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Home A place in history : Jasper Mclevy and Bridgeport, Connecticut / Jonathan A. Amici

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A place in history : Jasper Mclevy and Bridgeport, Connecticut / Jonathan A. Amici

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Identifier	Thesis 1634
Author	Amici, Jonathan A
Title	A place in history : Jasper Mclevy and Bridgeport, Connecticut / Jonathan A. Amici
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date	2001
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Notes	Historians, at some point, have dealt with questions of the causes of the subject matter they study, whether those entities are persons, events, ideas, or political states. The historian, Edward Hallett Carr, wrote, "The study of history is the study of causes. The historian, as I said at the end of my last lecture, continuously asks the question: Why?; and, so long as he hopes for an answer, he cannot rest."1 What does one mean by cause or causality. Carr never elaborated on what he felt the definition of historical causality was or was not. He felt it sufficient to describe how thinkers such as Montesquieu and Karl Popper approached the question. Philosophically speaking, there are many different kinds of causes. Aristotle elaborated on four of them, namely the Material, Formal, Efficient, and Final Cause. The Material cause was the substance out of which something or comes to be while the Formal was the shape or essence, which something manifests into. The Efficient Cause is that which propels something to become or initiates activity and the Final Cause is the end or reason the transformation took place. On top of these four, Philosophers have distilled two others: Immanent and Transcendent. Immanent refers to internal mechanisms that bring about change and Transcendent refers to external mechanisms. While these definitions help to describe causes they do little to provide a clear framework that historians can follow. A clear definition of causes might include the following, "Those conditions each of which is necessary for the occurrence of an event, and all of which are sufficient for its occurrence, and which precede the event in time.''2 The following definition, provided by the philosopher, Peter Angeles, works for the purposes of this paper. The object of this paper is not to show how causes and the success of the Socialist Party of Bridgeport, embodied by Mclevy, fit into Aristotle's framework but to nevertheless outline some major points that point to the origins of the Socialist success in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport History played a major role the rise of the Socialist Party. To a degree, Mclevy was a creature of local circumstances. This does not mean that Mclevy's importance lies solely within Bridgeport. He ran for governor of Connecticut often and was instrumental in the passage of Connecticut's first Workingman's Compensation Bill. Mclevy was union leader both nationally and internationally. Within the Socialist Party, Mclevy played a role in the eventual split among the Socialists in 1936, throwing his hat with the more conservative elements of the party and bringing much of the Connecticut contingent with him. The Mclevy/ Swarzkopf papers are filled with requests from around the country for Mclevy to use his weight within the party to advance the cause of labor and socialism. More often than not Mclevy refused, citing the necessity of his presence within Bridgeport and the state. Sometimes Mclevy went to Boston, New York, or Washington D.C. to work on behalf of the party but almost all of his political activities revolved around local concerns and issues. The purpose of this paper is to outline aspects of Bridgeport History, which help to compel the rise of the Socialist Party in Bridgeport. These aspects include economic, demographic, and political factors. On the economic front, the rise of Bridgeport as a significant industrial center, particularly during and between the two World Wars was important. Related to this aspect was the growth of the labor movement within Bridgeport. While both labor and economics were important more crucial aspects include demographic and political characteristics in Bridgeport. The fact that Mclevy was a politician who loved the political game can not be overlooked. Every scandal that occurred in Bridgeport politics, as well as political alignments between organizations, was noted by Mclevy and used to his advantage. Demographically, Bridgeport changed radically in the early part of the twentieth century. The Old Yankee population of which gave rise to Bridgeport's industry was displaced by workers who came from areas such as Ireland, Italy, and Hungary. As the century wore on, they gained increasing political power which found its' ultimate expression in the election of Jasper Mclevy. The first chapter deals with the development of socialism. This essay is part biographical and part analytical. It puts Mclevy in perspective, shedding light on his upbringing and his public life before his successful run for the office of mayor in 1933. The second and third chapters are about the rise of industry and the development of labor. The forth chapter shows the importance of immigration to the development of Bridgeport and the success of the Socialists while the fifth chapter is about politics, the growth of the Republican Machine, and the corruption which proved to be the machine's downfall. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the ensuing economic depression were perhaps the most significant external events which effected society in Bridgeport before Mclevy's election. This event is the subject of Chapter Six.
Subject	McLevy, Jasper, 1878-1962 Socialism -- Connecticut -- Bridgeport Bridgeport (Conn.) -- History
Department	Department of History
Advisor	Mezvinsky, Norton
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	50618652
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