We will take up the ball of the Revolution where our fathers stopped it and roll it to the final consummation of freedom and independence of the masses. Anti-Renter Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1839

The Anti-Renters were working class New Yorkers who didn’t accept the proposition that the priceless benefits of freedom and equality that were promised in the original Declaration only belonged to the wealthy men who signed it, or to the landowners who continued to rule the Hudson Valley as feudal lords.

Through armed resistance, mass civil disobedience, and legislative action, the Anti-Rent Movement broke the system of exploitation that kept local farmers poor, indebted, and at the mercy of greedy absentee landlords. By 1846, a new state constitution officially abolished feudal tenure, and the old manor estates disintegrated within the decade. Members of the Anti-Rent Movement would go on to join the abolition and labor movements of the mid-to-late 19th Century.

Capital District Democratic Socialists are proud to pick up the ball from where the Anti-Renters left it. We seek a democratic and socialist transformation of our society, so that wealth and power truly reside in the hands of the many and not the few, ensuring a dignified, fulfilling, secure, and healthy life for us all.

From Glens Falls to Hudson to Amsterdam and across the Tri-Cities, our chapter and its local branches work to make this change a reality through issue organizing, electoral politics, and legislative action.

A better world is possible. Come help us make it happen!