What was eugene v. debs known for

In this photo, Debs makes a speech in the early s in New York. Labor leader, socialist, and five-time presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs — had a twofold relationship with the First Amendment. First, as a member of an unpopular minority, he appealed for protection under the Amendment. Although Debs lost his battles, his causes won the war. Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in He served his hometown as city clerk from to ; two years later, he served in the Indiana legislature.

Debs led a successful strike against the Great Northern Railway that achieved national prominence during the Pullman Strike in the summer of Acting as the president of the American Railway Union, which he had formed, Debs led workers in a strike against the Pullman Palace Car Railroad Company and a boycott of its enterprises when the profitable railroad reduced wages in its company town of Pullman, Illinois, without enacting a corresponding reduction in living costs. Debs submitted a habeas corpus petition to the Supreme Court, which ultimately rejected it, based on a claim that he should have been afforded the protection of a criminal trial on the contempt charge rather than a hearing in chancery court.

After leaving jail, Debs turned his attention to organizing the Socialist Party. He ran for president as the Socialist Party candidate in the four consecutive elections between and ; he received 94, votes in the first and , in the fourth.

Debs received a year prison sentence, of which he served two years. In became fireman on railroad. In his spare time, he went to night classes at a local business college. Eugene V. Brought famous personages to Terre Haute including Col. Anthony and many others. Served in June 9, — Married to Kate Metzel whom he loved and cherished until his death. They had no children.

Not a wheel moved on Great Northern and at end of 18 days, the railway granted demands of union. Finished sentences Nov. Given triumphal welcome by thousands on his arrival in Chicago, from Woodstock, Ill. The weekly magazine achieved a circulation of several hundred thousand due to the powerful writing of Debs. The bound files of the Appeal to Reason for the years of to are part of the library in the Debs home.

Debs was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison, although President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence on December 25, When Debs ran for president in , he was still in prison. After leaving prison, Debs suffered from poor health. He continued to promote socialist causes for the rest of his life. Debs died near Chicago, Illinois, on October 20, Toggle navigation.

Eugene V. Debs From Ohio History Central. Jump to: navigation , search. During the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, Eugene V. Debs was a leading advocate for socialism in the United States of America. See Also Warren G. Babson, Steven. Cashman, Sean.