The Communist party has been active in the United States for most of a century. Because of the tolerance of different ideas that is promoted by the Constitution, several political parties have always been active in the country. Few, though, have garnered as much notoriety as the Communist Party!

The Communist party was founded in 1919 when the Socialist Party of America found themselves split over support of the Russian Revolution. The conservative membership that opposed the Revolution finally decided to revoke the privileges of 20,000 members who disagreed with them. That rejection in 1920 led the outcasts to form the American Communist Party, an organization that quickly grew to over 60,000 members!

The Party was soon embroiled in controversy as the president, Woodrow Wilson, began to worry about growing hysteria about communists and their supposed takeover of the country. Wilson caused ten thousand proclaimed communist American citizens to be arrested and charged with intent to overthrow the government. Nearly all were eventually released after being held for months without trial but 245 were deported to Russia.

The Communist party was very unpopular with politicians and the government in general because they advocated for the average working man. For most of their organization’s history in America they have worked to improve labor and housing conditions, promoted welfare programs for the destitute and sought to further the civil rights of black Americans. These goals did and still do go directly against the grain of corporate entities. Thus, politicians have usually spoken out against the Communist party at the behest of their powerful backers.

The party has always been politically active, backing gubernatorial and presidential candidates for most of its history. In 1920 it even had its own candidate to run again Woodrow Wilson. Eugene Debs, still imprisoned in Atlanta Georgia after the massive roundup of communist members, won nearly a million votes after he conducted his presidential campaign from behind bars!

In 1940 the party again came under persecution when the Alien Registration Act made it illegal to promote, aid in or teach the idea of overthrowing the government. It is widely believed that the ARA was crafted specifically to undermine the Communist party and other left-wing groups. This act was a result of the House of Un-American Activities Committee that began in 1938 with the purpose of investigating people who were judged to be unpatriotic. The HUAC peaked with the involvement of Senator Joe McCarthy who conducted his own witch hunt with the help of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. During this period, party membership fell to about 2,000.

After the insanity of McCarthyism, CPUSA membership slowly grew and once again became involved in the political scene. The party endorsed Hubert Humphrey for president in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972, both of who lost their bids for the highest office of the land—not so much because the CPUSA endorsed them but for their stands on the issues of the time.

With the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War in the 1960’s, the CPUSA became a fervent backer of the peace movement. Rather than calling for the end of the war, the party opted to call for negotiations between the U.S. and the North Vietnamese government. This tactic was a good public relations move as opposed to organized protests to end the war. In the 21st century, the CPUSA is against the war in the Middle East.

Although most Americans disagree with the idea of Communism, the CPUSA continues to be an organization with a healthy membership. It continues to champion the rights of minorities and while working conditions are still important to its mission, its main focus in 2010 is to extract the U.S. from aggression abroad and encourage the development of domestic security and a stable economy