Letters from Tomis

My Socialist Hall of Fame

During this chaotic era of vile rhetoric and manipulative tactics from our so-called bourgeois leaders, I am invigorated by the opportunity to reflect on Socialists, Revolutionaries, Philosophers, Guerrilla Leaders, Partisans, and Critical Theory titans, champions, and martyrs who paved the way for us—my own audacious “Socialism’s Hall of Fame.” These are my heroes and fore-bearers. Not all are perfect, or even fully admirable, but all contributed in some way to our future–either as icons to emulate, or as warnings to avoid in the future.

James Patrick Cannon (1890–1974) was a pivotal figure in the American socialist and Trotskyist movements. Born on February 11, 1890, in Rosedale, Kansas, to Irish immigrant parents steeped in socialist, Populist, and labor traditions, Cannon’s early political formation was influenced by his father’s Irish Republicanism and his mother’s religiosity.

Early Years and Communist Party Involvement

• Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1911, traveling as a “hobo agitator” and organizing workers in the Midwest under William “Big Bill” Haywood.

• Active in the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party; co-founded the Communist Labor Party in 1919, which evolved into the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Held editorial positions (e.g., Worker’s World, The Toiler) and national organizational roles, including District Secretary and Seattle delegate to the Comintern’s 4th Congress.

Embrace of Trotskyism and Formation of a New Party

• During a 1928 trip to Moscow, Cannon read Trotsky’s critique of Stalinism (widely distributed accidentally), which catalyzed his break from Stalinist orthodoxy.

• Expelled from the Stalin-aligned CPUSA in October 1928, he then co-founded the Communist League of America alongside Max Shachtman and Martin Abern, publishing The Militant.

• The League gained notoriety for winning over key labor sectors, catalyzing the 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strike, and eventually merged with A.J. Muste’s American Workers Party in 1934 to create the Workers Party of the U.S..

Socialist Workers Party Leader

• Advocated for the “French Turn” tactic—entry into the Socialist Party of America (SPA) during 1936–37, which ultimately led to their expulsion and the formation of a new party.

• In late 1937, Cannon helped establish the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and served as its first National Secretary from 1938 until 1953.

Legal Struggles, Later Life & Legacy

• Opposed American involvement in WWII and was convicted under the Smith Act; he was imprisoned from 1944–45. His prison letters remained influential to the SWP.

• After stepping down as Secretary in 1953, he moved to California, becoming Chairman Emeritus of the SWP. He supported the re-unification of Trotskyist internationals in the 1960s and passed away in Los Angeles on August 21, 1974.

• His papers are archived at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Summary

James P. Cannon’s life journey—from an IWW hobo agitator, through leadership in the Communist Party, to becoming the principal founder and strategist of American Trotskyism—reflects one of the most influential trajectories in 20th‑century U.S. radicalism. His theoretical writings, speeches, and prison correspondence significantly shaped the SWP and the American left’s understanding of revolutionary organizing, anti-Stalinism, and working-class strategy.

Selected Bibliography

By James P. Cannon

(chronological ordering with key declared works)

• The fifth year of the Russian revolution (1923)

• Socialism on Trial: The courtroom testimony (1942)

• The Struggle for a Proletarian Party (1943)

• The History of American Trotskyism, 1928–1938: Report of a Participant (1944)

• The First Ten Years of American Communism: Report of a Participant (1962)

• Letters from Prison (1968)

• Speeches for Socialism (1971)

• Speeches to the Party: The Revolutionary Perspective and the Revolutionary Party (1973)

• Notebook of an Agitator (1958)

• Posthumously collected volumes: The Left Opposition in the U.S. (1981), The Communist League of America, 1932–34 (1985), etc.  

Biographical & Analytical Studies

• Bryan D. Palmer, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left, 1890–1928 (2007)  

• Palmer, James P. Cannon and the Emergence of Trotskyism in the United States, 1928–1938 (Brill, 2020; Haymarket, 2021)  

• George Breitman, Paul Le Blanc, Alan Wald, Trotskyism in the United States: Historical Essays and Reconsiderations (1996)  

• Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism (1957) and American Communism and Soviet Russia (1960)  

• Constance Ashton Myers, The Prophet’s Army: Trotskyism in America, 1928–1941 (1977)  

• George Novack, “James P. Cannon, 1890–1974: A Tribute,” International Socialist Review, vol. 35, no. 9 (1974)