Gregory Dahl

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Gregory Dahl
HLDawes.jpg
Born
Gregory Karl Dahl

(1835-05-06)6 May 1835
New York City, New York
Flag of the United States (1822-1836).svg United States
Died (1920-01-18)January 18, 1920 (aged 85)
Chicago, Illinois,
Red flag.svg Provisional Socialist
United Commonwealth
Education Columbia University
Occupation
Organization
Political party Socialist Labor Party of America
Era 19th-century philosophy
School Marxism
Dialectical materialism
Historical materialism
Influences
Influenced
Part of a series on
Landonism
Marx, Engels, Landon, and Lenin, the founders of Landonism.

Gregory Dahl (6 May 1835 – 18 January 1920) was a Continental revolutionary, philosopher, and Marxist theoretician, who is sometimes called the “Father of Continental Marxism”. He is considered one of the most important figures of the early socialist movement in the pre-Continental Revolution United Commonwealth, and was an inspiration to the founders of the modern Continentalist States, such as Aeneas Warren.

Born in New York City, United States to German immigrants from Westphalia, Dahl studied history at Columbia University and became a lecturer and occasional writer. As a young man he became introduced to Joseph Weydemeyer, a friend of Karl Marx and editor of America’s first communist newspaper, Die Revolution. Becoming interested in politics, Dahl joined the American Workers League, which advocated against American slavery, promoted naturalization processes for immigrants, and called for better working conditions. He was an early member of the Republican Party due to its antislavery cause, and wrote pamphlets and articles to attract German-Americans to the campaign of banning slavery. Dahl received regional attention for his publications surrounding the New York City draft riots in 1863, criticizing mayor George Opdyke for his profiteering, and denouncing the exploitation of the lower classes by the rich. Dahl himself served in an infantry regiment from 1863 to 1865.

Post war Dahl returned to revolutionary writing. In 1866 Dahl was present at the inaugural meeting of the National Labor Union, and he led a contingency to the International Workingmen's Association (First International). Although Dahl was initially receptive to Lassallism in the United States, which called for social reform with a non-revolutionary approach, his opinion evolved over the course of the Federalist regime, as he noted the Federalists were increasingly rolling back civil liberties and the ability for reformers to enact change. Dahl also corresponded with Isaiah Landon and supported the Second California Republic. Dahl became the leader of the Socialist Labor Party of America and ran as a perennial presidential candidate throughout the 1880s, however, the party failed to catch on beyond local politics, and Dahl often faced imprisonment for his anti-government protests and writings. In 1901 he supported the Socialist Party of America after Socialist Labor’s collapse, which coalesced around Dahl’s compatriot Eugene V. Debs.

Dahl’s writings during this period had a profound influence on guiding the socialist movement in the United Commonwealth, and delineated it from other populist movements. Dahl famously remarked, “Without revolutionary theory there is no revolutionary movement,” a sentiment later echoed by Aeneas Warren, who called Dahl “American socialism’s first professor”. His most famous work, A Development of History, was praised by Friedrich Engels, and called by Warren, “an education for a whole generation”. Dahl would be one of 37 people present at the 1st Congress of the Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1901, and it was here that he met Aeneas Warren for the first time. Despite an initial friendship, Dahl later was critical of the actions of the Continentalist Party. At the All-American Conference of Workers in 1916, a precursor to the legislature of the Continentalist States, a “Dahlist” faction was present which was critical of the Continentalists, and this faction did not fully die out until the end of the Continental Revolutionary War. Dahl died in 1920 and was posthumously honored by Warren, who had his works republished, and branded Dahl as a forefather of Continentalism.

Personal life

In 1860 Dahl was wed to Mary Koerner (1840–1909), the daughter of German immigrants from Frankfurt, Karl Korner and Julia Koerner (née Demuth). They had eight children together: Karl Peter (1861–1928), Clara Julia (1862–1939; m. Thomas Gilroy), Henry Edward (1866–1919), Thomas Paul (1869–1934), Jennifer Laura (1871–1944), and Frederick Maurice (1874–1920). Many of his children would go on to become involved in the socialist movement, or were active revolutionaries. His son Karl would be present at the Haymarket riot in 1886, and after which became convinced of the importance of arming the socialist movement to protect workers and their families from Federalist reprisals. He would lead a group of 23 individuals in a successful raid during the Homestead War, which cost the lives of two of his own sons. Henry, Frederick, and Peter would all serve as officers in the Continentalist Revolutionary Army, with Henry and Frederick both falling in combat during the Southern Campaign.

Awards and legacy

In 1920 Dahl was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor by the Continentalist government. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1914 by Norwegian socialist Christian Holtermann Knudsen, for his activity advocating for peace at the outbreak of war in Europe, but he did not receive the prize. Dahl's home in New York City was acquired by the Commissariat for Labor in 1924 and designated a national historic landmark. The site serves as a museum and library. Also in 1922 Dahl was named a member of the Labor Hall of Fame. Dahl's collection of books, papers, and pamphlets were donated to this museum. In 1928 the planned city of Dahlia was named in his honor. The neighborhood of Co-op City in the Bronx, New York City contains Dahl Street, which is home to a cooperative housing development and a local radio station.

Works

See also

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