A battle quickly developed. Men famous in the history of American communism—Benjamin Gitlow, John Reed, Charles Ruthenberg, Alfred Wagenknecht—were present. Each was trying to assemble followers for his point of view. One group, the Reed-Gitlow group, refused entrance to the Socialist Convention, retired to another room in Machinists’ Hall (later to the IWW Hall, 129 Throop Street), and on August 31, 1919, founded the _Communist Labor Party of America_ (CLP). Wagenknecht was named Executive Secretary. (John Reed, incidentally, was to become the Party’s first “martyr.” An American, well-educated, a poet, writer and newspaperman, Reed was in Russia during the October Revolution. Completely captivated, he wrote a book, _Ten Days That Shook the World_. He later returned to Moscow, participated in Comintern meetings, and died there in 1920. Reed was buried in the Kremlin.) A rival group, together with a number of foreign-language federations, met at Smolny Hall, headquarters of the Russian Federation, 1221 Blue Island Avenue, Chicago. Its members criticized the Communist Labor Party as not being truly communistic. The CLP returned the retort, and all attempts at reconciliation failed. On September 1, 1919, this rival group formed the _Communist Party of America_ (CP). Split off was a group from Michigan that was later to form the Proletarian Party. Ruthenberg was chosen as Executive Secretary of the CP. Not one but two Parties, the CLP and the CP, each claiming to be the true representative of communism and bitterly maligning the other, came out of the Chicago turmoil. The CLP set up headquarters in Cleveland, the CP in Chicago. The Communist Party was born in America amid confusion, bickering, and partisanship, a condition that was to haunt it for years. The communists of 1919 were a motley lot, vastly different from the highly disciplined, efficiently operating Party of recent years. Though not lacking zeal or fanaticism, they had little Party training or discipline. They varied in extremes from bitter die-hards, who were ready to do anything for the “cause,” even throw a bomb or lead a riot, to comical show-offs, attracted by violent language and subversive possibilities. Many believed revolution in the United States was imminent. The great majority were foreign-born. Many had difficulty speaking English. _The Communist_ (June 12, 1920) states: “The Communist Party, from the very beginning of its existence, found its work hampered because it had in its ranks only a few men capable of expressing Communist principles in the English language.” The comrades lacked a practical understanding of American affairs, especially in the trade union field. Soon all kinds of wild-eyed plans arose. Each leader became his own interpreter of Marx and Lenin. Cliques, quarrels, and personal rivalries were rife.