The origins of fascism in the United States date back to the late 19th century, during the passage of
Jim Crow laws in the
American South, the rise of the
eugenicist discourse in the U.S., and the intensification of
nativist and
xenophobic hostility towards
European immigrants. During the early 20th century, several groups were formed in the United States. Contemporary historians have classified these groups as fascist organizations; one of them being the
Ku Klux Klan (KKK). During the 1920s, American scholars frequently wrote about the rise of
Italian fascism under
Benito Mussolini, but few of them supported it; however, Mussolini's fascist policies did initially gain widespread support among
Italian Americans. During the 1930s,
Virgil Effinger established the paramilitary
Black Legion, a violent offshoot of the KKK that sought to establish fascism in the United States by launching a revolution against the
federal government. Although it was responsible for a number of attacks, the Black Legion was small in size and ultimately petered out. The rise of
fascism in Europe during the
interwar period raised concerns in the U.S. but European fascist regimes were largely viewed in a positive light by the American
ruling class, including government officials, businessmen, and other members of the
elite. This was due to the fact that fascist interpretations of
ultranationalism allowed a nation to gain a significant amount of economic influence in the
Western world and permitted a nation's government to destroy
leftists and
labour movements.
German American Bund (1936–1941) File:Flag of German American Bund.svg|Flag of the German American Bund (1936) File:German American Bund NYWTS.jpg|Bund parade on East 86th St., New York City (October 1939) File:GAB Rally Poster.jpg|Poster for Bund rally at
Madison Square Garden (1939) The
German American Bund was the most prominent and well-organized
fascist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1936, following the model of
Hitler's
Nazi Germany. It appeared shortly after the founding of several smaller groups, including the
Friends of New Germany and the
Silver Legion of America, founded in 1933 by
William Dudley Pelley and the
Free Society of Teutonia. After March 1, 1938, membership in the German-American Bund was only open to
American citizens of German descent. Its main goal was to promote a favorable view of
Nazi Germany. The Bund was very active, providing its members with uniforms and encouraging participation in "training camps". The Bund held rallies with
Nazi insignia and procedures such as the
Hitler salute. Its leaders denounced the administration of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Jewish-American groups,
Communism, "
Moscow-directed"
trade unions and American
boycotts of German goods. They claimed that
George Washington was "the first Fascist" because he did not believe that democracy would work. The high point of the Bund's activities was their
rally at
Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 20, 1939, with around 20,000 people in attendance. The
anti-Semitic Speakers repeatedly referred to
President Roosevelt "Frank D. Rosenfeld", calling his
New Deal the "Jew Deal", as well as denouncing the supposed
Bolshevik-Jewish American leadership. The rally ended with violence between protesters and the Bund's "storm-troopers". In 1941, the Bund was outlawed by the U.S. government, and its leader,
Fritz Julius Kuhn, fled to Mexico.
World War II and "The Great Sedition Trial" (1944) During
World War II, Canada and the United States battled the
Axis powers. As part of the war effort, they suppressed the fascist movements within their borders, which were already weakened by the widespread public perception that they were
fifth columns. This suppression consisted of the
internment of fascist leaders, the disbanding of fascist organizations, the
censorship of fascist propaganda and pervasive government propaganda against fascism. In the U.S., this campaign of suppression culminated in "The Great Sedition Trial" of November 1944, in which
George Sylvester Viereck,
Lawrence Dennis,
Elizabeth Dilling,
William Dudley Pelley,
Joe McWilliams,
Robert Edward Edmondson,
Gerald Winrod,
William Griffin, and, in absentia,
Ulrich Fleischhauer were all put on trial for aiding the Nazi cause, supporting fascism and isolationism. After the death of the judge however, a mistrial was declared and all of the charges were dropped.
Later years and the American Nazi Party (1959–1983) In 1959, the
American Nazi Party was founded by
George Lincoln Rockwell, a former U.S. Navy commander, who was dismissed from the Navy due to his espousal of fascist political views. On August 25, 1967, Rockwell
was shot and killed in
Arlington by
John Patler, a former party member who had previously been expelled by Rockwell due to his espousal of his alleged "
Bolshevik leanings". The Party was dissolved in 1983.
Donald Trump and fascism Some scholars have drawn comparisons between the political styles of
Donald Trump and fascist leaders. Such assessments began during
Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and continued throughout the
first Trump presidency as he appeared to court far-right extremists, including his
attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election after losing to
Joe Biden, and culminating in the
2021 United States Capitol attack. Scholars have argued that core themes of Trump's
foreign policy such as
America First and
Make America Great Again draw on the fascist ideas of national decline and rebirth and have normalized and legitimized eliminationist violence against racialized minorities and political opponents. ==Notable neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups==