Utopian Communities in American--1780s-1850s

There were hundreds of communal utopian experiments in the early United States; the Shakers alone founded around 20 settlements. While great differences existed between the various utopian communities or colonies, each society shared a common bond in a vision of communal living in a utopian society. The definition of a utopian colony, according to Robert V. Hine, author of California's Utopian Colonies, "consists of a group of people who are attempting to establish a new social pattern based upon a vision of the ideal society and who have withdrawn themselves from the community at large to embody that vision in experimental form." 

These communities can, by definition, be composed of either religious or secular members, the former stressing (in the western tradition) a community life inspired by religion while the latter may express the belief in the cooperative way of life. The more familiar non-monastic religious communal movements typical in Western society have generally originated from a deliberate attempt among various Christian sects to revive the structure of the primitive Christian community of first-century Jerusalem, which "held all things in common" (Acts 2.44; 4.32). 

THE SHAKERS

Of the religious groups, the Shakers were one of the most enduring. Perhaps there is a clue to their success in the ideas expressed in the hymn recorded above. Many of the nineteenth-century Christian communities believed that the time of Christ’s Second Coming was very near. By righteous living and diligently practicing Biblical injunctions to separate themselves from the world, many believed they could usher in the Millennial Kingdom on earth, the time promised by the prophet Isaiah when
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them.
 
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain:
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah, chapter 31, versus 6 and 9)
The Shakers splintered from a Quaker community in Manchester, England. James Wardley, its preacher, had absorbed the teachings of the millennial French Prophets and his community began to evolve around 1746. The members were known as the Shaking Quakers and were viewed as radical for their communion with the spirits of the dead and impassioned shaking that would occur at their services. 

As radicals, all the members were harassed, including a young married woman named Ann Lee. Fervent from a young age, Ann had a revelation during a long imprisonment that she was the Second Coming of Christ, the vital female component of God the Father--Mother . The vision had a great impact on the congregation and "Mother" Ann became the official leader of the group in 1772. With a distinctly new version of the Second Coming and other beliefs contradictory to mainstream Christian ideology, it was at this juncture that the Shaking Quakers became known as the Shakers.

These radical views increased the Shakers' persecution and a small group composed of her brother, niece, husband and five others followed Mother Ann's vision of a holy sanctuary in the New World to New York in May,1774. They struggled for five years to survive, gaining few converts, on a communal farm in Watervliet, NY. During this period they faced great persecution for being both English and pacifistic in the middle of the Revolutionary War .

The turning point was a wave of religious revivalism called the New Light Stir that swept across New England between 1776 and 1783, bringing in new converts from other millennial groups and allowing the Shakers to safely proselytize. In 1779 Joseph Meacham and his followers joined the Shakers, becoming their first converts. The Shaker mission in New England ended in 1784 -- the same year as Mother Ann's death  -- though they later missioned in Kentucky and Ohio during the Kentucky Revival of 1797-1805. 

Most of this expansion happened under Joseph Meacham's leadership, which began with Father John Whittaker's death in 1787. Meacham organized the communities and made New Lebanon, NY the Parent Ministry from which came both spiritual and commercial leadership. These industries would become both the sustaining income for the Shakers and a form of recruiting and publicity as their simple, functional furniture designs, music and dancing, and self-published books became popular in secular culture. By the mid-1800's they reached their peak membership and peak popularity, becoming a sort of tourist attraction that outsiders (known as The World's People) could observe in their communities on Saturday evenings .

 The Civil War ended the American fascination with the many millenarian, communitarian and utopian social experiments of the early nineteenth century and replaced it with an emphasis on class struggle in an increasingly industrial and urban society. Industrialization made Shaker crafts obsolete and depleted even further the attraction of a way of life already made less tasteful by the emphasis on celibacy and severe simplicity. Between this decline in attraction and the society's inability to create a new generation of believers, the communities steadily declined and disbanded. 

FOURIER

By the 1840s and 1850s, hundreds of religious and secular communities in Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas had experimented with alternate forms of family organization and sexual practices. Many utopians argued that conventional conceptions of gender roles stultified women's intellect and constricted their development; that monogamous marriage distracted individuals from broader social obligations; and that children needed to have contact with more than two adults and to take part in the world of work. Among the communities that tried to emancipate women from household and childrearing responsibilities and to elevate them to positions of equality with men were 25 inspired by the French theorist Charles Fourier (1772-1837). The coiner of the word "feminism," Fourier hoped to eliminate poverty and alienation by creating self-sufficient communities known as "phalansteries" in which each person would own a share of the property. This excerpt from a Fourierist newspaper describes the movement's attitude toward the nuclear family:

When we say that the isolated household is a source of innumerable evils, which Association alone can remedy, the mind of the hearer sometimes rushes to the conclusion that we mean to destroy the home relations entirely.... When, too, we say, that the existing system of Education is wholly wrong, it is feared that we design some violence to the parental sentiment, or that...we would give children "wholly up to the care of others, when only a mother can bear and forbear with a child, and yet love it".... The isolated household is wasteful in economy, is untrue to the human heart, and is not the design of God, and therefore it must disappear, but the domestic relations are not so, however they may have been falsified and tarnished by what man has mixed with them. Of these relations the present position of woman is an essential part, and she can be raised out of that position only by purging them of what is alien to their essential character.... 

In the savage state she is the drudge and menial of man; in the barbarous state she is his slave and plaything, and in the civilized state she is as you confess, his "upper servant." Society rises with the degree of freedom it bestows on woman, and it is only by raising her to "integral independence," and making her as she should be, and as God made her, the Equal of Man, thought not by making her precisely the same as man as some mistaken reformers have wished, the world can be saved.... 

Very many women find other employments more attractive than the care of their children, and consequently the children receive comparatively little attention from them. Now, this seems to me to show the plan of Nature, who does not form every woman to take care of children, but only a certain proportion of women. You will, perhaps, say that these are not good mothers, and that they ought to discharge so interesting an office. But is not this to substitute for the method of nature certain notions which you have formed for yourself, and which Nature does not at all recognize? (The Phalanx, I February 8, 1844)

THE RAPPITES AND SEPARATISTS

In the nineteenth century, several Protestant groups founded communities in the United States. One of the earliest and most successful was headed by “Father” George Rapp, a German religious leader. After migrating to Pennsylvania in 1804, he and his group of over 1700 followers founded a communistically organized colony in Beaver County, north of Pittsburgh. The Rappites shared their economic wealth equally. They believed the Second Coming of Christ was imminent and soon the Millenial Kingdom would be set up on earth; Rapp believed that his Society would prepare true believers for this event. People were attracted to Rapp both because of his charismatic leadership but also because of his common sense. His son, Frederick, was also an able businessman, administrator and organizer like his father. Following the deaths of the Rapps, an able group of administrators and trustees continued to guide the Society’ s affairs.

The accomplishments of the Rappite-Harmonists were many. Within two years, the community was virtually self-sufficient, due to Rapp’ s ability to attract hardworking farmers, builders and mechanics. In 1814 the community decided to cross the western frontier and set up a new headquarters, called “Harmony” in the Wabash Valley in Indiana. This new town became an important trade and industrial center for a large region. The community prospered and grew. But Father Rapp continued to preach to his followers to be good stewards of what God had provided and not to be overly concerned with riches. A decade later, in 1824-25, the group decided to move back to Pennsylvania, and sold their 30,000 acre community, buildings and all, to Robert Owen, who agreed to pay $150,000. The Harmonists had found the Wabash Valley unhealthy and surrounded by unpleasant neighbors. The new Pennsylvania site, called “Economy," just fifteen miles from their original location near Pittsburgh, proved well-suited for manufacturing and business. 

The community at Economy thrived and attracted many well-known international visitors, as well as many westward-bound settlers. Despite a split in the Economy society in 1833, the Harmonists continued their way of life until the early 1900s.

The Zoar Separatists, founded by Joseph Bimeler in 1817, established a sectarian community in northeastern Ohio. They wished to separate themselves from the dominant society, did not vote or participate in political life, and became self-sufficient with a woolen factory, two flour mills, a sawmill, machine ship, and a summer resort hotel to attract tourism. They also brewed beer and milled cider. They lived communistically, that is, all property and wealth was held in common. In terms of goals, one member stated is this way:

‘Our object is to get into heaven, and help others to get there. . . . I formerly believed [our system] would spread all over the world. I thought every body would come into Communistic relations. I believe so still, but I don’ t know how far our particular system will prevail. In heaven there is only Communism; and why should it not be our aim to prepare ourselves in this world for the society we are sure to enter there? If we can get rid of our willfulness and selfishness here, there is so much done for heaven.’ 

OWENITES-NEW HARMONY

Robert Owen, the Scottish industrialist, deist, and social engineer, bought the Rappite village of Harmony, Ohio, lock, stock and barrel, in 1825. Owen, well-known in Britain, desired to come to America, where resistance to his experimental ideas would be minimal. In April of 1825, then, Owen and his colonists took over a ready-made community with

. . . one hundred and sixty houses, churches, dormitories, flour mills, textile factory, distilleries, breweries, a tannery, various craftsmen’s shops, over two thousand acres under cultivation with eighteen acres of vineyards and orchards, as well as additional pastureland and woods. (Rexroth, page 234)

As Owen experimented with factory reforms to raise the living standards of his impoverished workers, he became convinced that society needed to be transformed through a communitarian approach. At New Lanark Mills in England, Owen improved working and living conditions, reduced working hours, raised wages and built a progressive school for the children. In Owen’s own words,

‘An idle, dirty, dissolute, and drunken population was transformed by the application of proper means into one of order, neatness and regularity.’

Despite drawbacks, New Lanark continued to make a profit even in depression years. According to Owen, improvements in human character were the real success story. Owen came to believe that people were almost totally a product of their environment. By establishing the proper surroundings, lives would change for the better. New Lanark was proof that Owen’s ideas could work a dramatic change in the behavior and attitude of the workers.

Because of the outstanding success of New Lanark, Owen became well-known in England among businessmen, politicians and nobility. Even the House of Commons asked for his views on factory reform. Owenite “clubs” began to meet to discuss Owen’s ideas, and several communal settlements were formed. His rejection of the “free enterprise” economy and his open hostility to organized religion continued to cause many to oppose him.

The New World seemed to Owen the obvious place to set up his New Moral World on a grand scale. The open frontier beckoned. Perhaps one successful communitarian experiment would be the example which would cause the entire nation to become converted. Alter the environment and people’s baser nature will be transformed. In 1825, then, Owen’ss experiment began on the banks of the Wabash River in Ohio.

Initially, there was an immediate number of people who joined Owen and his followers from the surrounding Ohio countryside. Evidence suggests that this was partly because of the positive impression the Rappites had made. Americans, already familiar with the communitarian views of successful religious communities such as the Rappites and the Shakers, could adapt the experience to fit a purely secular mold.

In effect, what these men and women thought they discovered in Owenism . . . was a way of achieving the prosperity, the security, and the peace of a Shaker village without subjecting themselves to the celibacy and the narrow social conformity exacted by Shaker theology

By May, 1825, over eight hundred persons had arrived in New Harmony. Owen was ecstatic as he predicted the beginnings of a new order for society.

‘This country is ready to commence a new empire upon the principle of public property and to discard private property and the uncharitable notion that man can form his own character . . . I believe the whole of the district north of the Ohio River comprising all the free states will be [ready] for the change before the [end] of the year 1827. Our operations will soon extend to the blacks [ free and slaves] and the Indians.'

What was life like at New Harmony? There were difficulties—fundamental ones. Housing was a problem. There was also a severe shortage of managers, factory supervisors, skilled craftsmen and farmers. In the first year, manufacturing and agricultural production was far below expectations. Some factory buildings were not being used due to lack of experienced help. People who might have been productive were idle, due to lack of organization plans. The accounting system was complicated. Everyone who had financial needs was given free credit, so that work incentives remained low. A weekly “allowance” was allotted, with individual increases granted by a committee as needs arose. The heavy losses due to underproduction had to be subsidized from Owen’ s personal fortune.

Upon Owen’ s return in January, 1826, things began to improve. A free public school was organized under excellent progressive leadership. Weekly dances and concerts were scheduled; public lectures and discussions were held regularly. Parades and marching drills provided color. Society meetings and libraries were organized. A newspaper, the New Harmony Gazette, discussed freely all points of view on a variety of social, economic and political questions.

Owen said farewell to New Harmony in June, 1827, for England. His legacy at New Harmony was (1) a model for future social experiments; (2) an ongoing progressive educational enterprise which would greatly influence public education; (3) a blueprint of “do’s and don’ts” for community administration.

Owen had proven to be an enthusiastic visionary with a poorly thought out plan of action. The colonists had very little, besides the force of Owen’s personality and ideas, to bind them together. Owen’s well-publicized success with factory workers in New Lanark did not guarantee a successful socialistic experiment in the United States. Owen’s failure resulted in no new secular communitarian communities being established for over a decade. It wasn’t until the 1840’ s, with the Brook Farm and Fourierist Phalanxes, that secular communitarianism would see a revival. In the end, the failure at New Harmony was generally seen as a failure in leadership rather than principle; it was the failure of one man’s plan, not the failure of an ideology. The dream was still alive, carried on by the religious groups such as the Rappites and Shakers, who demonstrated the continued economic feasibility of communal living. It wasn’t until the sectarian groups fell behind economically in the 1860’s that the communitarian faith was finally shaken. Until that time, however, social and religious reformers would continue to plan and dream.

Brook Farm:  Brook Farm is perhaps the best-known experimental utopian community in America.  The community was founded in 1841 in West Roxbury, MA by George and Sophia Ripley.  Ripley, the editor of The Dial, the principle journal of Transcendentalism, sought to create a community that combined the ideals of individual self-reliance with radical social reform.  The Farm included 200 acres and four buildings to house residents; residents received free tuition to the community school, five percent annual interest, and one year's board in return for 300 days of labor.  The work of the members was centered around the six major activities of farming, working in the manufacutring shops, domestic endeavors, work on the buildings and grounds, and the planning of cooperative recreation projects.  Throughout 1842 and 1843, the community thrived and was visited by 4,000 guests including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, William Ellery Channing, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Over time, Ripley felt that Brook Farm needed to be part of the growing movement of Fourierism; however, his adoption of the Fourierian phalanx in 1844 was unpopular and many members left the community.  This, coupled with an outbreak of smallpox and a devastating fire on the Farm, let to the community's collapse in 1847.

Fruitlands:  In June 1843, Bronson Alcott, along with Charles Lane, established this utopian community in the small town of Harvard, MA.  Alcott became interested in communal living and was inspired to create a utopian community after meeting Lane during a teaching excursion to England in 1842.  Although there were several utopian communities in existence at the time that Alcott could have joined, he found them all lacking and unsatisfactory.  For example, Alcott felt that Brook Farm, the most notable utopian community at the time, was not "pure enough."  Therefore, the members of Fruitlands -- including a colorful group of people ranging from ex-convicts to nudists -- were forbidden to eat meat or use any animal products including wool, honey, wax, and manure.  Unfortunately, the community could not be sustained by human labor alone and the strict diet of fruits and grains left many members sick and malnourished.  Often, too, Alcott and Lane would go on lecturing tours to promote the community, leaving the women and children (including Alcott's wife and four daughters) to do all the manual labor.  When Emerson visited the community in June of 1843, he prophetically stated, "They look well in July.  We shall see them in December."  For although the members of Fruitlands never tried to produced more goods than they could use since they believed a surplus of material goods would inhibit spirituality, they ultimately could not produce enough.  The community collapsed in January of 1844. 

The Oneida Community:  The Oneida Community in Oneida, NY, was founded in 1841 by minister and radical reformer John Humphrey Noyes.  The philosophy underlying the community was known as Perfectionism -- a philosophy Noyes developed which revolved around "complex marriage," where every male was married to every female.  Although this "complex marriage" seemed adulterous and scandalous to pious observers, in actual practice, sexual activity was to be supervised and highly regulated.  In fact, in 1867, Noyes introduced a plan for scientific reproduction called "stipiculture" where "morally perfect" adults were selected to be "parents" to an improved race of children. 

In addition to the radical practices of Perfectionism, another component of the philosophy was mutual criticism -- a practice which required each community member to appear before a group of older members who would evaluate his/her personal strengths and weaknesses.  This method served to discipline commune members and promote a spirit of renewed cooperation.  

Unlike other utopian communities of the time, the Oneida Community abandoned horticulture and turned to business and manufacturing for their primary means of economic survival; in 1873 they sold over $300,000 in manufactured goods and farm produce.  Despite the rigid and radical tenets of Perfectionism, remarkably, Noyes ran the Community for over 30 years.  However, in 1879, threatened by legal action against him for immorality, Noyes fled to Canada.  Without him, the community soon fell apart and in 1881 became a joint stock company involved primarily in the production of silverware which has continued to the present day.

Sources: 

 "Utopian Communities in New England": http://www.uwm.edu/~abd/utopian.html

Historic utopian community sites open to the public: http://www.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/depts/amerst/utopia.htm

Information from the Yale-New haven Teachers Institute: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1987/2/87.02.06.x.html

Information on utopias in American with emphasis on the Amana Colonies: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/amana/utopia.htm