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 * Eugene V Debs**

Background- Born in 1855, Debs worked in the railroad yards as a teen and then as a locomotive fireman until the deppresion of 1873. This gave him his background to the railroad work, it would prove to be a big part of his life later on in his career. He was elected to be on board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman (BFL). During the Great railroad strike of 1877, Debs defended the union and gave a speech that made him very popular with the workers.In the 1880s Debs continued to support industrial cooperation and discourage confrontations with employers or government. He began a political career as a city clerk in his hometown in Indiana. Debs would go on to organize the American Railroad Union. The ARU called for a strike on Pullman Company, a national boycott of it because it refused to work with the ARU. The president got involved by the railroads to protect a junction against interfering with US mail. This caused the boycott to collapse and the leaders of the ARU to be arrested for conspiracy charges and going against the junction. His time in jail let him reflect on himself, he read the works of Karl Marx. When he left prison he was a new person. A socialist. He began running for president in the socialist party he helped create, but never winning. His ideas were for all the workers to join one big union and seize control of industry through his mass strikes. He continued to run for president a few more times, but no success of winning. His socialist dreams were failing. In 1917, Debs was sentenced to 10 years in jail for delivering a speech against the war effort. Some say that was his finest moment. He went on to jail for a few years before he was freed. The movement for a socialist commonwealth he hoped for was dead, but the socialist ideal lived on, and Debs was one who could take credit for inspiring it.

Problem- In his earlier career, Debs believed in a industrial union for all railroad workers and one big union for all workers. He supported the workers and was the head of strikes against companies who were not treating the workers right. He believed the mass strikes would help seize control of industry. After his first 6-month sentence in jail, Debs realized his new vision of a socialist commonwealth. He would go on and dedicate the rest of his career trying to reach that goal.

Solution- Socialist commonwealth- Debs tried to run for president around 5 or 6 times but never won. He talked about in his presidential campaign how the capitalist system has outgrown its historical function. Socialism wasn't as popular as republicans or democrats and usually would receive less then 3% of the national vote. He didn't end up achieving his goal for socialism. Union Dreams- Debs had a big impact on the unions he was involved in. He created the American Railroad Union, he took steps towards an industrial union for the railroad workers but not all companies would work with him, for example the Pullman company which he organized a boycott against. It was promising until he was arrested and sentenced to jail. His dream of one big union for all workers couldnt succeed because he couldn't win big on Americas ballot box which restrained him from high political power.

Works Cited "Eugene Debs : Biography." //Spartacus Educational//. Web. 06 Sept. 2011. . "Eugene Victor Debs (1855 - 1926)." //Aflcio.org - America's Union Movement//. Web. 06 Sept. 2011. . "HarpWeek | Elections | 1912 Overview." //HarpWeek | Elections Homepage//. Web. 06 Sept. 2011. .

__//****Primary source- Harpweek//__