties of the individual must perish."

    Warren and Andrews established the individualist anarchist colony called "Modern Times" on Long Island, NY. In tribute to Andrews, Benjamin Tucker said: "Anarchist especially will ever remember and honor him because he has left behind him the ablest English book ever written in defense of Anarchist principles" (Liberty, III, 2).

    Lysander Spooner

    Main article: Lysander Spooner
    Lysander Spooner

    Lysander Spooner was an individualist anarchist who apparently worked with little association with the other individualists of the time, but came to approximately the same conclusions. In this time, his philosophy evolved from appearing to support a limited role for the state to opposing its existence altogether. Spooner was a staunch advocate of "natural law," maintaining that each individually has a "natural right" to be free to do as one wishes as long as he refrains from initiating coercion on others or their property.

    With this natural law came the right of contract, which Spooner found of extreme importance. He holds that government cannot create law, as law already exists naturally; anything government does that is not in accordance with natural law (coercion) is illegal. Maintaining that government does not exist by contract of every individual it claims to govern, he came to believe that government itself is in violation of natural law, as it finances its activities through taxation of those who have not contracted with it. He rejected the popular idea that a majority, in the case of democracy, can consent on behalf of a minority; as a majority is bound to the same natural law against coercion to which individuals are bound: "...if the majority, however large, or the people enter into a contract of government called a constitution by which they...destroy or invade the natural rights of any person or persons whatsoever, this contract of government is unlawful and void" (The Unconstitutionality of Slavery). Spooner was also a strong advocate of entrepreneurship, advising others to start their own businesses in order to prevent having to share their profits with an employer. He believed this could be made easier if the government de-regulated banking and money, which he believed would keep interest rates low except for high risk borrowers.

    Ezra Heywood

    Main article: Ezra Heywood

    Ezra Heywood was another individualist anarchist influenced by Warren, who was an ardent slavery abolitionist and feminist. Heywood saw what he believed to be a disproportionate concentration of capital in the hands of a few as the result of a selective extension of government-backed privileges to certain individuals and organizations.

    He said: "Government is a northeast wind, drifting property into a few aristocratic heaps, at the expense of altogether too much democratic bare ground. Through cunning legislation, ... privileged classes are allowed to steal largely according to law."

    He believed that there should be no profit in rent of buildings. He did not oppose rent, but believed that if the building was fully paid for that it was improper to charge more than what is necessary for transfer costs, insurance, and repair of deterioration that occurs during the occupation by the tenant. He even asserted that it may be encumbent on the owner of the building to pay rent to the tenant if the tenant keeps his residency in such a condition that saved it from deterioration if it was otherwise unoccupied. Whereas, Warren, Andrews, and Greene supported ownership of unused land, Heywood believed that title to unused land was a great evil. Heywood's philosophy was instrumental in furthering individualist anarchist ideas through his extensive pamphleteering and reprinting of works of Warren and Greene.

    Benjamin Tucker

    Main article: Benjamin Tucker

    Benjamin Tucker, being influenced by Warren (who he credits as being his "first source of light"), Greene, Heywood, Proudhon's mutualism, and Stirner's egoism, is probably the most famous of the American individualists. Tucker defined anarchism as "the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the State should be abolished" (State Socialism and Anarchism).

    Like the individualists he was influenced by, he rejected the notion of society being a thing that has rights, insisting that only individuals can have rights. And, like all anarchists, he opposed the governmental practice of democracy, as it allows a majority to decide for a minority. Tucker's main focus, however, was on economics. He opposed profit, believing that it is only made possible by the "suppression or restriction of competition" by government and vast concentration of wealth.

    He believed that restriction of competition was accomplished by the establishment of four "monopolies": the banking/money monopoly, the land monopoly, the tariff monopoly, and the patent and copyright monopoly - the most harmful of these, according to him, being the money monopoly. He believed that restrictions on who may enter the banking business and issue currency, as well as protection of unused land, were responsible for wealth being concentrated in the hands of a privileged few.

    Joseph Labadie

    Main article: Joseph Labadie

    Joseph Labadie was an American labor organizer, individualist anarchist, social activist, printer, publisher, essayist, and poet. He first joined the Socialist Labor Party in Detroit at the age of 27. In 1883, disenchanted with socialism, Labadie embraced individualist anarchism. He became closely allied with Benjamin Tucker, the country's foremost exponent of that doctrine, and frequently wrote for the latter's publication, "Liberty." Without the oppression of the state, Labadie believed, humans would choose to harmonize with "the great natural laws...without robbing fellows through interest, profit, rent and taxes." However, his opposition to the State was not complete, as he supported government control of water utilities, streets, and railroads (Martin). Although he did not support the militant anarchism of the Haymarket anarchists, he fought for the clemency of the accused because he did not believe they were the perpetrators.

    In 1888, Labadie organized the Michigan Federation of Labor, became its first president, and forged an alliance with Samuel Gompers. At age fifty he began writing verse and publishing artistic hand-crafted booklets. In 1908, the city postal inspector banned his mail because it bore stickers with anarchist quotations. A month later the Detroit water board, where he was working as a clerk, dismissed him for expressing anarchist sentiments. In both cases, the officials were forced to back down in the face of massive public protest for the person well-known in Detroit as its "Gentle Anarchist".

    Voltairine de Cleyre

    Main article: Voltairine de Cleyre
    Voltairine de Cleyre

    Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866June 20, 1912) was an individualist anarchist for several years before rejecting that label to embrace the philosophy of anarchism without adjectives. In explaining her views on anarchism she said: "Anarchism...teaches the possibility of a society in which the needs of life may be fully supplied for all, and in which the opportunities for complete development of mind and body shall be the heritage of all... teaches that the present unjust organization of the production and distribution of wealth must finally be completely destroyed, and replaced by a system which will insure to each the liberty to work, without first seeking a master to whom he must surrender a tithe of his product, which will guarantee his liberty of access to the sources and means of production... Out of the blindly submissive, it makes the discontented; out of the unconsciously dissatisfied, it makes the consciously dissatisfied... Anarchism seeks to arouse the consciousness of oppression, the desire for a better society, and a sense of the necessity for unceasing warfare against capitalism and the State."

    De Cleyre was held in high esteem by many anarchists. Emma Goldman called her "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced", and de Cleyre argued in Goldman's defense after Goldman was imprisoned for urging the hungry to expropriate food. In this speech, she condoned a right to take food when hungry but stopped short of advocating it: "I do not give you that advice... not that I do not think one little bit of sensitive human flesh is worth all the property rights in New York City... I say it is your business to decide whether you will starve and freeze in sight of food and clothing, outside of jail, or commit some overt act against the institution of property and take your place beside Timmermann and Goldman."

    Her stance as an individualist versus a collectivist is controversial, with both sides claiming her as an adherent. In an 1894 article defending Emma Goldman, she states, "Miss Goldman is a communist; I am an individualist." Conversely, in a 1911 article entitled "The Mexican Revolution" she wrote that "The communistic customs of these people are very interesting and very instructive too...," in regards to Mexican Indian revolutionaries. Similarly, she instructs in "Why I am an Anarchist," that "the best thing ordinary workingmen or women could do was to organize their industry to get rid of money altogether . . . Let them produce together, co-operatively rather than as employer and employed; let them fraternize group by group, let each use what he needs of his own product, and deposit the rest in the storage-houses, and let those others who need goods have them as occasion arises." When she embraced "anarchism without adjectives", de Cleyre reasoned that: "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom."

    Emma Goldman

    Main article: Emma Goldman

    Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869May 14, 1940) was Lithuanian born, but she immigrated to the United States at seventeen. Goldman played a pivotal role in the development of anarchism in the US and Europe throughout the first half of the twentieth century, and was a major contributor to the contemporary trade union and feminism movements in the US. She was imprisoned in 1893 at Blackwell's Island penitentiary for publicly urging unemployed workers that they should "Ask for work. If they do not give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, take bread."

    File:Goldmanberkman.jpeg
    Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman in 1917

    She was convicted of "inciting a riot" by a criminal court of New York, despite the testimonies of twelve witnesses in her defense. The jury based their verdict on the testimony of one individual, a Detective Jacobs. Voltairine de Cleyre gave the lecture In Defense of Emma Goldman as a response to this imprisonment. She was later deported to Russia for criticizing the US government during World War I (especially for the draft), where she witnessed the results of the Russian Revolution. Emma Goldman became one of the most prominent and respected representatives of anarchist communism worldwide.

    Alexander Berkman

    Main article: Alexander Berkman

    Alexander Berkman (21 November 1870 - 28 June 1936) was a Russian writer and activist who, in 1892, attempted to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, a wealthy industrialist involved in a bitter dispute with steelworkers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, in the belief that a violent act was needed to electrify the anarchist movement. He was arrested, convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to twenty-two years' imprisonment, of which he served fourteen years, many of them in solitary confinement (an account of which is contained in his book Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist).

    Upon regaining his freedom, Berkman — shattered and physically broken — joined Emma Goldman as one of the leading figures of the anarchist movement in the US. He was deported alongside Goldman and, with her, led the libertarian critique of the Soviet Communist Party, denouncing what they saw as the betrayal of the revolution. While they helped persuade the main organizations of the international anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement not to participate in the Third International controlled by the Russians, their impact on the wider world was only partially successful.

    Albert Jay Nock

    Main article: Albert Jay Nock

    Albert Jay Nock (October 13, 1870 - August 19, 1945) was an influential American individualist anarchist, libertarian author, educational theorist, and social critic of the early and middle 20th century. He was editor of the first version of The Freeman magazine, and author of many works, including Our Enemy, the State, often cited by modern intellectuals and pundits like Murray Rothbard as a pivotal example of the ideology of individual liberty. Albert Jay Nock, a self described "philosophical anarchist", called for a laissez faire vision of society free from the influence of the political state. He described the state as that which "claims and exercises the monopoly of crime". He opposed centralization, regulation, the income tax, and mandatory education, along with what he saw as the degradation of society. He denounced in equal terms all forms of totalitarianism, including "Bolshevism, Fascism, Hitlerism, Marxism, Communism", but was also harshly critical of democracy. Nock argued instead that, "he practical reason for freedom is that freedom seems to be the only condition under which any kind of substantial moral fiber can be developed -- we have tried law, compulsion and authoritarianism of various kinds, and the result is nothing to be proud of."

    Sacco and Vanzetti

    Bartolomeo Vanzetti (left) and Nicola Sacco (right)
    Main article: Sacco and Vanzetti

    Nicola Sacco (April 22, 1891August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11, 1888August 23, 1927) were two Italian-born American anarchists, influenced by Luigi Galleani, that were arrested, tried, and executed via electrocution in the American state of Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of the killings of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard, and of robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll on April 15, 1920. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had alibis, but they were the only people accused of the crime. As a result of what many historians feel was a blatant disregard for political civil liberties, and a strong anti-Italian prejudice, Sacco and Vanzetti were denied a retrial. Judge Webster Thayer, who heard the case, allegedly described the two as "anarchist bastards". The song "Two good men" by Woody Guthrie recounts the tale.

    Murray Bookchin

    Main article: Murray Bookchin

    Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921July 30, 2006) was an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the Social Ecology school of anarchist and ecological thought. He is the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology.

    Contemporary anarchists

    Contemporary anarchists in the United States include Michael Albert, Ashanti Alston, Jon Bekken, Bob Black, Alexis Buss, Kevin Carson, Noam Chomsky, Cindy Milstein, Jason McQuinn, David Watson, Liz Highleyman, Larry Gambone, Evan Greer, David Graeber, James J. Martin, Chuck Munson, Joe Peacott, Keith Preston, Crispin Sartwell, Michael Webb, Fred Woodworth, John Zerzan, Howard Zinn, Starhawk, Rebecca Solnit, David Solnit, Judith Malina, Wayne Price, Jeff "Free" Luers, Sharon Presley, Peter Coyote, Howard Ehrlich, Warcry, and Flint Jones.

    Recently deceased American anarchists include Murray Bookchin, Sam Dolgoff, Brad Will and Robert Anton Wilson.

    Although he doesn't claim to be an anarchist, Ward Churchill incorporates elements of anarchist philosophy into his politics and has connections with the anarchist movement.

    Notes

    1. "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom." - Voltairine de Cleyre
    2. Phillips, William M. Nightmares of Anarchy: Language and Cultural Changes 1870-1914, Bucknell University Press, p. 58
    3. Brooks, Frank H. The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908), Transaction Publishers (1994), p. 4
    4. Adams, Ian. Political Ideology Today, Manchester University Press, (2002), p. 119
    5. http://www.iww.org/culture/library/founding/
    6. http://www.cat.org.au/a4a/galleani.html
    7. DeLeon, David. The American as Anarchist: Reflections of Indigenous Radicalism, Chapter: The Beginning of Another Cycle, John Hopkins University Press, 1979, p. 117
    8. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5896151564855675002&q=Anarchism+in+America&hl=en
    9. http://recollectionbooks.com/anow/arch/mob/index.html
    10. http://en.wikipedia.org/Love_and_Rage#Background
    11. Josiah Warren, Equitable Commerce (1849), p. 11.
    12. Civil Disobedience ISBN 1-55709-417-9 (1849)
    13. de Cleyre, Voltairine (1907) McKinley's Assassination from the Anarchist Standpoint"
    14. "On Doing the Right Thing", The American Mercury, 1925

    External links

    See also

    Anarchism in North America
    Sovereign states
    Dependencies and
    other territories

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