Communist Party of America
From Wikinfo
The Communist Party of America together with the Communist Labor Party was a predecessor of the Communist Party USA. It was founded on September 1, 1919 by Charles Ruthenburg Louis Fraina and others who had boycotted the Socialist Party convention. They were inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution and pledged their fidelity to the Comintern. The Comintern was not happy with two Communist Parties and in January, 1920 dispatched an order that the two parties merge under the name United Communist Party. Part of the Communist Party of America under the leadership of Charles Ruthenburg and Jay Lovestone did this but a faction under the leadership of Nicholas I. Hourwich and Alexander Bittelman continued to operate independently as the Communist Party of America. A more strongly worded directive from the Comintern eventually did the trick and the parties were merged in May, 1921 as the Communist Party of America. The name was eventually changed to Communist Party USA.
