Friedrich Adolf Sorge
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Friedrich Adolph Sorge (9 November 1828 – 26 October 1906) was a German
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
political leader who emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where he played an important role in the labor movement, including the foundation of the
Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...
.


Early years

Friedrich Adolph Sorge was born on 9 November 1828 in
Bethau Bethau is a village and a former municipality in the Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Annaburg. It lies right on the boundary with Saxony about 35 km southeast of the district seat at ...
,
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
, son of the
Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...
Georg Sorge and Hedwig Lange. His father was a free-thinking person, and often gave shelter to Polish revolutionaries travelling from France and Belgium to Poland. He was 19 when the
revolutions of 1848 in the German states In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elemen ...
began. He joined a group of armed revolutionaries in Saxony, but they were quickly suppressed by Pomeranian troops and Sorge was forced to take refuge in Switzerland. He returned to Germany and joined the
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...
. His unit fought the Prussians in Baden and the Palatinate, losing both times. In June 1849 Sorge again took refuge in Switzerland. Sorge was condemned to death in Germany for his role in the revolution. In 1851 he was expelled by the Swiss and moved to Belgium. In March 1852 he was expelled from Belgium and moved to London, where he caught cholera. After recovering he boarded a ship for New York, arriving in June 1852. He became a music teacher, married and settled in
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...
. In 1857 he joined Albert Komp and
Abraham Jacobi Abraham Jacobi (6 May 1830 – 10 July 1919) was a German physician and pioneer of pediatrics. He was a key figure in the movement to improve child healthcare and welfare in the United States and opened the first children's clinic in the country ...
in forming the New York Communist Club, which was an educational society involved in the anti-slavery movement.


Socialist leader

Sorge became an active socialist in 1865, after the end of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, and soon became the leading proponent of
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
's views in the United States. In December 1869 he founded Section I of New York of the
International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...
(IWMA, often called the First International), with 46 members. In December 1870 he established the Central Committee of the North American IWMA. In September 1871 Section I of the IWMA organized a demonstration of 20,000 workers, including black workers, demanding an eight-hour day and supporting the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
. From 1872 to 1874 Sorge was general secretary of the First International's worldwide organization. His appointment followed the split between Marx and the anarchists led by
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...
, and a decision in September 1872 by the Hague Congress to transfer the IWA General Council to New York. While he was secretary, the IWMA continued to decline in both America and Europe. In 1877 Sorge led a Marxist-oriented group in Newark that founded the
Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...
. Joseph Patrick McDonnell, editor of the ''New York Labor Standard'' gave significant assistance to Sorge. Sorge and McDonnell organized a textile strike in
Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.International Labor Union The International Labor Union was a trade union in the northeastern United States from 1878-1887. The ILU was founded by members of the Workingmen's Party of the United States who were upset with the parties turn toward political action after th ...
of Hoboken in 1883.


Later years

Sorge and Marx corresponded regularly from the 1860s until Marx died in 1883. Friedrich Engels visited Sorge in Hoboken in 1888, after Sorge had retired from politics. Sorge contributed articles to the German Marxist journal ''
Die Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' ("The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded by lead ...
'' from 1891 to 1895, discussing the history of socialism in the United States. According to
Edward Aveling Edward Bibbins Aveling (29 November 1849 – 2 August 1898) was an English comparative anatomist and popular spokesman for Darwinian evolution, atheism, and socialism. He was also a playwright and actor. Aveling was the author of numerous ...
, Sorge was "one who was, perhaps, of all men the closest intimate in the later years of both Marx and Engels."
Selig Perlman Selig Perlman (December 9, 1888 – August 14, 1959) was an economist and labor historian at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Background Perlman was born in Białystok in Congress Poland (then part of Russia) in 1888. His father, Mor ...
called him the father of modern socialism in America. Sorge continued to teach music into his old age. He died on 26 October 1906 in
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...
. The Soviet spy
Richard Sorge Richard Gustavovich Sorge (; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Russian journalist and GRU (Soviet Union), Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during World War II and worked undercover as a German journa ...
was his grandnephew.


Writings

* "Report of the North American Federal Council to the Hague Congress," (German section) in ''Documents of the First International: The Hague Congress...Minutes and Documents'' * ''Labor Movement in the United States: A History of the American Working Class from Colonial Times to 1890'', edited by Philip S. Foner and Brewster Chamberlin


Sources

Citations Sources * ** Herreshoff, ''American Disciples of Marx'', pp. 57–59, 70-71 ** Kai Schoenhals, "Introduction," Friedrich A. Sorge's Labor Movement in the United States: A History of the American Working Class from 1890 to 1896, pp ix-xi. * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorge, Friedrich Adolph 1826 births 1906 deaths People from Annaburg People from the Province of Saxony Members of the International Workingmen's Association German communists German Marxists Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia German-American Forty-Eighters American communists American Marxists