| − | William Foster was born in Massachusetts in 1881 to poor European immigrants and began to work full-time from the age of 10. As he entered his twenties he began to subscribe to socialist views, joining the Socialist Party in 1901 but was expelled in a faction war, and later the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] in 1909, leaving the latter organisation when his plan to infiltrate the American Federation of Labor was turned down. Prior to becoming a communist, Foster turned to syndicalism and founded his own Syndicalist League of North America (SLNA).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EryjLMnWdvAC&pg=PA16 Red Chicago: American Communism at Its Grassroots, 1928-35]</ref> Later, he joined the [[AFL]] in 1919 and led the very large, but unsuccessful Steel Strike. | + | William Foster was born in Massachusetts in 1881 to poor European immigrants and began to work full-time from the age of 10. As he entered his twenties he began to subscribe to socialist views, joining the Socialist Party in 1901 but was expelled in a faction war, and later the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] in 1909, leaving the latter organisation when his plan to infiltrate the American Federation of Labor was turned down. Prior to becoming a Communist, Foster turned to syndicalism and founded his own Syndicalist League of North America (SLNA).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EryjLMnWdvAC&pg=PA16 Red Chicago: American Communism at Its Grassroots, 1928-35]</ref> Later, he joined the [[AFL]] in 1919 and led the very large, but unsuccessful Steel Strike. |