United Labor Party (New York City)

The United Labor Party was a short-lived alliance of 115 different labor unions and labor parties including the Central Labor Union, Knights of Labor, and the Socialist Labor Party.^[1][2]

United Labor Party
Abbreviation	ULP
Founded	1886; 139 years ago (1886)
Dissolved	1888; 137 years ago (1888)
Succeeded by	People's Party Socialist Labor Party
Ideology	Georgism Laborism Marxism Socialism
Political position	Left-wing
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

History

Origins

The ULP was formed as a response of the rising "red scare" following the Haymarket Affair.^[3]

Henry George mayoral campaign

After the formation of the party, the party leaders reached out to Henry George, who was sympathetic enough to labor to run under a labor banner but also educated enough to be a viable candidate, who eventually agreed to run for the United Labor Party after seeing 36,000 signatures in support of him.^[1][3] The party ran for the New York City mayoral position in 1886 with the candidate Henry George, who ended in second, ahead of Republican Candidate Theodore Roosevelt and behind the Democratic Candidate Abram Hewitt.

The Party also had an unsuccessful attempt to run in the 1887 Philadelphia mayoral election with the candidate Tomas Phillips.^[4]

Split

After the two elections, there was heavy conflict between the Georgist faction of the party and the Socialist faction of the party, eventually ending in a Georgist-Socialist split in 1887, which effectively ended the alliance.^[1][5]

Members

• Henry George, economist, candidate for Mayor of New York City (1886)
• James J. Coogan, merchant, candidate for Mayor of New York City (1888), future Borough President of Manhattan
• John Vincent, lawyer, candidate for Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1887), future New York County District Attorney
• James A. O'Gorman, lawyer, candidate for Justice of the New York City Civil Court (1887), future United States Senator
• Louis F. Post, newspaper editor, chairman of the 1887 party convention,^[6] future United States Assistant Secretary of Labor
• Laurence Gronlund, writer, delegate to the 1887 party convention^[6]
• John McMackin, delegate to the 1887 party convention,^[6] future New York State Labor Commissioner^[7]
• Sergei Shevitch, newspaper editor, delegate to the 1887 party convention^[6]
• Walter Vrooman, educationalist, delegate to the 1887 party convention^[6]

Supporters

• Jacob Ralph Abarbanell, playwright^[8]
• Thomas Davidson, professor^[8]
• Benjamin Franklin DeCosta, Episcopalian priest^[8]
• Samuel Gompers, President of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions^[9]
• Daniel De Leon, lecturer
• Edward Bliss Foote, doctor^[8]
• Patrick Ford, journalist^[10]
• Edward McGlynn, Catholic priest
• R. Heber Newton, Episcopalian priest^[8]
• Terence V. Powderly, General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor
• Sylvanus H. Sweet, former New York State Engineer and Surveyor (1874–1875)
• John Swinton, journalist
• Gideon J. Tucker, former New York Secretary of State^[8]
• Charles F. Wingate, philanthropist^[8]