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{{Short description|Fascist paramilitary group
{{Infobox political party
| name = Silver Legion of America
| colorcode = #C0C0C0
| logo = [[File:Silver Legion of America.svg|150px]]
| caption =
| lang1 = Other
| name_lang1 = Silver Shirts
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</ref>
| dissolved = 1941
| headquarters = [[Asheville
| affiliation1_title = Active regions
| affiliation1 = Small communities in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] and small communities in the [[Pacific Northwest
| ideology = [[Christian fascism]] <br /> [[Clerical fascism#Examples of clerical fascism|Clerical fascism]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/william-dudley-pelley-1885-1965/|title=William Dudley Pelley (
| position = [[Radical right (United States)#Great Depression|''Radical right'']]<ref>David Brion Davis, ed. ''The Fear of Conspiracy: Images of Un-American Subversion from the Revolution to the present'' (1971) pp. xviii–xix</ref><ref name="Diamond, pp. 5-6">Diamond, pp. 5–6</ref><br />[[Far-right]]
| colors = {{color box|#C0C0C0|border=darkgray}} [[Silver (color)|Silver]], {{color box|#CC0000|border=darkgray}} [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] and {{color box|#0070B8|border=darkgray}} [[blue]]
| flag = [[File:
| religion = [[Christianity]]
| slogan = "Loyalty, Liberation, and Legion"
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| wing1 = {{•}}''Liberation''<br />{{•}}''Pelley's Silvershirt Weekly''<br />{{•}}''The Galilean''<br />{{•}}''The New Liberator''
| wing2_title = Political wing
| wing2 = [[Christian Party (United States, 1930s)|Christian Party]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/william-dudley-pelley-1885-1965/ |title=William Dudley Pelley (
| membership = 15,000 ({{circa}} 1934)<ref name="Silver Shirts">{{Cite web|url=http://holocaustonline.org/silver-shirts/|title=Silver Shirts|website=Holocaust Online|access-date=14 November
| country = United States
}}
{{Fascism sidebar}}
The '''Silver Legion of America''', commonly known as the '''Silver Shirts''', was an
==History==
Pelley was a former journalist, novelist and screenwriter turned [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] who began to promote [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] views by 1931, including the belief that Jews were [[Spirit possession|possessed by demons]].<ref name=atwood/> He formed the Silver Legion with the goal of bringing about a "spiritual and political renewal", inspired by the success of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s Nazi movement in Germany.<ref name=atwood/>
A [[Nationalism|nationalist]], [[Fascism|fascist]] group,<ref name="americainwwii.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/americans-for-hitler/|title=Americans for Hitler|last=Van Ells|first=Mark D.|date=August 2007|publisher=americainwwii.com|access-date=18 November 2012}}</ref> the paramilitary Silver Legion wore a uniform modeled after the Nazi's [[brown shirts]] (SA),<ref name=atwood/> consisting of a [[Silver (color)|silver]] shirt with a blue tie, along with a [[campaign hat]] and blue [[corduroy]] trousers with [[Leggings#Military use|leggings]]. The uniform shirts bore a [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] letter ''L'' over the heart, which according to Pelley was "standing for Love, Loyalty, and Liberation."<ref name=atwood/> The blocky [[slab serif]] ''L''-emblem was in a [[typeface]] similar to the present-day [[Rockwell (typeface)|Rockwell Extra Bold]]. The organizational flag was a plain silver field with a red ''L'' in the [[Canton (flag)|canton]] on the upper left hand corner. By 1934, the Legion claimed that it had 15,000 members.<ref name="Silver Shirts">{{Cite web|url=http://holocaustonline.org/silver-shirts/|title=Silver Shirts|website=Holocaust Online|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref>▼
▲A [[Nationalism|nationalist]], [[Fascism|fascist]] group,<ref name="americainwwii.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/americans-for-hitler/|title=Americans for Hitler|last=Van Ells|first=Mark D.|date=August 2007|publisher=americainwwii.com|access-date=18 November 2012}}</ref> the paramilitary Silver Legion wore a uniform modeled after the Nazi's [[brown shirts]] (SA),<ref name=atwood/> consisting of a [[Silver (color)|silver]] shirt with a blue tie, along with a [[campaign hat]] and blue [[corduroy]] trousers with [[Leggings#Military use|leggings]]. The uniform shirts bore a [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] letter ''L'' over the heart, which according to Pelley was "standing for Love, Loyalty, and Liberation."<ref name=atwood/> The blocky [[slab serif]] ''L''-emblem was in a [[typeface]] similar to the present-day [[Rockwell (typeface)|Rockwell Extra Bold]]. The organizational flag was a plain silver field with a red ''L'' in the [[Canton (flag)|canton]] on the upper left hand corner. By 1934, the Legion claimed that it had 15,000 members.<ref name="Silver Shirts"
Legion leader Pelley called for the establishment of a "Christian Commonwealth" in America, a government that would combine the principles of fascism, [[theocracy]], and [[socialism]], along with the exclusion of [[Jews]] and [[Person of color|non-whites]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/william-dudley-pelley-1885-1965/|title=William Dudley Pelley (1885-1965)|last=Schultz|first=Will|website=North Carolina History Project|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref> He claimed he would save America from Jewish communists just as "Mussolini and his Black Shirts saved Italy and as Hitler and his Brown Shirts saved Germany."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-gangsters-in-america|title=Jews in America: Jewish Gangsters|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref> Pelley ran in the [[1936 United States presidential election|1936 presidential election]] on a third-party ticket under the Christian Party banner. Pelley hoped to seize power in a "silver revolution" and set himself up as the [[dictator]] of the United States. He would be called "the Chief" a title which would be just like the titles which other fascist leaders had, such as "Der [[Führer]]" for [[Adolf Hitler]] and "Il [[Duce]]" for [[Benito Mussolini]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/clarke/1934/01/pelley.htm|title=Pelley's Silver Shirts|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref> However, the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] handily won the reelection, and Pelley failed to figure among the top four. By around 1937, the Silver Legion's membership had declined to about 5,000.<ref name="Bernstein">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/6-things-may-known-nazis-america/|title=6 Things You May Not Have Known About Nazis in America|last=Bernstein|first=Arnie|date=October 7, 2013|website=The History Reader|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref> In 1936, a small Silver Shirt office was established in downtown [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8641|title=Melee breaks out during a speech by the leader of the fascist Silver Shirts organization in downtown Spokane on July 18, 1938.|access-date=June 1, 2023}}</ref> The group was also rumored to have owned [[Murphy Ranch|Murphey’s Ranch]] in Los Angeles, California. About 200 members participated before the group's end.▼
▲Legion leader Pelley called for the establishment of a "Christian Commonwealth" in America, a government that would combine the principles of fascism, [[theocracy]], and [[socialism]], along with the exclusion of [[Jews]] and [[Person of color|non-whites]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/william-dudley-pelley-1885-1965/|title=William Dudley Pelley (
When the Silver Shirts tried to hold a rally at the Elks Club in [[Minneapolis]], the meeting was interrupted by senior local [[Jewish-American organized crime]] figure [[David Berman (mobster)|David Berman]].<ref>Neil Karlen (2013), ''Augie's Secrets: The Minneapolis Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip'', ''Minnesota Historical Society Press'', page 97-98.</ref>▼
▲When the Silver Shirts tried to hold a rally at the Elks Club in [[Minneapolis]], the meeting was interrupted by senior local [[Jewish-American organized crime]] figure [[David Berman (mobster)|David Berman]].<ref>Neil Karlen (2013), ''Augie's Secrets: The Minneapolis Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip'', ''Minnesota Historical Society Press'',
Pelley disbanded the organization soon after the December 1941 [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].<ref name=atwood>{{cite journal|last1=Atwood|first1=Sarah|title='This List Not Complete': Minnesota's Jewish Resistance to the Silver Legion of America, 1936–1940|url=https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/66/v66i04p142-155.pdf|date=Winter 2018–2019|journal=Minnesota History|volume=66|issue=4|pages=142–155}}</ref>▼
▲Pelley disbanded the organization soon after the December 1941 [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].<ref name=atwood>{{cite journal|last1=Atwood|first1=Sarah|title='This List Not Complete': Minnesota's Jewish Resistance to the Silver Legion of America, 1936–1940|url=https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/66/v66i04p142-155.pdf|date=Winter 2018–2019|journal=Minnesota History|volume=66|issue=4|pages=142–155|access-date=2022-01-12|archive-date=2023-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421094201/https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/66/v66i04p142-155.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On January 20, 1942, Pelley was sentenced to serve two to three years in prison by Superior Court Judge F. Don Phillips, in Asheville, North Carolina, for violating terms of probation of a 1935 conviction for violating North Carolina security laws. The same sentence had been suspended pending good behavior, but the court found that during that period, Pelley had published false and libelous statements, published inaccurate reports and advertising, and supported a secret military organization.<ref>Associated Press, "Pelley of Silver Shirts Must Serve Prison Term," The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 21 January 1942, Volume 48, page 1.</ref>
==In popular culture==
* [[Sinclair Lewis]]'s novel ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'' depicts a fascist takeover of the United States by an [[Criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt|anti-Roosevelt]] [[demagogue]] who claims that he is inspired to do so by the Silver Legion of America.<ref>{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=Mitch|year=2009|title=Occult America}}</ref>
* In the [[Paradox Interactive]] video game ''[[Hearts of Iron IV]]'', should the United States turn fascist, the Silver Legion of America will be depicted as the ruling party.
==See also==
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'''Further reading'''
* Allen, Joe "'It Can't Happen Here?': Confronting the Fascist Threat in the US in the Late 1930s," ''International Socialist Review,'' Part One: whole no. 85 (Sept.
* {{cite journal|last1=Atwood|first1=Sarah|title='This List Not Complete': Minnesota's Jewish Resistance to the Silver Legion of America, 1936–1940|url=https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/66/v66i04p142-155.pdf|date=Winter 2018–2019|journal=Minnesota History|volume=66|issue=4|pages=142–155|access-date=2022-01-12|archive-date=2023-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421094201/https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/66/v66i04p142-155.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* Ribuffo, Leo Paul ''The Old Christian Right: The Protestant Far Right from the Great Depression to the Cold War.'' Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983.
* Spivak, John L. ''Secret Armies: The New Technique of Nazi Warfare.'' New York: Modern Age Books, 1939.
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==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928181512/http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/392/silverlegionpg63.png Photo of a Silver Legion of America meeting in the 1930s:]
* The Holocaust Chronicle: [http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/StaticPages/89.html
* [http://www.ajcarchives.org/main.php?GroupingId=6070 The American Jewish Committees' archive on the Silver Shirts:]
* [http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/murphy-ranch ''Atlas Obscura'' article on Rustic Canyon's Murphy Ranch]
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[[Category:1933 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1941 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:American collaborators with Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:American fascist movements]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Asheville, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Christian fascism]]
[[Category:Christian nationalism]]
[[Category:Clothing in politics]]
[[Category:Collaboration with Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1933]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1941]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in the United States]]▼
[[Category:Political parties established in 1933]]
[[Category:Social history of the United States]]
[[Category:White supremacist groups in the United States]]
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