Revolution and Reform

Henry David Thoreau(1817-1862)

• Born in Concord, Ma. Attended Harvard• Supreme individualist• Thomas Carlyle called “On the Duty of Civil

Disobedience” the one truly original American contribution to civilization– It was written to protest the poll tax (refusal to pay

which led to Thoreau’s arrest) to support the Mexican War of 1848 – which Thoreau regarded as an excuse to expand slavery

Karl Marx (1818-1883)• Karl Marx - German philosopher who spent most

of his adult life in exile in France and England for his theories

• Collaborated with Friedrich Engels on both The Communist Manifesto and Capital

• Marx was an Economic Determinist – economics determines everything: history, government, society, and religion

Communist Manifesto (1848)

• “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”

• Written during the Industrial Revolution, when manufacturing by machine replaced production by hand

Marx on Class Struggle• Because of the Industrial Revolution, there were

only two classes left in society– Bourgeoisie: the wealthy capitalists (factory owners

and bankers who owned all of the property) also control the government

– Proletariat: the unskilled, impoverished working class which owned nothing but their own labor

– Most of middle class and skilled laborers were driven down into the ranks of the proletariat

Proletarian Revolution• The rich got richer and the poor got poorer• The working class will develop “class

consciousness” and realize that they are being exploited by the bourgeoisie

• The workers stage a violent Revolution that overthrows the bourgeoisie

• The workers seize power for themselves

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

• After the Revolution, the workers establish a Dictatorship of the Proletariat

• All private ownership of the means of production (factories, coal mines, railroads, etc) are seized by the workers

• The proletariat expropriates the property of the exploiters (bourgeoisie or capitalists)

After the Revolution• There will no longer be any social class

distinctions

• All the means of production are used to benefit everyone

• Marx recognized no inalienable rights

Russian Revolution• Marx’s theories were the basis for the Russian

Revolution of 1917• Lenin modified Marx’s theories into Marxism-

Leninism so that they would apply to Russia• The Communists (Lenin’s party) ruled Russia

(Soviet Union) as a dictatorship from 1917 to 1991 – no inalienable rights

Collapse of Communism

• Communism in the Soviet Union (Russia) collapsed and the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991

• Soviet Union became Russia and 14 other independent nations

• Communism still survives today in– China– Vietnam– North Korea– Cuba

Radicalism in the US• Initially a response to the failure of the

government to address inequality in Civil Rights

• A sense of imminent destruction (the Cold War)

• The War in Vietnam• The perceived “failure” of civil

disobedience

The SDS• ...grew out of 1930’s radicalism related to Labor• The Port Huron Manifesto was largely written by

Tom Hayden• SDS tactics were adopted by the right wing in

the late 1970’s and 1980’s• http://

ma.essortment.com/sdsstudentsfo_rmsx.htm

The Black Panthershttp://www.blackpanther.org/legacynew.htm

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/

• Largely a response to the “failure” of non-violent resistance to achieve social equality

• Advocated armed resistance against oppression by the US government