ABSTRACT
The American Communist movement did represent a "new day" in the history of American radicalism, but not in the sense that its founders had foreseen or intended. The world is on the verge of a new era. Europe is in revolt. The first fledgling doctrine of American Communism derived in the main from two revolutionary traditions—socialism and syndicalism. From the outset, the tension between doctrine and reality in the American Communist movement was expressed in terms of two kinds of realities—the European, which came closest to fulfilling the doctrine, and the American, which lagged furthest behind. The Communist Party of America maintained a semblance of unity for only a few months. The political orthodoxy and mass influence had fought four major battles in as many years. Doctrine and reality, political orthodoxy and mass influence, inner development and outer control—the entire history of American Communism has consisted of variations on these themes.
