Factions of the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth
Throughout its existence, the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth has generated a number of informal, internal factions, registered sections, and satellite political parties. Officially the Continentalist Party is recognized as the sole ruling party of the United Commonwealth, however, the Continentalist Party also recognizes seven minor political parties as part of the nation's National Front. Other political parties are organized within the country but are not recognized, and in most cases are formally outlawed. In addition to the political parties, numerous factions exist within the Continentalist Party who may differ on government policy, or who may be ideologically similar but represent opposing "clubs" within leadership. The Continentalist Party is formally organized under a principle of democratic centralism, in which political decisions are reached by voting processes, but after which decisions become binding upon all members of the party. As a result explicit factions are discouraged and difficult to organize, however, informal factions have existed in the party since its founding. While official policy, the party's insistence on democratic centralism has been relaxed quietly in subsequent decades, allowing for a return to internal factions, as long as no faction directly or publicly threatens national policy or Continentalist supremacy, as part of the country's policy of defensive democracy.
Upon taking power in the Continental Revolutionary War, the Continentalist Party formed a coalition with other leftist parties, such as the Landonist Party. At the 1st Congress of the Landonist International in 1919 the Continentalist Party would be joined by the Landonist Party, Industrial Workers of the World, and a "Left Wing Section" of the Socialist Party of America. However, rival parties were gradually eroded in the war and through policies such as Crimson Terror, leading to these organizations being absorbed and formally dissolved after the formation of the United Commonwealth of Continentalist States. By this proclamation, the Continentalist Party was recognized as the sole ruling party of the United Commonwealth. During the Government of Aeneas Warren a select number of internal factions were allowed known as Registered Sections, which later evolved into affiliated political parties after 1932 under Seamus Callahan. In 1921 one of the party's most influential splits occurred between the Labor Front, led by Zhou Xinyue and William Z. Foster, and the Revolutionary Front, led by Callahan. These factions dominated early Continental politics during the reign of Seamus Callahan, despite being formally disbanded in 1922 as part of an anti-factionalism measure. Under Callahan, internal dissent and criticism was highly curtailed as part of his theory on centralization. Since Callahan, the minor parties have been empowered into distinct organizations, albeit still largely subordinate to Continentalist directive.
Current factions
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Factions within the Continentalist Party are often broadly described as "left" and "right" wing, alluding to the left–right political spectrum, however, in a socialist state governed by a Party that is globally considered far-left, both the Continental Left and Right are relatively far-left compared to the rest of the world, and often consider themselves "more left" than their counterpart. One of the key divides of the Continental left-right paradigm is libertarianism versus authoritarianism. Continental leftists call for an "opening up" of Continental society, tending to prefer minimal state control, and in its most extreme seek the expedient withering away of the state, prefer political pluralism and participation, usually in the form of democratic socialism and gradual political reform, and may view the existence of the state as oppressive. Continental rightists call for the continuation of the Continentalist Party's ideological orthodox, are cautious or resistant toward reform as leading to political instability, temporarily promote state ownership and regulation of the means of production, and seek to incorporate economic planning over market forces. In their most extreme, rightists advocate for a return to the past principles of Callahanism, and greater Continentalist control over economic, political, and cultural affairs. Both the conventional left and right in the United Commonwealth are contrasted with those who completely seek to walk back or dismantle the socialist state. Collectively known as the Continental democracy movement, this includes Anti-Landonists and those that want to liberalize and democratize the Continental system in a return to capitalism. Continental political theorist Jordan Mass coined the "Triangle Model" in 1974 to describe Continental politics, with the left-right Continentalist divide as two corners of an upside-down triangle, with the third corner being non-Landonists. The Triangle Model has also been compared to the Political Compass rotated clockwise by 90 degrees.
Ultraleftism
The term "Ultra-left" originally emerged as a pejorative term for those on the far-left of the Continentalist Party who were extreme in their beliefs or uncompromising. In 1920 Aeneas Warren described "Ultra-left Liquidators" as those within the country who had an anarchist tendency or "anarcho-syndicalist deviation", who rejected the necessity of the vanguard party in favor of purely autonomous self-organization of the masses, and who "disregard the material conditions of our time to present unfeasible and ill-sighted policy". After 1921, especially in the succession crisis following Warren's death the following year, a number of statesmen self-identified as left communists, critiquing the current Continentalist regime from a leftist perspective, and arguing that it either did not go far enough, or had deviated away from orthodox Marxist teachings toward bureaucratization and authoritarianism. The Continental left coalesced into the Labor Front, which brought together left communists, Anti-Centralists, and anarchists. It became synonymous with the Anti-Callahan left, which was opposed to the policies of Seamus Callahan. After Callahan, the left schismed into the modern "Labor Front movement" and the Ultraleft, the latter referring to those that sharply diverted from the party line.
The Ultraleft gained popularity during the Gardner Thaw of the late 1960s. Unlike the Labor Front, which rallied around Rupert Gardner to work within the system and reform it to be more participatory, the Ultraleft rejected the Continentalist party line entirely. This faction holds that there is an antagonistic contradiction between the Continentalist-led state itself and the masses, with the latter not possessing meaningful control over the means of production through the Party's current mediation. Instead the Ultraleft argues that the state bureaucracy as determined by the centralist state creates interests that are directly opposed to the objective interests of the masses, regardless of how "red" the bureaucrat's thought may be in theory. According to political dissident Jim Avakian, who would found the formally-banned Revolutionary Commonwealth Communist Party in 1973, a new political revolution was necessary to overthrow the existing ruling class, after which point democratic control over production and distribution would be possible. At its most extreme, members of the Ultraleft launched rebellions in the United Commonwealth to establish people's communes that would go further than the "revisionist" Continentalist position, creating a delicate political situation for Gardner. The Continental government disallows any faction that directly challenges the authority of the Party, leading to most explicitly Ultraleftist factions being banned in the 1970s.
In the modern day the Ultraleftist faction lives on as a niche group within the Continentalist Party, which advocates for the withdraw of the "superstructural apparatus", democratization of the Continentalist Party and of the nation more broadly, and the minimization of the state. At their most visible, Ultraleft Continentalists are critical of economic reforms instituted in the latter half of the 20th century, and in some cases want to return to a perceived revolutionary ideal of the 1920s when economic liberalism and privatization was at its lowest. Led by figures such as Spartacus Wright, these Ultraleftists include those who became disenchanted with both the New Left and the Continental democracy movement, especially after the 1979 Times Square protests, the 2010s Financial Crisis, and the perceived failings of postmodernism and Sierran-led neoliberalism. In this sense, the Ultraleft are sometimes regarded as vehemently non-capitalist democrats, in contrast to the liberal Democracy Movement.
A notable example of an Ultraleftist in the modern day is Imel Maxson, who in 2016 campaigned on the defunding or even disestablishment of the Continental Armed Forces, arguing that the existence of a military presupposes the creation of a military-industrial complex, which is motivated to create and perpetuate conflicts. Instead he argued the military and police should be abolished in favor of an informed, armed citizenry. In 2017 independent senator to the National People's Congress Remo Palmer put forth a constitutional amendment allowing more immediate political recall, a universal salary, the lifting of strike laws, and the abolishment of several state offices. Other figures in the movement include Joseph Maddox, who was censured in the 1970s for his writings on revolutionary spontaneity, which called for social revolution to occur spontaneously from the ground up, without the aid or guidance of a vanguard party. Ultraleftists have been maligned as overly radical in the modern era, and in some cases their members have been censured. In 2018 Daniel Muir was quoted as stating that "nothing will fundamentally change" in response to questions about post-Malito reforms, which was perceived as an affirmation of the status quo and a disappointing jab to the Ultraleft. Observers have noted that after the 2020 general election and the appointment of the 28th National People's Congress the Ultraleft became heavily divided, with some members supporting Muir, many more abstaining from supporting Muir in early round voting, and some swinging around to voting for Malito.
Labor Front
Considered the largest faction on the Continental left, the Labor Front refers to a broad caucus of democratic socialists, libertarian socialists, and general reformers who want to work within the Continentalist Party to make it increasingly politically pluralist and participatory. Descended from the historic Labor Front of the 1920s and the Anti-Callahan left of the midcentury, the Labor Front reemerged during Decallahanization and the Gardner Thaw, supporting a lifting of government restrictions, an opening up of the economy, and greater public representation in government. Under Rupert Gardner and Simon Valure, the Labor Front has promoted more transparent and fair elections, culminating in the 1982 Constitution of the United Commonwealth, and multi-party pluralism within a defensive democratic system. The Labor Front overlaps with the National Democratic Labor Association, which is its own political party within the National Front. Members of the Labor Front stress the importance of gradual reform, believing it the best way to ensure internal stability. They also broadly support collective leadership and decentralization as means of preventing strongman authoritarianism as is characteristic of Callahanism.
The Labor Front is widely represented in the National People's Congress, and while high ranking members of leadership tend to historically be more conservative, several members of the 37th Secretariat have been described as Labor Front-leaning. This includes Clark S. Key, who is an outspoken voice for gradual liberalization both politically and economically, and government that is more in touch with ordinary people. Key is responsible for coining "Cake Theory", in which if economic growth is analogous to a cake, the priority should be "baking the cake" before dividing it. Other notable members of the Labor Front include Robert Rauner, current chairman of the National Democratic Labor Association, who has stated "the improvement of the life of people of all nations should be the priority of the state, and for this the establishment of social equality and the restructuring of Continental society if necessary should be pursued." He has also been quoted as stating "we must pursue Landonism as a model to the rest of the world, as a non oppressive system, non authoritarian system, and as an inclusive system."
Neoconservatism
The Continental neoconservatism movement emerged in the early 1970s, largely as a reaction to the rise of the New Left, attracting those that were opposed to the movement, and later those who had become disenchanted by its developments. Neoconservatives rejected the counterculture of the 1960s, the relaxing of restrictions and and the reforms of the Gardner Thaw, and advocate for the maintaining of or return to a strong state socialist system. Neoconservatism mixes classically conservative viewpoints of traditionalism with orthodox Continentalist and Marxist theorization. While the 1960s saw the rise of the left in Continental politics spearheaded by Rupert Gardner, a faction remained skeptical of his practices that traced its ideological lineage to Neocallahanist principles maintained by Amelia Fowler Crawford. Although tentatively supporting Gardner's experimentation, the neoconservatives viewed his reforms as ultimately misguided or being carried out too fast, causing widespread domestic instability and civil unrest. For this they point to the numerous protests of the late 1960s and violent acts such as as the assassination of Gardner himself as proof that his system was unsustainable. After Gardner's death, leadership was quickly seized by older, traditional leadership in the Central Committee, which included the Michigan Club of Charles Acker and colleagues. Neoconservatives subsequently dominated the politics of the 1970s, attempting to reverse Gardner era reforms in some cases, and in general formulated new policies in reaction. However, the neoconservative hold began to deteriorate due to events such as the 1979 Times Square protests, which catalyzed the creation of a new constitution in 1982. Modern neoconservatives contend that this event should have been met with a further tightening of restrictions.
Modern day neoconservatives advocate for the strengthening of shared moral values and political and economic centralization. They reject radical reform projects but tolerate incremental approaches, agreeing largely with the idea that domestic stability is of the upmost importance. Neoconservatives have also been criticized as authoritarian, preferring the continuation of Continentalist supremacy and remaining skeptical of the feasibility of multi-party democracy. In the modern day, Jackson Rothko is sometimes viewed as a neoconservative who ruled by pragmatism with both sides of the Continentalist party to maintain one of the longest reigns in Continental history. Figures such as Isaiah Mikkelsen remain at the forefront of the movement. Controversially, a number of neoconservatives have supported a "peace through strength" stance, favoring an increase in the Continental military, and interventionism in socialist movements worldwide. Although explicitly done in the name of anti-imperialism, this stance has conversely been criticized as neo-imperialism and overly militaristic. The modern day Continental right also overlaps with the Revolutionary People's Union, a political party within the National Front. Colloquially members of this sect and right-leaning Continentalists are often known as the "Revolutionary Front" caucus. Although formally not a member of the Revolutionary Front, Daniel Muir has been called a moderate and sympathetic to neoconservatism by Continental leftists.
Malitoism
Considered an outcropping from the Continental Right, Malitoism refers to the unique political ideologies, social emotions, and mechanisms associated with former General Secretary Anthony Malito. In addition to standard rhetoric associated with the Continental Right, such as caution toward reform, preserving the political status quo, and favoring a strong military, Malitoism is also characterized as populist, by portraying itself as a "voice of the people", and as nationalistic, by emphasizing the importance of the Continental people in the face of "western aggression". An important characteristic of Malitoism was the militarization of people in support of the United Commonwealth by manufacturing situations in which the rest of the world was seen as attacking the nation, often by provoking the global community in the first place. In this way Malitoism was described as cultivating an "us versus them" mentality in order to sure up domestic support for the government, which has been criticized as overly aggressive and antagonistic. Based around the personality of Malito, Malitoism has also been criticized as a return to strongman authoritarianism centered around a cult of personality, in a pseudo Callahanist sense.
Rising to prominence in the 2010s, Malito campaigned on promises of "draining the swamp" of corruption, and launched widespread anti-corruption measures while in office. Although explicitly to ensure party discipline, Malito was criticized as using these measures to purge the Party of his most overt political rivals. Malito also appealed to a sense of preserving and strengthening national security, which has been seen as another measure meant to tighten restrictions on civil liberties. Although partially supported by the public, Malito's actions were seen as worrying to the Continentalist establishment, ultimately contributing to his removal from office. Although Malito was not formally disavowed from the Party, it was noted there was an "extreme Malitoist tendency" developing which was condemned, defined as those who "misinterpreted" Malito's message to use it toward extremism. Notably the 2022 Continental–Superian Crisis was blamed on Malitoist principles and groups associated with Malitoist extremism. Daniel Muir emerged from the Malito era as a notable moderate and establishment candidate meant to return the country to a sense of normality. This led to the contested 2020 general election, one of the first times in modern Continental history in which foreign observers noted a power struggle may be occurring behind the scenes. Muir ultimately was elected President of the United Commonwealth, however, Malitoism continues informally as a faction of the Revolutionary Front. Notable Malitoists include Isaiah Mikkelsen and Horace Conway, the latter being censured for stances deemed conspiratorial and anti-intellectual.
Democracy movement
The democracy movement in the United Commonwealth is a mostly illicit faction in Continental politics fully outside the purview of the Continentalist Party, which calls for the dismantling of the socialist system and liberalization to a capitalist, liberal democracy. Born out of the democracy movement of the 1950s, the modern democracy movement mostly rejects working within the Continentalist system, viewing the United Commonwealth as authoritarian and dictatorial. The democracy movement seeks to emulate western nations like Sierra, and in some cases is covertly backed by such nations. The most popular group in the democracy movement is the illegal Democracy Party of the United Commonwealth, led by Continental defector and dissident Michael Yang. Because the socialist system is constitutionally enshrined in the United Commonwealth, very few politicians within the National People's Congress are explicit members of the democracy movement, however, further democratization is not an uncommon position. Continental democrats most often advocate for increased representation and democratic participation, the ending of the one-party state by removing the supremacy of the Continentalist Party, and the gradual transition toward fair and open multi-party elections.
Historical factions
Early history
In the early history of the Continentalist Party, factionalism remained internally low, although differences persisted between the Continentalists and other political parties, including those part of the United Labor Front. The United Labor Front, formed in 1904 by Patrick Melville, John McBride, and other labor organizers, united a large number of leftist parties in alliance in the wake of widespread Federalist suppression. Key debates included centralization versus anti-centralization, or the consolidation of the United Labor Front into gradually less independent sects, segregation and the future of African-Continentals, and the best course of action to promote revolution without compromising civil liberties. The Continentalist Party, led by Aeneas Warren and Zhou Xinyue, developed out of the United Labor Front and later usurped it after 1912. Other factions that worked with but formally refused absorption into the Continentalist Party included the Landonist Party, Socialist Labor Party of America, and Socialist Party of America. Within the early Continentalist Party, the role the Party would play in forming a new government in the United Commonwealth was contested, culminating in the Boxcar Affair. From this event, Zhou and Warren established the Five Virtues of the People, which were “ brotherhood, temperance, service, diligence and prosperity”, based on Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People. Core to these virtues was the idea of “Peace, order, and good government” as guiding principles at the heart of the United Commonwealth.
Old Continental
The Old Continentals, also known as the Old Party Guard, is an unofficial designation that arose to describe members of the Continentalist Party before the Continental Revolutionary War, especially those who took part in the founding of the party. The Old Continentals were not a unified faction, although they tended to be more conservative in their approach to socialism and supported orthodox Marxist perspectives. The Old Continentals made up the bulk of the nation's early leadership, eventually forming a distinct bloc in the National People's Congress that different leaders appealed to. In 1922 the Society of Old Continentals would be founded by party member Daniel Sherman, who defined the Old Continentals as those who joined the Party before 1914, although this definition was later expanded to include many leaders who joined just before or during the Continental Revolution, especially to accommodate Seamus Callahan. Sherman's association was founded in response to the high number of people joining the Party in the wake of Continentalist victory – the Party grew from 25,000 members to 200,000 in 1918 alone, and nearly a million by war's end – as it was feared membership was becoming diluted by opportunists and apathetic Continentals. In 1923 Sherman presented to the 13th Party Congress that about 3,200 current party members were original Continentalists, and up to another 14,000 could qualify as Old Continentals.
In the 1920s the date of one's party membership became a common point of criticism, as it possibly showed one's apprehension about joining the Continentalist side. This was the case for 1st Presidium member Nathan Goedeke, who joined the Party in 1919, and was discredited in 1922. Under Seamus Callahan, the Old Continentals were distrusted as old school, well-connected members of the Party who could effectively rally dissent against him. As such, most Old Continentals were strategically removed from power or suppressed throughout the 1920s and 1930s (e.g. Nikita Neosha). A select number of loyal members, such as Winston Ashtabula, became major parts of Callahan's government. Since most Old Continentals remained in office at the behest of Callahan, by the 1950s any that remained in power were viewed as Callahanist, traditional, and obstructive to party reform. The Old Continentals for the most part supported Amelia Fowler Crawford and opposed Rupert Gardner, however, by the 1960s their membership rapidly declined by deaths and retirements, no longer holding significant sway in government. Ashtabula, who retired in 1954 and died in 1983 at the age of 97, is often regarded as the "Last Old Continental".
Factions on race
One of the biggest divides in the early socialist movement in America was debate regarding race relations and segregation. The United Labor Front was primarily a white organization, attracting many of its early members from European immigrants and the socialist-associated foreign language federation, whose affiliates included those who were not fluent in English speaking, or had sparse contact with the country’s black population. Most early leaders of the organization, such as Meyer London, identified discrimination against black workers as an extreme form of capitalist worker exploitation, however, as the organization represented a broad coalition it also included many who were more apathetic to the plight of black workers. Conversely, at the founding of the Continentalist Party, a resolution was passed calling for "equal rights for all human beings without distinction of color, race or sex", and African-Continentals were discussed as being particularly oppressed and exploited in North America. As such, Warren hoped to bring black activists into the fold of the Continentalist Party. In 1914 Warren identified the black experience as an example of an "oppressed nation", and stated “We fight against the violence and privilege of the oppressor nation, and do not in any way condone strivings for privileges on the part of the oppressed nation. The oppressed nation has a general democratic content that is directed against oppression, and it is this content that we unconditionally support….Nothing prevents the development and strengthening of proletarian class solidarity as much as national injustice.”
Other members of the United Labor Front, particularly in the South, actively opposed the advancement of black people, with the Socialist Party of Louisiana adopting a policy of scientific racism to claim that black people "constitute[d] a lower race". They led a faction within the Socialist Party that supported the continuation of segregation. Other branches, such as those in Tennessee and Virginia, openly fought with socialist branches in the Deep South, adopting a policy that the white supremacist ideology was a tool of the capitalist class to divide and rule the working class. Patrick Melville argued that the United Labor Front must include black workers, stating that "safety and advancement of the working class depends upon its solidarity and class consciousness. Those who would engender or foster race hatred or animosity between the white and black sections of the working class are the enemies of both." He also argued that the ruling class would exploit black workers as strikebreakers and an instrument of repression should they not be welcomed by socialists. Due to initial indecision in the socialist movement, organizations such as the African Blood Brotherhood emerged in 1910 led by Cyril Briggs, which adopted black expatriation based on the works of Marcus Garvey as a central tenet. Other black activists disagreed on this stance and led the creation of the Niagara Movement in 1905 and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, which promoted policies of accommodation and conciliation rather than segregation and disenfranchisement.
The "Black Question" remained a divide in the Continentalist Party into the 1920s. Most leaders agreed the matter should be left alone until after the Continentalist Revolutionary War, and the Continentalists attracted a large number of black volunteers, including by promises of future equality under the Continental system. Following the creation of the Black Guard led by socialists such as Harry Haywood, a cautious alliance developed between the primarily Southern movement and the Continentalist Party. An internal debate arose regarding the "fulfillment" of Special Field Orders No. 15, which attempted to seize land in the South to redistribute it to black farmers, the creation of Okaloosa, and whether or not it should be viewed as a "black republic". To many civil rights activities the idea of Okaloosa was demeaning, such as in the case of W. E. B. Du Bois, who criticized Okaloosa as inevitably creating a “separate but equal” situation on a national scale, as codifying separatism over integration, and as leading to otherization that would only deteriorate race relations. Segregationists such as Jeff Mooney supported the republic for the opposite reasons. Seamus Callahan, who personally leaned segregationist, viewed the Black Guard as a threat to Continentalist supremacy, and would ally with Mooney's camp, those who were skeptical of Warren's land distribution (both on racial and ideological lines), and anti-Okaloosans as a voter base for the Revolutionary Front.
Revolutionary factions
From the breakup of the United Labor Front and the Continentalist Party's founding in 1911, to the end of the Continental Revolutionary War, the following factions developed and held some sway within the Continentalist movement, although most were relatively minor:
- Anti-Centralists - flourished from about 1904 to 1921; was vehemently opposed to the centralization around the Continentalist Party, the removal of rival parties, and bans on factionalism or criticism. Founded by Harvey Walsh and Eleanor Benton, and also included Edward Farris of the Farris Plan, which would have created a broad leftist coalition in the United Commonwealth's government.
- Absentionists - flourished from about 1905 to 1918; a radical Continentalist faction that demanded a full boycott of Federalist institutions, including abstention from taking seats in the nation's assemblies, and widespread civil disobedience, military desertion, and obstructionism.
- Left communists - broke from the United Labor Front in 1908 in protest of Warren's leadership, consolidation of the Continentalists, and the perceived inaction of the alliance to produce adequate revolutionary material. Became a catch-all movement for those opposed to Continentalism from the left and the centralization in the early Continental government. Later evolved into the Labor Front by 1921.
- Cautioners - a minor faction from about 1916 to 1917 which advocated for moderation and voted against the Illinois coup.
- Liquidators - a broad term for those that called for the abandonment of the Continentalist platform, whether that be a deviation toward anarchism or more commonly compromise with the Federalists and liberalism.
- Dahlists - adherents to the works of Gregory Dahl which were critical of democratic centralism from about 1914 to 1920.
- Group for Central Democracy - also known as the Novembrists; existed from 1919 to 1921 under the leadership of Farris, Guy Steele, and Thomas Wright. Founded by former Anti-Centralists who were critical of the "dictatorship of the party", which included rigid control over industry and administration, removal of local party cadres, and the removal of dissident socialist parties. Later was absorbed into the Labor Front.
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By the turn of the 20th century the prevailing notion among the Continental left-wing was that unity was necessary to form opposition to Federalist rule. As such, in 1904 the United Labor Front was declared as a political coalition of most socialist parties and labor unions in the country. Soon after, the Anti-Centralists emerged under the leadership of Harvey Walsh and Eleanor Benton, claiming that the future Continentalists were taking advantage of the front to gain dominance over the other parties. As Aeneas Warren pursued a policy of absorbing and merging smaller parties, the Anti-Centralists contended that this was stifling opposition and dissenting opinions, making the United Labor Front increasingly non-representative of the working class. When the United Labor Front folded into the Continentalist Party in 1912, the Anti-Centralists had a surge in popularity. Conversely, the Continentalists criticized the Anti-Centralists as factionalists who wanted to divide the socialist movement and make revolutionary action harder. Anti-Centralist member Edward Farris published the Farris Plan in 1917, which envisioned the creation of a future Continental government led by a broad leftist coalition. Under the Farris Plan, free and fair elections would be maintained in which a plurality of parties were allowed, as long as they adhered to a few basic principles of upholding a socialist state. Although initially considered a real possibility, the Farris Plan was dismissed in the name of the war effort, and later was rejected once the Continentalists held a full majority.
Another radical faction that emerged from the United Labor Front was the Absentionists, who believed the best course of action was to fully boycott the Federalist government and sabotage it as much as possible. Led by Jasper Kirby, they advocated for all leftist politicians to refuse to take their seats in office, for all government workers to strike, for all soldiers to desert, and for all citizens to obstruct the police by the principles of civil disobedience. The Absentionists gained some popularity in the 1910s, however, their critics argued that they harmed the socialist movement more by having elected representatives remove themselves from government. Initially a leader of the United Labor Front, Elijah Rush left the alliance in 1908 in protest of Warren's leadership after being sidelined himself. According to Rush, the United Labor Front was failing to produce revolutionary propaganda or to take adequate action, was actively abandoning its Marxist roots, and was being led astray by the new Continentalists. His faction became the basis of the Left Communists, which evolved into a broad movement of those who criticized the Continentalist Party from the left.
Many left communists and Anti-Centralists joined the Landonist Party, which positioned itself as a more open version of the Continentalists. They were strongly in support of a coalition government after 1917 and managed to successfully pressure the Continentalists into allowing Landonist party members in government. Others remained members of the Continentalist Party but actively opposed measures such as the Crimson Terror, bans on rival publications, and what was perceived as the curtailing of civil liberties. They were joined by many Cautioners, a group that existed from about 1916 to 1917 under members such as Dante Tommaso. The Cautioners were members of the Continentalist leadership who believed that the Party was not yet strong enough to launch a revolution, instead advocating for moderate reform and a gradual buildup of support. The Cautioners voted against violent action in Chicago and against the Continentalist coup in Illinois, and when these measures succeeded the Cautioners were publicly humiliated. Cautioners remained a minor voice in the early revolution, advocating for less extreme measures, not overexerting Continental forces, and even compromise with other factions. They quickly fell from grace throughout the revolution, with many of their members being labeled cowardly or even traitors. Many Cautioners were also labeled Liquidators, a term coined by Warren to describe those who were opposed to the Continentalist platform and wanted to liquidate its positions, either in part or in whole. According to Warren, liquidators included those who wanted to undermine the power of the vanguard party by deviating toward anarchism, and those who wanted to compromise with the Federalists, liberalism, or any existing traditional institutions. Many Cautioners were also derogatorily labeled Liquidators; very few people openly described themselves as either term.
The Dahlists were a short lived faction in the 1910s that claimed to adhere to the ideology of Marxist theoretician Gregory Dahl. Although Dahl is considered the "Father of Continental Marxism" and was an influence on Aeneas Warren, later in life he became cautious toward and critical of the Continentalist movement. Notably, Dahl never endorsed any faction himself nor did he support the Dahlists who bore his name. At the All-American Conference of Workers in 1916, a claimed Dahlist delegation led by Ben Levinson was present as a small minority. Levinson published the minor publication called Unity from 1914 to about 1918, which served as a bully pulpit for the Dahlists. According to Dahl and Levinson, the Continentalists were deviating from orthodox Landonism by allowing democratic backsliding within the provisional socialist state. Writers for Unity criticized the undermining of other political parties, the centralization around the Continentalist Party, and most of all the policy of democratic centralism, which they viewed as stifling valid critique.
In 1919 many of the dissenting factions united into the Group for Central Democracy, also known as the Novembrists in reference to The November System by Edward Farris, which praised the socialist pluralism after the 1917 American Constituent Assembly election. Led by Farris, Guy Steele, and Thomas Wright, the Novembrists believed that a "dictatorship of the party" was forming instead of a dictatorship of the proletariat. They criticized what they perceived as excessive centralization of political power, including the removal of dissenting local cadres, the rigid control of industry, and top down leadership over administration. They believed that democratic centralism had abandoned its "democratic" aspect, and that dissenting opinions were ignored or bypassed. The Novembrists were instrumental in advocating for the creation of Registered Sections, which Warren agreed to during the formation of the Continentalist States. Having achieved a major goal, the Novembrists merged with other groups to form the Labor Front.
Callahan era
Registered Sections
In 1921, in an effort to increase transparency in the new United Commonwealth and allow for better representation, Aeneas Warren allowed the creation of Registered Sections within the Contintentalist Party, which would act as legalized factions. Several factions would emerge, but the two largest and most influential proved to be the Labor Front and the Revolutionary Front. The Labor Front coalesced around Zhou Xinyue and William Z. Foster, and included left communists, former Anti-Centralists and Landonist Party members, syndicalists, and trade unionists. Conversely, the Revolutionary Front under Seamus Callahan attracted those who were opposed to trade unions, segregationists, party bureaucrats, and those in favor of limited capitalist enterprises. Although kept in check throughout most of 1922, after Warren's unexpected death in September these two factions became leading groups fighting to secure his succession.
The two factions first battled over the question of trade unions and their role in the new nation. Drawing from his experience with overseeing the reconstruction of the country after the war, Callahan sought to incorporate the trade unions directly into the state apparatus to create a militarized “production atmosphere”. As Callahan would argue in front of the 12th Party Congress:
"....a regime in which every worker feels himself a soldier of labor, who cannot dispose of himself freely; if the order is given to transfer him, he must carry it out; if he does not carry it out, he will be a deserter who is punished. Who looks after this? The trade unions. It creates the new regime. This is the militarization of the working class."
The Labor Front retaliated and called Callahan’s position a “factional attack” and "bureaucratically nagging the trade unions". Foster added, "Introduction of genuine labor discipline is conceived only if the whole mass of participants in productions takes a conscious part in the fulfillment of these tasks. Bureaucratic methods and orders from above cannot achieve this". A common rallying cry of both sides was the idea that an over encumbered bureaucracy was emerging within the state, with James Maurer famously writing in 1922: "we are being sucked into a foul bureaucratic swamp." Both sides of the debate claimed to be combatting bureaucracy in different ways; Callahan considered centralization and consolidation of party offices as removing bureaucracy, while the Labor Front, by that time not in government, were able to criticize any development by Callahan as bureaucratic. Warren in his final days feared for the splintering of the party, and privately recommended to James Maurer that Callahan be sidelined and that a secret resolution for party unity be passed, which would ban factions within the Continentalist Party except during pre-Congress discussions.
After Warren's death, the Labor Front became the proponents of collective leadership and decentralization of leadership positions. In September Foster attempted to force an emergency vote that would make him acting president with all the powers bestowed upon the office, however, his motion was successfully filibustered by rival members of the presidium on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Members of the Central Committee of the Continentalist Party trickled into the capital, some of which having been flown in on military aircraft, eventually forcing a meeting of the Central Committee that confirmed the position of Seamus Callahan as General Secretary. Failing to seize power, Foster was sidelined. Instead he relinquished his positions and helped create a compromise leadership spearheaded by a three-head group, called the First Triuvmirate. Consisting of James Maurer (a Fosterite), Morris Hillquit (a Foster-leaning moderate), and Meyer London (a Callahanite). According to the Labor Front, it was ideal that no one leader was head of the United Commonwealth in any position.
After about 70 days in office, the First Triumvirate began to deteriorate in part due to the politicking of Callahan. As General Secretary, Callahan staffed important party positions with loyal allies and generally undermined the authority of the Triumvirate. Initially hesitant to act due to Zhou’s support of the Triumvirate, and his control over the military, at the end of the year Callahan launched a number of thinly veiled attacks against members of the Triumvirate in his Lessons of May, which detailed the events of the Continental Revolution. This work painted several Fosterites in a poor light due to their apprehension to join the revolution when it first began. John Fitzpatrick, People's Commissar for Defense and a staunch ally of Foster and Zhou, had his reputation particularly tarnished, and he resigned his post in November in favor of a Callahan ally. In November Callahan would launch what became known as the Waldmann Plot. On 13 November a prominent government official, Charles Jackson, was assassinated, and with the backing of several military officers, Zhou was accused of this murder and of conspiring against the government, leading to his assassination. Other rivals of Callahan, such as Foster, were implicated in the plot and arrested, exiled, or executed.
The Labor Front retaliated until the 1924 general election, which resulted in a Callahan victory. Worse for the Labor Front, Callahan used the poor turnout and support in the election as a general crisis that allowed him to seize additional powers. In the name of combatting the Southern Insurrection, Callahan consolidated a number of government offices and sidelined his rivals. The effectively broke the power of the Registered Sections and led to their collapse as independent factions, although the Labor Front and Revolutionary Front lived on in name and eventually evolved into political parties in 1932, as part of a scheme by Callahan to increase the perception of democracy in the United Commonwealth.
Left opposition
The largest Continentalist opposition group during the Callahan era, both domestically and abroad, remained the left communists, sometimes also known as the Anti-Callahan left. This label broadly referred to left-wing activists opposed to Seamus Callahan, Callahanism, the actual system of governance that Callahan implemented, especially from about 1924 to 1947. Although initially enthusiastic about the Continental Revolution, the United Commonwealth was criticized by prominent anarchist communists and libertarian Marxists such as Rosa Luxembourg, Emma Goldman, and Sylvia Pankhurst. Luxembourg criticized the methods the Continentalists used to seize power as being "not a movement of the people", criticized their suppression of anarchist movements, and their banning of opposition. Relations between Continentalism and anarchism further deteriorated in the suppression of the Free States. Callahan, as an active opponent of anarchism and likely successor to Warren, was particularly vilified and associated with the country's policies that leftist critics deemed authoritarian. In 1923 Goldeman wrote, "[Callahan] abused the power of his position". In her essay "There is No Communism in America", she wrote, "the Central Committee and Secretariat of the Party, both of them controlled absolutely by one man, Callahan. To call such a dictatorship, this personal autocracy more powerful and absolute than any king's, by the name of Communism seems to me the acme of imbecility."
Domestically, one of the leading Anti-Callahan factions was the New York Intellectuals, a group of writers, literary critics, and intellectuals centered in New York City. Led by members such as Nathan Fielder, Irving Howe, and Elliot Bell, this group sought to integrate literary theory with Marxism, while rejecting Continental socialism as an unacceptable political model. Initially prominent delegates for the Labor Front, the New York school rejected Continental electoralism entirely and maintained publications throughout the Callahan era criticizing his policy decisions. Decades later, some members of the faction later joined the Neoconservative movement, while Fielder became an anti-New Left republican in the 1970s. Members of the New York Intellectuals also supported the Youth Socialist League, a youth arm of the Socialist Party of America that appealed to students in and around New York. After breaking with the Socialist Party, the League operated as an independent youth club for a number of years before being usurped by the Continentalist Party's own youth league. Those within the Continentalist Party that descend from this organization, gaining prominent positions in New York politics in the 1950s onward, are sometimes known as the "Youth League Faction".
Within the Continentalist leadership, the left communism perspective as articulated by Zhou Xinyue, William Z. Foster, and others disagreed on Callahan's techniques and policy decisions. They criticized Callahan's implementation of collective farms and rapid industrialization, particularly when it ceded some control to private enterprises, and especially disagreed with Callahan's "national communism" perspective, which sought to build a self-sustaining socialist state domestically before exporting it, which the left viewed as contrary to the internationalist tradition of global revolution. Overall the left continued opposition to Callahan's centralization, repressive methods, and quelling of dissenting opinions. A loose faction emerged around the end of the year, often called the "United Opposition", which broadly encompassed all those who opposed Callahan within the Party's upper leadership. The Waldmann Plot, leading to the death of Zhou Xinyue, crippled the United Opposition, although it carried on for some time after. The United Opposition would also support the creation of an opposition league in exile, which later evolved into the Fourth International.
In 1929 one of the former heads of the American Continental Republic, Jay Lovestone, became the figurehead of the left opposition within the United Commonwealth, founding a faction that became known as the Lovestoneites. Lovestone did not break from the Continentalist Party, but rather rallied support for an internal faction within it. In particular the Lovestoneites sided with trade unions in organizing strikes, something that Callahan attempted to crush, and continued to promote a message of internationalism, with Lovestone writing:
"Under the pretext of 'fighting the Right,' the present leadership of the Landonist International has been revising the fundamental principles of Landonism and distorting and destroying the Warrenist line of the Landintern. As a result the sections of the Landintern have been thrown into isolation, chaos, and confusion, and the best and most experienced revolutionists driven out and expelled to be replaced by incapable politically bankrupt 'new leaderships.'...Against the revision of Warrenism, against the destruction of our parties and of their mass influence it becomes the duty of all Continenalists, of all revolutionary workers to fight."
Lovestone rose to prominence with the backing of his local electorate in New York, as well as from the American Federation of Labor, but failed to make a convincing case to the National People's Congress. His faction faltered during Great War I, with most of its members supporting the war effort, and with the government taking increased scrutiny against opponents to aid the war effort. As the war was ending, in 1938 Lovestone reported his apartment in Manhattan as having been broken into, supposedly at the hands of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, however, the government claimed Lovestone was perpetuating a hoax. The Lovestoneites would continue to form a significant faction until about the early 1940s.
Religious factions
In response to the Continentalist Party's antireligious measures implemented under Seamus Callahan, a number of religious factions formed both within and outside the Party. Within the Party, a number of antireligious extremists emerged, such as Karl Greene, who believed that the government should more actively persecute bishops and other religious leaders. Kieran Hayes, People's Commissar for Education and a former Anti-Centralist who rejoined the Continentalists, sought to gradually replace religion with Landonist symbols, which he coined Landonography. His faction became known as the God-Builders, although Hayes was later discredited by Warren for proposing theories that stood in contrast to the general line of thinking, that religion was the product of material conditions and would gradually disappear. Under Callahan, Landonography and areligious education were both pursued by education minister Joseph McDonald. Others within the Party criticized the Party for becoming far too antireligious. Ross Gustafson, himself a Christian, criticized elements of Callahan's Cultural Revolution as trampling on people's individual rights. He was joined by Party veteran Ulysses Clark, who despite being an atheist, disapproved of religious suppression as counter to Landonism.
Outside the Party, religious policy sparked the creation of numerous religious factions, especially in the southern states, leading to many becoming factions within the broader Southern Insurrection. The United Continental Christian Party, founded by William R. Benkert, united various churches and religious leaders toward a central goal of opposing religious suppression. In the 1924 general election, 45 delegates to the National People's Congress would express allegiance to the United Christians movement, something which Callahan viewed as a threat to Continentalist leadership. Additionally there was also the Commonwealth Party founded by Henry C. Bellamy, which subscribed to the teachings of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. The Tolstoyan movement incorporated elements of Christianity but with anemphasis on the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, as opposed to miracles or divinity, church hierarchy, or traditional institutions. They also incorporated ascetism, pacifism, and anarchism, and supported communal living. Bellamy was a student of Ernest Howard Crosby, who founded the Christian Commonwealth Colony in Georgia in 1896. Bellamy took the name of his party from this colony, believing it served as model for ideal living. Although more fringe than the United Christians, the Commonwealth Party received five seats in the National People's Congress at its height, owing to their support for religious toleration in the South.
Regional factions
Numerous regional factions sprung up during the Callahan era, especially in the South where Continentalist presence was lessened. Of these groups, the most influential would be the "Alliance of Farmers", led by Thomas Donelly, who organized independent candidates in protest of poor agrarian policies and other aspects of dissatisfaction with the central government. Relations with farmers were particularly bad in the wake of harsh scorched earth policies during the Revolution, forced grain requisitioning as part of War Landonism, and the outbreak of the Great Famine. Although the farmer-led movement was largely seen as outside the Continentalist Party and in opposition to it, a number of Continentalist leaders were sympathetic to the movement, such as southern congressman Daniel Holt.
Despite the claim that the United Commonwealth was creating a dictatorship of the proletariat, rural communities observed that they were not being treated as equals. Farmers fought back by forming or demanding the creation of farmer unions, which were envisioned as on par with the worker and urban councils that were the foundation of the United Commonwealth. However, these unions functioned initially in opposition to the Continentalist Party. During the Revolution, rural communities formed militias to protect their towns and resources, to protect townspeople from impressment into the military, but most importantly to combat the army’s requisitioning of food. The practice proved so unpopular that it became a driving factor of the Southern Insurrection, and led to violence that prolonged the famine overall. Post-revolution, rural opposition to the Continentalists remained high; less than a third of all Party members lived outside urban centers, amounting for only 1-in-8 villages having a single Continentalist member or affiliate. In states such as Missouri, an estimated 3,000 Party members were present in a population of 3.4 million, with internal reports noting many members were illiterate. As a result local unions, cooperatives, and councils tended to be overwhelmingly against the Continentalists despite a begrudged peace having emerged.
Commissariat of Internal Affairs report to the Central Committee, 1924
An excerpt from a town hall meeting in North Carolina, 1924
Additionally, in towns where the Party was present these cadres often formed a de facto elite, taking advantage of land reform, the ignorance of the general population, and their connections to Party leaders to become far more affluent than their neighbors—in most cases Continentalists were northerners or urbanites settling in the South, only furthering resentment. A report would be made to the Central Committee in 1924 by Missouri provincial leader Gregory Hoehn, who wrote, “Noticeably there are many who understand politics better than the party cells. The active rural voter reads newspapers and follows the political events…they report the drawbacks of Continentalist party cells as rule by drunkenness and intrigues, abuse of power and corruption.” Because of the organization of the United Commonwealth, this created a crisis for the Party. Although overall the Continentalist Party secured a passable amount of support, and claimed to have the legitimacy of the people, the Secret Policy discreetly reported to the Central Committee that support outside the cities was at an alarming low. In the 1924 general election, rural areas overwhelmingly voted against the Continentalists, either voting in independent candidates, or voting out incumbent Continentalists. For example, reports found that in the counties of northern Georgia, southern Illinois, and most of Missouri, votes for Continentalists averaged about 3%, while overall in non-urban areas it averaged 5-15%. By and large, these areas established their own councils, which advocated for non-authoritarian, democratic policies, or as one popular slogan put it: “Landonism without the Continentalists.”
These councils would accumulate lists of grievances to Continentalist representatives, which often included some of the following claims:
- The urban intelligentsia was disproportionately receiving entrance to higher education and institutions of learning, and therefore receiving better political power.
- The urban workers made up a highly disproportionate percentage of the National People’s Congress, despite the country’s overall urbanization percentage.
- Rural inhabitants were disproportionately receiving less social services and monetary aid.
- That freedom of speech, religion, and the right to bear arms was not being extended to rural inhabitants, and especially non-Continentalist Party members.
Illegal pamphlet distributed in the South, 1924
Callahan identified this discontent as one of the greatest threats to the Continentalist regime, and also to his personal power. Over the course of the 1920s, Callahan enacted numerous policies meant to break the power of the farmer unions. The first would be collectivization, as Callahan identified that larger, state controlled farms could more efficiently control larger groups of people, and would concentrate wealth less in the hands of those actively opposing his reforms. Collectivization was most widespread in the South where opposition was fierce, which also had the added benefit to Callahan of dismantling the power of black landowners who could pose a threat to Okaloosan cooperation in the future. Under threat of violence or intimidation from party officials, thousands of farmers flocked to the collective structure despite it being officially voluntary. Disdainful of blacks and their newfound independence in Okaloosa, and especially their assumption of private property under the leadership of Warren, Callahan sought to have his collectivized model gradually replace the system of property owners that still existed in the south. Throughout the period, productivity slumped, and revolts broke out on several occasions; Callahan responded that sabotage from the reactionary south and the local abuse of some officials had been to blame, not the policy or government issuing it, and he ordered distribution of emergency food relief.
The organization of farmers would become a cornerstone of the political opposition to Callahan’s regime as well, and led to the creation of the Farmer International in 1923. Banditry in rural areas increased dramatically, as disenfranchised farmers in the South turned to looting food from others. The rallying cry of one such band became, “We will not sow extra grain because the price you pay is too low and the prices we pay are too high!”, exemplifying the general attitudes against early Continentalist agricultural policy. These bands would become a major threat for years, attacking Continentalist officials and intimidating voters. Alternatively, some Continentalist officials allied with the bands instead, cooperating with local governments to underreport taxable property, receive support or bribes in exchange for looking the other way, and other schemes. Under Holt and People's Commissar for Agriculture Orion Marshall, the Continentalists would later appropriate the Farmer International as a Continentalist-aligned faction and subordinate to the Landonist International.
Decallahanization era
Following the death of Seamus Callahan in 1947, internal debate within the Continentalist Party saw a significant increase, leading to the creation of a diverse list of factions that fought over his succession. A clear divide emerged regarding the legacy of Callahan, particularly if his policies would be continued to walked back, with the latter faction ultimately winning out and instituting "Decallahanization". The "Decallahanists" seized the opportunity to create a Second Triumvirate in a bid to eliminate the Callahanist tendency to consolidate leadership positions. Under Jack Tracy, John L. Lewis, and Hoyt Vandenberg, the Second Triumvirate reversed many Callahan era policies, opening up the economy to market reform, loosening restrictions, and allowing greater autonomy among political parties. As a result the National Democratic Labor Association saw a resurgence under Raymond Beshear, calling for increased democratization within the country. The Triumvirate would seize control over the 18th Secretariat and begin moving against Callahan loyalists, albeit in a less repressive manner than in the previous era. The offices of president and premier were separated once more, the secretariat was collectivized, and decision making in the national government was democratized.
Opponents of Decallahanization included Old Continentals and Neo-Callahanists, who rallied behind Amelia Fowler Crawford. She became Callahan's successor as General Secretary, and also his ideological successor, seeking to preserve Callahanist elements of government. Through careful political maneuvering she dismantled the power of the Second Triumvirate within the 19th Secretariat, and capitalized on the failed Dixiecrat Revolution as a failure of Triumvirate leadership. Crawford effectively dismantled the Triumvirate by 1950 and received an extensive mandate by the 20th Secretariat. With the support of the Party, Crawford stuffed the Secretariat with supporters, leading to a temporary resurgence in Callahanist thinking. She would elevate Daniel Plainview to replace Decallahanist Jack Tracy, and appoint several members of the future "Michigan Club" to office. However, Crawford suffered a number of failures as leader, most notably the Irish Missile Crisis, which weakened her hold on leadership and led to her resignation in 1953. The short-lived Neo-Callahanist resurgence was ended by the more moderate Lysander Hughes.
Fiftiers
The Fiftiers were one such faction that emerged in the aftermath of the death of Callahan. Made up of the new generation of intellectuals, artists, and party bureaucrats – the first generation born after the Continental Revolution – the Fiftiers were broadly opposed to Callahanism, having grown up during his reign and throughout Great War I. Instead they pushed for more liberal and anti-totalitarian views, and were distinguished by their romanticism and vivid acts of expression, which took advantage of lessening restrictions in the arts. Although against Callahan, the Fiftiers were still majority Continentalist, striving to create a more idealized, free representation of Landonism that removed dogmatism, allowed freedom of creative expression, cultural pluralism, and universal, humanist values. Within the literary world, Fiftiers rejected standard narratives and experimented with works that incorporated streams of consciousness, spiritual quests, a rejection of economic materialism, portrayals of the human condition, and sexual liberation and exploration. New York City, especially Columbia University and the "Times Square underworld" became the epicenter of the movement. Famous authors from this era include Jack Kerouac and Saul Yates, the latter of which being censured by Party officials, leading to his interest in reproducing anti-government literature. Notable events organized by Fiftiers included the 1953 New York Memorial, in which artists created vigils in memory of repressed artists and political dissidents, performed plays and music, and marched through the streets. Elements of the pre-revolution were also revitalized by Fiftiers, especially those that included ideals of civil service to the people.
Michigan Club
The Michigan Club, sometimes derogatorily nicknamed the "Michigan Mafia" was an informal group of Continentalist politicians who rose through the ranks primarily around the Michigan area, and became the top leaders of the United Commonwealth in the 1970s. Most members of the Michigan Club included those appointed to govern the Midwest states by Aeneas Warren in the early days of the Continental Revolution, and as such the Michigan Club tended to be very old and deeply entrenched in local politics. Led by figures such as Charles Acker and Christopher McCormack, the Michigan Club loosely aligned with Amelia Fowler Crawford and was elevated to the Secretariat in the early 1950s. They came to represent a traditionalist, conservative sect within the Continentalist Party that was hesitant to endorse Decallahanization, and was especially skeptical of democratization as leading to instability. As part of the rise of Rupert Gardner, he secured the tentative support of Acker and company, although they remained opponents of many of his reforms. After Gardner's death, Acker seized leadership, believing that the Party was becoming led astray and diluted by some of Gardner's more radical reforms, and that the country needed to tighten restrictions in response to civil unrest. The reign of Acker and his successors is sometimes known as the Era of Stagnation, in which the economic growth of the past 50 years began to slow, and political repression was used strategically to quell the Continental democracy movement. The Michigan Club began to decline in the 1980s, as most of their members died of old age by this time.
College Cadres
The College Cadres, sometimes also known as the Chicago Kids, refers to a loose group of party elites who grew up attending the Chicago-area party schools, most notably the Central Party School of the Continentalist Party, in the generation after the revolution. Although selected from all across the country, the College Cadres became acquainted at the Central Party School, where they were fully immersed in party ideology. They are noted for being ardent supporters of the Marxist–Landonist system, but were distinct for their social progressiveness. After the Central Party School was established as the premiere institution for party cadres under Samson Zima, the College Cadres label emerged to describe the fast-tracked individuals who entered leadership positions in the mid 1940s. After the death of Seamus Callahan and the introduction of Decallahanization, in which numerous party officials and state administrators were gradually replaced, the College Cadres dominated these roles. As former graduates became administrators of the Central Party School, the College Cadres gained far-reaching influence in appointments and as implicit policy makers. The most famous members of the College Cadres were Daniel Plainview and Elaine Carroll, who both were associated with the Central Party School and later served as President of the United Commonwealth. Plainview was elected to the 19th Secretariat in 1948, initially as an ally of Amelia Fowler Crawford, who supported his rise to the presidency as successor to Jack Tracy in 1950. Carroll would be elected to the 20th Secretariat in 1953 and was selected as Plainview's successor as Vice President, later serving as president herself (the first woman to do so) from 1958 to 1960.
New Left and Gardnerism
The New Left in the United Commonwealth was a broad political movement that emerged mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, which campaigned for a range of social issues including democratization, civil and political rights, environmentalism, and social equality, which in many respects marked a departure from the Old Left way of thinking that prioritized change through labor organization and based on dialectical materialism. As such the term New Left can include those on the left who reject traditional Landonism as insufficient, but also largely refers to those who believe Landonist ideals were going "unfulfilled" in the early United Commonwealth. Those that worked within the Continentalist Party largely came to be known as Gardnerites, as they followed the lead of Rupert Gardner. The New Left movement was born from the crisis imposed on the United Commonwealth during the final years of Great War II, which catalyzed rapid political reform within the country. The confused response of the Continentalist Party against the anti-Landonist revolts of the mid-century, such as the Dixiecrat Revolution and the Canadian Rebellion, led a number of prominent Marxist intellectuals to develop a more democratic approach to politics within the Continentalist Party, as they opposed the authoritarian character of the “Old Left” that lingered since the days of Seamus Callahan. Outside the Continentalist Party, a movement arose of young people in the aftermath of Great War II of people who felt disillusioned with the government and its Cold War policies. The wartime restrictions were seen as a reminder of what the country could return to, with censorship, mass arrests, mass surveillance, and centralized bureaucracy returning; the New Left organized in the aftermath of war to ensure that no such thing would become permanent. The term “New Left” itself would be coined by C. Wright Mills in 1960 with his Letter to the New Left, which argued for a shift away from labor issues, the entrenched leadership, and the establishment of pragmatic establishment politics.
One of the first organizations broadly categorized with the New Left would be the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), created in 1957. Created from the students of the country’s socialist education organizations, the SDS was founded in Ann Arbor and declared as its founding document the Port Huron Statement, a text which decried the “disturbing paradoxes” present in present society, and called for the fulfillment of the promise that “all men are created equal.” To the SDS, the older Left was a remnant of the problems of Callahanism, and instead they called for a “commitment to deliberativeness, honesty, and reflection.” A series of protests broke out across university campuses during the 1957–1958 school season, which called for the end of restrictive policies and censorship on school campuses. Fearing escalation of protests at the tail end of the war, and also favoring gradual relaxation of censorship laws regardless, the Central Committee relented in the spring of 1958. Similarly, the broader Free Speech Movement formed, again mostly organized by students, which called for the end of censorship entirely and the implementation of Freedom of Speech as a constitutional right. The movement would also coin the term “The Establishment” to describe the conservative “powers that be” within the United Commonwealth government. After a rally in 1962, Mario Savio of the Free Speech Movement would give the following speech:
"But we're a bunch of raw materials that don't mean to be—have any process upon us. Don't mean to be made into any product! Don't mean—Don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings! ... There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."
An important tenet of the New Left was its opposition to racial segregation, discrimination, and separation. Organizations such as the White Panther Party were formed by activists that pushed for greater racial integration. The most radical among them called for the abolition of Okaloosa entirely and the creation of complete racial harmony in the south. Others drew upon the Black Guard movement and the Cultural Revolution of Harry Haywood as a means of undoing the institutional biases of racism. Under the leadership of the NAACP Youth Council, civil rights activists began organizing peaceful protests and “sit-ins”, in which black activists sat among white people in public buildings, in order to protest the tacit racist policies of many southern institutions. During the 1960s, the predominant use of protest was nonviolent and peaceful. Demonstrators in the south would receive training in nonviolence, both the philosophical methods, which involved understanding the method of nonviolence and why it is considered useful, and also the tactical method, which the Civil Rights Movement Archive defined as learning "how to be a protestor—how to sit-in, how to picket, how to defend yourself against attack, giving training on how to remain cool when people are screaming racist insults into your face and pouring stuff on you and hitting you."
The civil rights movement focused in on the issue of voter registration and voter suppression, especially in the south. Activists contended that in numerous southern communities black citizens were tacitly prevented from voting due to intimidation or thinly-veiled racist laws requiring certain qualifications before voting. A mass movement during the early 1960s transpired to register all adults to vote and to build community organizations that would promote political participation. White Citizens' Councils was formed as a network of white supremacists and segregationists in the south, which sought to dismantle these efforts through a blacklisting effort – banning registered black voters from banks, restaurants, and other establishments – and through intimidation and violence. After 1962 the Okaloosan Central Committee mandated that soldiers be stationed at all election centers, and also set requirements that election centers be equally dispersed. Gradually, nationwide legislation led to the outlawing of poll taxes, literacy tests, and other forms of voter suppression.
In 1959, the United Commonwealth Democracy Movement was born as an outcropping of the popular student-led movements in Continental universities. More broad in scope than their counterparts, the Democracy Movement called for the end of the country’s continued one-party rule by the Continentalist Party, and the creation of a fully democratic and representative republic in its place. However, various factions within the movement differed on the exact end goal, with some wanting a return to the pre-Landonist government entirely, and others advocating for increased democratization within the current system. In 1960 democratic protesters organized nationwide prior to the 1960 General Election, reportedly organizing some 100,000 people across multiple major cities. One of the most prominent voices in the movement, Paul Goodman advocated for a strike against the 1960 General Election, and published a number of letters proposing a change in the United Commonwealth government and the Continentalist Party. Among his ideas was the complete separation of the General Secretary from the head of state. Others who were more directly radical in the leadup to the election, such as Dorothy Day were arrested for their social activism protesting the government.
The democratic demonstrations of 1960 were met with police crack down, leading to violence breaking out in several major Continental cities. However, realizing that the situation was untenable, the Central Committee made a number of small concessions, including reforms regarding central leadership and the appointment of the new President. Democratic activists called upon their supporters to take to the polls, so that the National Congress would be flooded with reform-minded representatives. Todd Gitlin would later call the 1960 general election “the first election for president since the revolution”. The election also saw a shift in national demographics, especially in the South. In the aftermath of the Dixiecrat Revolution and Crawford’s efforts to erode the separatist movement, the South became a bastion of conservative, authoritarian Landonist thought; the militant culture of the South and the hard fought revolutions to keep the South in check was thought to necessitate leaders who were anti-democratic and anti-reform in the name of keeping a tight hold on the region. Additionally the south also saw the rise of the formally-recognized Continentalist faction the Black Panthers, considered a political arm of the Black Guard that was explicitly Haywoodite, Maoist, militant, and self-deterministic.
Beginning in 1960 both the burgeoning New Left and democracy movement came to consolidate around popular politician Rupert Gardner, famous for his leadership of the experimental Manhattan Island Exclusive Economic Zone. Going into the 1960 general election, Gardner was seen as the face of democratization within the Continentalist system who could channel the popular student movements into productive political enthusiasm, without directly threatening the power of the state. He would usher in the "New Left Caucus" in the National People's Congress which enjoyed a high political mandate for much of the 1960s, in what is known as the "Era of Good Toil". On the other hand, in August 1960 Gardner gave the “Two Whatevers” speech, where he resolved to “uphold whatever policy decisions the Continentalist Party had made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions they gave”, which facilitated Gardner toleration by the Continentalist Party, albeit aggravating the more radical of his own supporters. Over the next decade, Gardner would decentralize the Continental economy and remove Callahan-era economic restrictions, attempt to institute a separation of powers in the Continental government, and lift censorship and cultural crackdowns. The movement that he helped rebirth would continue to the modern day in the form of the reinvigorated "Labor Front".
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