LI 5 RAFLY OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLI NOI5 CO f>' 5»- tnm nisToiicAi sumY HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. HV JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. LONDON: TRIHNER Sc CO., 8 & 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1870. ^- ./ o O PREFACE. en ^ The object of this book is to help the study of Sociahstn by the inductive method. It is, first and chiefly, a collection of facts ; and the attempts at in- terpretation and generalization which are interspersed, are secondary and not intentionally dogmatic. J It is certainly high time that Socialists should begin M to take lessons from experience ; and for this purpose, ithat they should chasten their confidence in flattering theories, and turn their attention to actual events. "t" This country has been from the beginning, and es- -' pecially for the last forty years, a laboratory in which Socialisms of all kinds have been experimenting. It "^ may safely be assumed that Providence has presided over the operations, and has taken care to make them instructive. The disasters of Owenism and Fourierism oxb^ve not been in vain ; the successes of the Shakers and Rappitcs have not been set before us for noth- ,;;::^ ing. We may hope to learn something from every ^ experiment. J IV PREFACE. The author, having had unusual advantages for ob- serving the SociaHstic movements, and especial good fortune in obtaining collections of observations made by others, has deemed it his duty to dev^ote a year to the preparation of this history. As no other systematic account of American Socialisms exists, the facts here collected, aside from any interpretation of them, may be valuable to the student of history, and entertaining to the general reader. The present issue may be considered a proof-sheet, as carefully corrected as it can be by individual vigil- ance. It is hoped that it will call out from experts in Socialism and others, corrections and additions that will improve it for future editions. Walliiia^ord, Conn., December, 1869. \> CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Introduction i II. Birds-eye View . . . . lo III. Theory of National Experience . 21 IV. New Harmony .... 30 V. Inquest on New Harmony . . 44 VI. Yellow Springs Community . 59 VII. Nashoba . . . . . .66 VIII. Seven Epitaphs .... 73 IX. Owen's General Career . .81 X. Connecting Links ... 93 XI. Channing's Brook Farm . . 102 XII. HOPEDALE . . . . . 119 XIII. The Religious Communities . .133 XIV. The Northampton Association 154 XV. The Skaneateles Community . 161 XX^. Social Architects ... 181 XVII. Fundamentals of Socialism , . 193 XVIII. Literature of Fourierism . . 200 XIX. The Personnel of Fourierism . 211 XX. The Sylvania Association . 233 VI CONTENTS. XXT. Other Pfnnsvlvania Experiments 251 XXTl. The Volcanic District . . 267 XXI II. The Clarkson Phalanx . . . 278 XXIV. The Sodus Bay Phalanx . . 286 XXV. Other New York Experiments . 296 XXVI. The Marlboro Association . 309 XXVII. Prairie Home Community . .316 XXVIII. The Trumbull Phalanx . 328 XXIX. The Ohio Phalanx . . . 354 XXX. The Clermont Phalanx . 366 XXXI. The Integral Phalanx . . . itj XXXII. The Alphadelphia Phalanx 388 XXXIII. La Grange Phalanx . . . 397 XXXIV. Other Western Experiments . 404 XXXV. The Wisconsin Phalanx . . .411 XXXVI. The North American Phalanx 449 XXXVII. Life at The North American . 468 XXXVIII. End of the North American . 487 XXXIX. Conversion of Brook Farm . . 512 XL. Brook Farm and Fourierism . 529 XLI. Brook Farm and Swedenborgianism 537 XLII. The End of Brook Farm . . 551 XLIII. The Spiritualist Com.munities . 564 XLIV The Brocton Community . 577 XLV. The Shakers 595 XLVI. The Oneida Community . . 614 XLVII. Review and Results . . . 646 XLVIII. Two Schools of Socialism 658 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Many years ago, when a branch of the Oneida Com- munity lived at Willow Place in Brooklyn, near New York, a sombre pilgrim called there one day, asking for rest and conversation. His business proved to be the collecting of memoirs of socialistic experiments. We treated him hospitably, and gave him the -information he sought about our Community. He repeated his visit several times in the course of some following years, and finally seemed to take a very friendly interest in our experiment. Thus we became acquainted with him, and also in a measure with the work he had undertaken, which was nothing less than a history of all the Associations and Communities that have lived and died in this country, within the last thirty or forty years. This man's name was A. J. Macdonald. We re- member that he was a person of small stature, with black hair and sharp eyes. He had a benevolent air, but seemed a little sad. We imagined that the sad A 2 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. scenes he had encountered while looking after the stories of so many short-lived Communities, had given him a tinge of melancholy. He was indeed the '* Old Mortality" of Socialism, wandering from grave to grave, patiently deciphering the epitaphs of defunct " Phalanxes." We learned from him that he was a Scotchman by birth, and a printer by trade ; that he was an admirer and disciple of Owen, and came from the " old country" some ten years before, partly to see and follow the fortunes of his master's experiments in Socialism : but finding Owenism in ruins and Fourier- ism going to ruin, he took upon himself the task of making a book, that should give future generations the benefit of the lessons taught by these attempts and failures. His own attempt was a failure. He gathered a huge mass of materials, wrote his preface, and then died in New York of the cholera. Our record of his last visit is dated February, 1854. Ten years later our attention was turned to the project of writing a history of American Socialisms. Such a book seemed to be a want of the times. We remembered Macdonald, and wished that by some chance we could obtain his collections. But we had lost all traces of them, and the hope of recovering them from the chaos of the great city where he died, seemed chimerical. Nevertheless some of our asso- ciates, then in business on Broadway, commenced inquiring at the printing offices, and soon found acquaintances of Macdonald, who directed them to the residence of his brother-in-law in the city. There, to our joyful surprise, we found the collections we were in search of, lying useless except as mementos, and a MACDONALD. 3 gentleman in charge of them who was willing we should take them and use them as we pleased. On examining our treasure, we found it to be a pile of manuscripts, of letter-paper size and three inches thick, with printed scraps from newspapers and pamphlets interspersed. All was in the loosest state of disorder ; but we strung the leaves together, paged them, and made an index of their contents. The book thus extemporized has been our companion, as the reader will see, in the ensuing history. The number of its pages is seven hundred and forty-seven. The index has the names of sixty-nine Associative experiments, beginning with Brook Farm and ending with the Shakers. The memoirs are of various lengths, from a mere mention to a narrative of nearly a hun- dred pages. Among them are notices of leading Socialists, such as Owen, Fourier, Frances Wright, &c. The collection was in no fit condition for publication ; but it marked out a path for us, and gave us a mass of material that has been very serviceable, and prob- ably could not elsewhere be found. The breadth and thoroughness of Macdonald's inten- tion will be seen in the following circular which, in the prosecution of his enterprise, he sent to many leading Socialists. PRINTED LETTER OF INQUIRY. ''New York, March, 185 1. " I have been for some time engaged in collecting the necessary materials for a book, to be entitled ' The Communities of the United States,' in which I propose giving a brief account of all the social and co-opera- tive experiments that have been made in this country 4 AMKRICAN SOCIALISMS. — their origin, principles, and progress ; and, particu- larly, the causes of their success or failure. " I have reason to believe, from long experience among social reformers, that such a work is needed, and will be both useful and interesting. It will serve as a guide to all future experiments, showing what has already been done ; like a light-house, pointing to the rocks on which so many have been wrecked, or to the haven in which the few have found rest. It will give facts and statistics to be depended upon, gathered from the most authentic sources, and form- ing a collection of interesting narratives. It will show the errors of enthusiasts, and the triumphs of the cool-thinking ; the disappointments of the sanguine, and the dear-bought experience of many social adven- turers. It will give mankind an idea of the labor of body and mind that has been expended to realize a better state of society ; to substitute a social and co- operative state for a competitive one ; a system of harmony, for one of discord. " To insure the truthfulness of the work, I propose to gather most of my information from individuals who have actually been engaged in the experiments of which I treat. With this object in view, I take the liberty to address you, asking your aid in carrying out my plan. I request you to give me an account of the experiment in which you were engaged at . For instance I require such information as the following questions would call forth, viz : " I. Who originated it, or how was it originated.'* " 2. What were its principles and objects } " 3. What were its means in land and money ? " 4. Was all the property put into common stock ? MACDONALD. 5 " 5. What was the number of persons in the Asso- ciation ? " 6. What were their trades, occupations and amount of skill? "7. Their education, natural intelligence and morality ? " 8. What religious belief, and if any, how preached and practised ? " 9. How were members admitted ? was there any standard by which to judge them, or any property qualification necessary ? " 10. Was there a written or printed constitution or laws? if so can you send me a copy ? "II. Were pledges, fines, oaths, or any coercive means used? " 12. When and where did the Association commence its experiment ? Please describe the locality ; what dwellings and other conveniences were upon it ; how many persons it could accommodate ; how many persons lived on the spot ; how much land was cultivated ; whether there were plenty of provisions ; &c., &c. " 13. How was the land obtained? Was it free or mortgaged ? Who owned it ? " 14. Were the new circumstances of the associates superior or inferior to the circumstances they enjoyed previous to their associating ? " 15. Did they obtain aid from without? " 16. What particular person or persons took the lead ? " 17. Who managed the receijits and expenditures, and were they honestly managed ? " 18. Did the associates agree or disagree, and in what ? " 19. How long did they keep together ? 6 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. " 20. When and why did they break up ? State the causes, direct and indirect. "21. If successful, what were the causes of success.-* " Any other information relating to the experiment, that you may consider useful and interesting, will be acceptable. By such information you will confer a great favor, and materially assist me in what I con- sider a good undertaking. " The work I contemplate will form a neat i2mo. volume, of from 200 to 280 pages, such as Lyell's ' Tour in the United States,' or Gorrie's ' Churches and Sects of the United States.' It will be published in New York and London at the lowest possible price, say, within one dollar ; and it is my intention, if pos- sible, to illustrate the work with views of Communities now in progress, or of localities rendered interesting by having once been the battle grounds of the new system against the old. " Please make known the above, and favor me with the names and addresses of persons who would be willing to assist me with such information as I require. " Trusting that I shall receive the same kind aid from you that I have already received from so many of my friends, " I remain, very respectfully, yours, " y\. J. Macuonald." Among the manuscripts in Macdonald's collection are many that were evidently written in response to this circular. Many others were written by himself as journals or reports of his own visits to various As.sociations. We have reason to believe that he spent most of his time from his arrival in this country in MACDONALD. 7 1842 till his death in 1854, in pilgrimages to every Community, and even to every grave of a Commu- nity, that he could hear of, far and near. He had done his work when he died. His collec- tion is nearly exhaustive in the extent of its survey. Very few Associations of any note are overlooked. And he evidently considered it ready for the press ; for most of his memoirs are endorsed with the word ''Complete" and with some methodical directions to the printer. He had even provided the illustrations prom- ised in his circular. Among his manuscripts are the following pictures : A pencil sketch and also a small wood engraving of the buildings of the North American Phalanx ; A wood engraving of the first mansion house of the Oneida Community ; A pencil sketch of the village of Modern Times ; A view in water-colors of the domain and cabin of the Clermont Phalanx ; A pencil sketch of the Zoar settlement ; Four wood engravings of Shaker scenes ; two of them representing dances ; one, a kneeling scene : and one, a " Mountain meeting ;" also a pencil sketch of Shaker dwellings at Watervliet ; A portrait of Robert Owen in wood ; A very pretty view of New Harmony in India ink ; A wood-cut of one of Owen's imaginary palaces ; Two portraits of Frances Wright in wood ; one representing her as she was in her prime of beauty, and the other, as she was in old age ; A fine steel engraving of Fourier. In the following preface, which was found among Macdonald's manuscripts, and which is dated a few 8 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. months before his death, we have a last and sure sig- nal that he considered his collection finished : PREFACE TO THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER I'UDLISHED. " I performed the task of collecting the materials which form this volume, because I thought I was doing good. At one time, sanguine in anticipating brilliant results from Communism, I imagined mankind better than they are, and that they would speedily prac- tise those principles which I considered so true. But the experience of years is now upon me ; I have mingled with ' the world,' seen stem reality, and now am anxious to do as much as in me lies, to make known to the many thousands who look for a 'better state' than this on earth as well as in heaven, the amount (as it were at a glance) of the labors which have been and are now being performed in this country to realize that ' better state'. It may help to waken dreamers, to guide lost wanderers, to convince skeptics, to re-assure the hopeful ; it may serve the uses of Statesmen and Philosophers, and interest the general reader ; but it is most desirable that it should increase the charity of all those who may please to examine it, when they see that it was for Humanity, in nearly all instances, that these things were done. " Of necessity the work is imperfect, because of the diflknilty in obtaining information on such subjects ; l^ut the attempt, whatever may be its result, should not be put off, since there is reason to believe that if not now collected, many jiarticulars of the various movements would be forever lost. " It remains for a future historian to continue the labor which I have thus superficially commenced ; for MACDONALD. 9 the day has not yet arrived when it can be said that Communism or Association has ceased to exist ; and it is possible yet, in the progress of things, that man will endeavor to cure his social diseases by some such means ; and a future history may contain the results of more important experiments than have ever yet been attempted. " I here return my thanks to the fearless, confiding, and disinterested friends, who so freely shared with me what little they possessed, to assist in the completion of this work. I name them not, but rejoice in their assistance. A. J. Macdonalu. ''New York City, 1854." The tone of this preface indicates that Macdonald was discouraged. The effect of his book, if he had lived to publish it, would have been to aggravate the re-action against Socialism which followed the collapse of Fourierism. We hope to make a better use of his materials. It should not be imagined that we are about to edit his work. A large part of his collections we shall omit, as irrelevant to our purpose. That part which we use will often be reconstructed and generally con- densed. Much of our material will be obtained from other sources. The plan and theory of this history are our own, and widely different from any that Mac- donald would have been willing to indorse. With these qualifications, we still acknowledge a large debt of gratitude to him and to the Providence that gave us his collections. lO AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. CHAPTER II. BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS. A GENERAL survey of the Socialistic field will be use- ful, before entering on the memoirs of particular Associ- ations ; and for this purpose we will now spread before us the entire Index of Macdonald's collections, adding to it a schedule of the number of pages which he gave to the several Associations, and the dates of their beginning and ending, so far as we have been able to find them. Many of the transitory Associations, it will be seen, " made no sign " when they died. The continuous Communities, such as the Shakers, of course have no terminal date. INDKX OF MACDONALD S COLLECTION. Associations. &c. Alphadelphia Phalanx Auxiliary Branch of the Association of AH Classes of All Nations Blue Spring Community Brazilian F^.-xperimciit Brook Farm Brooke's Kxperiment Brotherhood of the Union Bureau Co. Phalanx No. of Page s. Dates. • , 7 1843—6 on of 3 1836. I 1826—7 I 1841. 20 1842—7 5 1844. I 1850 — I. I 1843. BIRDS-EYE VIEW. I I Cincinnati Brotherhood Clarkson Industrial Association Clermont Phalanx Colony of Bethel Columbian Phalanx Commonwealth Society Communia Working Men's League Convention at Boston of the Friends of Association Convention in New York for organizing an Industrial Congress Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co. Coxsackie Community Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood Dunkers .... Ebenezer Community Emigration Society, 2d Section Forrestville Community Fourier, Life of . Franklin Community Garden Grove Goose Pond Community . Grand Prairie Community Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute Guatemala Experiment Haverstraw Community Hopedale Community Hunt's Experiment of Equality Icaria Integral Phalanx Jefferson County Industrial Association Kendal Community Lagrange Phalanx Leraysville Phalanx Macluria Marlboro Association 5 1845—8 II 1844. 13 1844—7 II 1852. I 1845. I 1819. e I 1850. 1843. I 1845. I 1825. 2 1826—7 2 1851. 4 1724. 5 1843. 4 1843. I 1825. 3 I 1826. I 1848. . I 1843. 2 1 84-. 8 1853- I 1843. 3 1826. 13 1842. 12 1843—7 82 1849. 5 1845. 3 1843. 4 1826. 2 1843. 5 1844. 7 1826. 10 1841. 12 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. McKean County Association Modern Times Moorhouse Union Moravians, or United Brethren Murray, Orson S. Nasiioba New Lanark New Harmony North American Phalanx Northampton Association Ohio I'hahinx Oneida Community One-mentian Community Ontario Phahmx Owen, Robert Prairie Home Community Raritan Bay Union Sangamon IMiahinx Shakers Skaneateles Comnvinity Social Reform Unity Sodus Bay Phalanx Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove Spring Farm Association St. Louis Reform Association Sylvania Association Trumbull Phalanx United Cermans Venezuelan Experiment Warren, Josiah, Time Store &c. Washtenaw Phalanx Wisconsin Phalanx Wright, Frances Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community \'ello\v Springs Communitv Zoar 3 6 9 3 14 lO 6o 38 7 II 27 6 I 25 23 5 I 93 18 23 3 3 3 I 25 13 2 25 II I 21 9 5 I 8 1843. 1851. 1843. 1745- 8. 1825 1 799. 1825-7 •843-55 1842. '844—5 1847 1843 1844. 1844 1853 1845 1776 1843 1842 1844 1853 1846 — 9 1851. 1843—5 6. 1844—7. 1827. 1844—6. 1842. 1843. 1844-50. 1780. 1825. 18,9. I5IRDS-EVE VIEW. 13 On general survey of the matter contained in this index, we may begin to sort it in the following manner: First we will lay aside the antique religions Associ- ations, such as the Bunkers, Moravians, Zoarites, &c. We count at least seven of these, which do not properly belong to the modern socialistic movement, or even to American life. Having their origin in the old world, and most of them in the last century, and remaining without change, they exist only on the outskirts of general society. Next we put out of account the foreign Associations, such as the Brazilian and Venezuelan experiments. With these may be classed those of the Icarians and some others, which, though within the United States, are, or were, really colonies of foreigners. We see six of this sort in the index. Thirdly, we dismiss two or three Spiritualistic at- tempts that are named in the list ; first, because they never attained to the dignity of Associations ; and sec- ondly, because they belonged to a later movement than that which Macdonald undertook to record. The social experiments of the Spiritualists should be treated by themselves, as the seqnelce of the Fourier excitement of Macdonald's time. The Associations that are left after these exclusions, naturally fall into two groups, viz. ; those of the Owen MOVEMENT, and those of the Fourier movement. Robert Owen came to this country and commenced his experiments in Communism in 1824. This was the beginning of a national excitement, which had a course somewhat like that of a religious revival or a political campaign. This movement seems to have culminated in 1826; and, grouped around or near that year, we find 14 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. in Macdonald's list, the names of eleven Communities. These were not all strictly Owenite Communities, but probably all owed their birth to the general excitement that followed Owen's labors, and may therefore, properly be classified as belonging to the Owen movement. Fourierism was introduced into this country by Albert Brisbane and Horace Greeley in 1842, and then com- menced another great national movement similar to that of Owenism, but far more universal and enthusiastic. We consider the year 1843 the focal period, of this social revival ; and around that year or following it with- in the forties, we find the main group of Macdonald's Associations. Thirty-four of the list may clearly be re- ferred to this epoch. Many, and perhaps most of them, never undertook to carry into practice Fourier's theories in full ; and some of them would disclaim all alTiliation with Fourierism ; but they all originated in a common excitement, and that excitement took its rise from the publications of Brisbane and Greeley. Confining ourselves, for the present, to these two groups of Associations, belonging respectively to the Owen movement of 1826 and the Fourier movement of 1843, we will now give a brief statistical account of each Association ; i. e., all we can find in Macdonald's collec- tion, on the following points : i, Locality; 2, Number of members ; 3, Amount of land ; 4, Amount of debt ; 5, Duration. We give the amount of land instead of any other measurement of capital, because all and more than all the capital of the Associations was generally invested in land, and because it is difficult to distinguish, in most cases, between the cash capital that was actually paid in, and that which was only subscribed or talked about. BIRDS-EYE VIEW. ' 1 5 As to the reliability of these statistics, we can only say that we have patiently picked them out, one by one, like scattered bones, from Macdonald's heap. Though they may be faulty in some details, we are confident that the general idea they give of the attempts and experien- ces of American Socialists, will not be far from the truth. Experiments of the Owen Epoch. Blue Spring Community ; Indiana ; no particulars, except that it lasted " but a short time." Co-operative Society ; Pennsylvania ; no particulars. Coxsackie Community ; New York ; capital " small ;" " very much in debt ;" duration between i and 2 years. Forrestville Community ; Indiana ; " over 5o mem- bers ;" 325 acres of land ; duration more than a year. Franklin Community ; New York ; no particulars. Haverstraw Community ; New York ; about 80 mem- bers ; 120 acres ; debt $12,000 ; duration 5 months. Kendal Community ; Ohio ; 200 members ; 200 acres ; duration about 2 years. Macluria ; Indiana ; 1 200 acres ; duration about 2 years. New Harmony ; Indiana ; 900 members ; 30,000 acres, worth $150,000; duration nearly 3. years. Nashoba ; Tennessee; 15 members; 2,000 acres ; duration about 3 years. Yellow Spring Community ; Ohio ; 75 to 100 families ; duration 3 months. Experiments of the Fourier Epoch. Alphadelphia Phalanx ; Michigan ; 400 or 500 mem- bers ; 2814 acres ; duration 2 years and 9 months. Brook Farm ; Massachusetts ; 115 members ; 200 acres ; duration 5 years. l6 AMIIKICAN SOCIALISMS. Ikooke's experiment ; Ohio ; few members ; no fur- ther particulars. Bureau Co. Phalanx ; Illinois ; small ; no particulars. Clarkson Industrial Association ; New York ; 420 members ; 2000 acres ; duration from 6 to 9 months. Clermont Phalanx ; Ohio ; 1 20 members ; 9C0 acres ; debt $19,000 ; duration 2 years or more. Columbian Phalanx ; Ohio ; no particulars. Garden Grove ; Iowa ; no particulars. Goose Pond Community ; Pennsylvania ; 60 members ; duration a few months. Grand Prairie Community ; Ohio ; no particulars. Hopedale ; Massachusetts ; 200 members ; 500 acres ; duration not stated, but commonly reported to be 17 or 18 years. Integral Phalanx ; Illinois ; 30 families ; 508 acres ; duration 17 months. Jefi'erson Co. Industrial Association ; New York ; 400 members ; 1200 acres of land ; duration a few months. Lafjjrangc Phalanx ; Indiana; 1000 acres ; no further particulars. Leraysville Phalanx ; Pennsylvania ; 40 members ; 300 acres ; duration 8 months. Marlboro Association ; Ohio ; 24 members ; had " a load of debt ;" duration nearly 4 years. McKean Co. Association ; Pennsylvania ; 30,000 acres ; no further particulars. Moorhouse Union ; New York ; 120 acres ; duration " a few months." North American Phalanx; New Jersey; 112 mem- bers ; 673 acres ; debt $17,000 ; duration 12 years. Northampton Association ; Massachusetts; 130 mem- BIRDS-EYE VIEW. 1 7 bers ; 500 acres of land ; debt $40,000 ; duration 4 years, Ohio Phalanx; 100 members; 2,200 acres; deeply in debt ; duration 10 months. One-mentian ( meaning probably one-mind ) Commu- nity ; Pennsylvania ; 800 acres ; duration one year. Ontario Phalanx ; New York ; brief duration. Prairie Home Community ; Ohio ; 500 acres ; debt broke it up ; duration one year. Raritan Bay Union ; New Jersey ; few members ; 268 acres. Sangamon Phalanx ; Illinois ; no particulars. Skaneateles Community ; New York ; 1 50 members ; 354 acres ; debt $10,000 ; duration 2 1-2 years. Social Reform Unity ; Pennsylvania ; 20 members ; 2,000 acres ; debt $2,400 ; duration about 10 months. Sodus Bay Phalanx ; New York ; 300 members ; 1 ,400 acres ; duration a " short time." Spring Farm Association ; Wisconsin ; 10 families ; duration 3 years. Sylvania Association ; Pennsylvania; 145 members; 2394 acres ; debt $7,900 ; duration nearly 2 years. Trumbull Phalanx ; Ohio ; 1500 acres ; duration 2 1-2 years. Washtenaw Phalanx ; Michigan ; no particulars. Wisconsin Phalanx ; 32 families ; 1,800 acres ; dura- tion 6 years. RccapiUilation and Comments. I. Localities. The Owen group were distributed among the States as follows : in Indiana, 4 ; in New York, 3 ; in Ohio, 2 ; in Penn.sylvania, r ; in Ten- nessee, I. B 1 8 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. The Fourier <^roup were located as follows : in Ohio, 8; in New York, 6; in Pennsylvania, 6 ; in Massachu- setts, 3 ; in Illinois, 3 ; in New Jersey, 2 ; in Michi- gan, 2 ; in Wisconsin, 2 ; in Indiana, i ; in Iowa, i. Indiana had the greatest numlier in the first group, and the least in the second. New England was not represented in the Owen group ; and only by three Associations in the Fourier group ; and those three were all in Massachusetts. The southern states were represented by only one Association — that of Nashoba, in the Owen grouj) — and that was little more than an eleemosynary attempt of Frances Wright to civilize the negroes. The two groups combined were distributed as follows : in Ohio, 10; in New York, 9 ; in Pennsylvania, 7 ; in Indiana, 5 ; in Massachusetts, 3 ; in Illinois, 3 ; in New Jersey, 2 ; in Michigan, 2 ; in Wisconsin. 2 ; in Tennes- see, I ; in Iowa, i. 2. Number of mct)ibcrs. I'he figures in our epitome (reckoning five persons to a family when families are mentioned), give an aggregate of 4,801 members: but these belong to only twenty-five Associations. The numbers of the remaining twenty are not definitely reported. The average of those reported is about 192 to an Association. Extending this average to the rest. we have a total of 8,641. The numbers belonging to single Associations \ary from 15 to 900; but in a majority of cases they were between 100 and 200. 3. The atnoiint of laud reported is enormous. Aver- asrinc: it as we did in the case of the number of mem- bers, we make a grand total of 136,586 acres, or about RIRDS-EYE VIEW. 1 9 3,000 acres to each Association ! This is too much for any probable average. We will leave out as excep- tional, the 60,000 acres reported as belonging to New Harmony and the McKean Co. Association. Then averaging as before, we have a grand total of 44,624 acres, or about 1,000 acres to each Association. Judging by our own experience we incline to think that this fondness for land, which has been the habit of Socialists, had much to do with their failures. Farm- ing is about the hardest and longest of all roads to for- tune : and it is the kind of labor in which there is the most uncertainty as to modes and theories, and of course the largest chance for disputes and discords in such complex bodies as Associations. Moreover the lust for land leads off into the wilderness, " out west," or into by-places, far away from railroads and markets ; whereas Socialism, if it is really ahead of civilization, ought to keep near the centers of business, and at the front of the general march of improvement. We should have advised the Phalanxes to limit their land-investments to a minimum, and put their strength as soon as possible into .some form of manufacture. Almost any kind of a factory would be better than a farm for a Community nursery. We find hardly a vestige of this policy in Macdonald's collections. The saw-mill is the only form of mechanism that figures much in his reports. It is really ludicrous to see how uniformly an old saw-mill turns up in connection with each Association, and how zealously the brethren made much of it ; but that is about all they attempted in the line of manufacturing. Land, land, land, was evidently regarded by them as the mother of all gain and comfort. Considering how much they must have run in debt for land, and how little 20 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. profit they f^ot from it, we may say of them almost literally, that they were " wrecked by running aground." 4. Amount of debt. Macdonald's reports on this point are few and indefinite. The sums owed are stated for only seven of the Associations. They vary from $1,000 to $40,000. F'ive other Associations are re- ported as "very much in debt, " " deeply in debt," &c. The exact indebtedness of these and of the remaining thirty-three, is probably beyond the reach of history. But we have reason to think that nearly all of them bought, to begin with, a great deal more land than they paid for. This was the fashion of the socialistic schools and of the times. 5. The duration of fourteen Associations is not re- ported ; twelve lasted less than i year ; two i year ; four between i and 2 years ; three 2 years ; four between 2 and 3 years ; one between 3 and 4 years ; one 4 years ; one 5 years ; one 6 years ; one 12 years, and one (it is said) 17 years. All died young, and most of them before they were two years old. 21 CHAPTER III. THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE. Now that our phenomena are fairly before us, a little speculation may be appropriate. One wants to know what position these experiments, which started so gaily and failed so soon, occupy in the history of this country and of the world ; what relation they have to Christianity ; what their meaning is in the great scheme of Providence. Students of Socialism and history must have some theory about their place and significance in the great whole of things. We have studied them somewhat in the circumspective way, and will devote a few pages to our theory about them. It will at least correct any impression that we intend to treat them dis- respectfully. And first we keep in mind a clear and wide dis- tinction between the Associations and the movements from which they sprung. The word movement is very convenient, though very indefinite. We use it to desig- nate the wide-spread excitements and discussions about Socialism which led to the experiments we have epitomized. In our last chapter we incidentally com- pared the socialistic movements of the Owen and 22 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. Fourier epochs to religious revivals. We might now complete the idea, by comparing the Associations that issued from those movements, to churches that were organized in consequence of the revivals. A vast spiritual and intellectual excitement is one thing ; and the institutions that rise out of it are another. We must not judge the excitement by the institutions. We get but a very imperfect idea of the Owen and Fourier movements from the short-liv^ed experiments whose remains are before us in Macdonald's collections. In the first place Macdonald, faithful as he was, did not discover all the experiments that were made during those movements. We remember some that are not named in his manuscripts. And in the next place the numbers engaged in the practical attempts were very small, in comparison with the masses that entered into the enthusiasm of the general movements and aban- doned themselves to the idea of an impending social revolution. The eight thousand and six hundred that we found by averaging Macdonald's list, might probably be doubled to represent the census of the obscure unknown attemjjts, and then multiplied by ten to cover the outside multitudes that were converted to Socialism in the course of the Owen and Fourier revivals. Owen in 1824 stirred the very life of the nation with his appeals to Kings and Congresses, and his vast experiments at New Harmony. Think, of his family of nine hundred members on a farm of thirty thousand acres ! A magnificent beginning, that thrilled the world ! The general movement was proportionate to this beginning ; and though this great Community and all the little ones that followed it failed and disappeared in a few years, the movement did not cease. Owen and NATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 23 his followers — especially his son Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright — continued to agitate the country with newspapers, public lectures, and " Fanny Wright socie- ties," till their ideas actually got foot-hold and influence in the great Democratic party. The special enthusiasm for practical attempts at Association culminated in 1826, and afterwards subsided ; but the excitement about Owen's ideas, which was really the Owen move- ment, reached its height after 1830; and the embers of it are in the heart of the nation to this day. On the other hand, Fourier ( by proxy) started another national excitement in 1842. With young Brisbane for its cosmopolitan apostle, and a national newspaper, such as the New York Trihime was, for its organ, this movement, like Owen's, could not be other- wise than national in its dimensions. We shall have occasion hereafter to show how vast and deep it was, and how poorly it is represented by the Phalanxes that figure in Macdonald's memoirs. Meanwhile let the reader consider that several of the men who were leaders in this excitement, were also leaders then and afterwards in the old Whig party ; and he will have reason to conclude that Socialism, in its duplex form of Owenism and Fourierism, has touched and modified both of the party-sections and all departments of the national life. We must not think of the two great socialistic revivals as altogether heterogeneous and separate. Their parti- zans maintained theoretical opposition to each other ; but after all the main idea of both was the enlargement of home — the extension of family nnion beyond the little man-and-ivife cirele to large corporations. In this idea the two movements were one ; and this was the charm- 24 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. in<^ idea that caught the attention and stirred the enthu- siasm of the American jjeople. Owenism prepared the way for Fourierism. The same men, or at least the same sort of men that took part in the Owen move- ment, were afterward carried away by the Fourier enthusiasm. The two movements may, therefore, be regarded as one ; and in that view, the period of the great American sociaUstic revival e.xtends from 1824, through the final and overwhelming excitement of 1843, to the collapse of Fourierism after 1846. As a man who has passed through a series of passional excitements, is never the same being after- ward, so we insist that these socialistic paroxysms have changed the heart of the nation ; and that a yearning toward social reconstruction has become a part of the continuous, permanent, inner experience of the Ameri- can people. The Communities and Phalan.xes died almost as soon as they were born, and are now almost forgotten. Hut the spirit of Socialism remains in the life of the nation. It was di.scouraged and cast down by the failures of 1828 and 1846, and thus it learned salutary caution and self-control. But it lives still, as a hope watching for the morning, in thousands and per- haps millions who never took part in any of the experi- ments, and who are neither Owenites nor Fourierites, but simply Socialists without theory — believers in the possibility of a scientific and heavenly reconstruction of society. Thus our theory harmonizes Owenism with Fourier- ism, and regards them both as working toward the same end in American history. Now we will go a step further and attempt the reconciling of still greater repugnances. Since the war of 18 12 — 15, the line of .socialistic ex- NATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 25 citements lies parallel with the line of religious Revivals. Each had its two great leaders, and its two epochs of enthusiasm. Nettleton and Finney were to Revivals, what Owen and Fourier were to Socialism. Nettleton prepared the way for Finney, though he was opposed to him, as Owen prepared the way for Fourier. The enthusiasm in both movements had the same progres- sion. Nettleton's agitation, like Owen's, was moderate and somewhat local. Finney, like Fourier, swept the nation as with a tempest. The Revival periods were a little in advance of those of Socialism. Nettleton commenced his labors in 1817, while Owen entered the field in 1824. Finney was at the height of his power in 1 83 1 — 3, while Fourier was carrying all before him in 13^2 — 3. Thus the movements were to a certain extent alternate. Opposed as they were to each other theologically — one being a movement of Bible men, and the other of infidels and liberals — they could not be expected to hold public attention simultaneously. But looking at the whole period from the end of the war in 181 5 to the end of Fourierism after 1846, and allowing Revivals a little precedence over Socialism, we find the two lines of excitement parallel, and their phenomena wonderfully similar. As we have shown that the socialistic movement was national, so, if it were necessary, we might here show that the Revival movement was national. There was a time between 1831 and 1834 when the American people came as near to a surrender of all to the Kingdom of Heaven, as they came in 1843 to a socialistic revolution. The Millennium seemed as near in 1831, as Fourier's Age of Harmony seemed in 1843. ^^"^1 the final effect of Revivals was a hope watching for the morning, which 26 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. remains in the life of the nation, side by side, nay iden- tical with, the great hope of Socialism. And these movements — Revivalism and Socialism — opposed to each other as they may seem, and as they have been in the creeds of their partizans, are clo.sely related in their essential nature and objects, and mani- festly belong together in the scheme of Providence, as they do in the history of this nation. They are to each other as inner to outer — as soul to body — as life to its surroundings. The Revivalists had for their great idea the regeneration of the soul. The great idea of the Socialists was the regeneration of society, which is the soul's environment. These ideas belong together, and are the complements of each other. Neither can be successfuly embodied by men whose minds are not wide enough to accept them both. In fact these two ideas, which in modern times are so wide apart, were present together in original Chris- tianity. When the Spirit of truth pricked three thous- and men to the heart and converted them on the day of Pentecost, its ne.xt effect was to resolve them into one family and introduce Communism of property. Thus the greatest of all Revivals was also the great inaugura- tion of Socialism. Undoubtedly the Socialists will think we make too much of the Revival movement ; and the Revivalists will think we make too much of the Socialistic move- ment ; and the politicians will think we make too much of both, in assigning them important places in Ameri- can history. Hut we hold that a man's deepest expe- riences are those of religion and love ; and these are just the experiences in respect to which he is most apt to be ashamed, and most inclined to be silent. So the NATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 2/ nation says but little, and tries to think that it thinks but little, about its Revivals and its Socialisms ; but they are nevertheless the deepest and most interesting passages of its history, and worth more study as deter- minatives of character and destiny, than all its politics and diplomacies, its money matters and its wars. Doubtless the Revivalists and Socialists despise each other, and perhaps both will despise us for imagining that they can be reconciled. But we will say what we believe ; and that is, that they have both failed in their attempts to bring heaven on earth, because they despised each other, and would not put their two great ideas together. The Revivalists failed for want of regen- eration of society, and the Socialists failed for want of regeneration of the heart. On the one hand the Revivalists needed daily meet- ings and continuous criticism to save and perfect their converts ; and these things they could not have without a thorough reconstruction of domestic life. They tried the expedient of " protracted meetings," which was really a half-way attack on the fashion of the world ; but society was too strong for them, and their half-measures broke down, as all half-measures must. What they needed was to convert their churches into unitary fam- lies, and put them into unitary homes, where daily meet- ings and continuous criticism are possible ; — and be- hold, this is Socialism ! On the other hand the Socialists, as often as they came together in actual attempts to realize their ideals, found that they were too selfish for close organization. The moan of Macdonald was, that after seeing the stern reality of the experiments, he lost hope, and was obliged to confess that he had " imagined mankind better than 28 AMKKICAN SOCIALISMS. they are." Thi.s was the final confession of the leaders in the Associative experiments generally, from Owen to the last of the Fourierites ; and this confession means, that Socialism needed for its complement, regeneration of the heart ; — and behold, this is Revivalism ! These discords and failures of the past surely have not been in vain. Perhaps Providence has carried for- ward its regenerative designs in two lines thus far, for the sake of the advantage of a "division of labor." While the Bible men have worked for the regeneration of the soul, the infidels and liberals have been busy on the problem of the reconstruction of society. Working apart and in enmity, perhaps they have accomplished more for final harmony than they could have done together. Even their failures when rightly interpreted, may turn to good account. They have both helped to plant in the heart of the nation an unfailing hope of the "good time coming." Their lines of labor, though we have called them parallel, must really be convergent ; and we may hope that the ne.xt phase of national history will be that of Revivalism and Socialism harmonized, and working together for the Kingdom of Heaven. To complete our historical theory, we must mention in conclusion, one point of contrast between the Socialisms and the Revivals. The Socialisms zvcrc iviportcd from Europe ; while the Re^nvals ivere American productions. Owen was an Englishman, and Fourier was a Frenchman ; but Nettleton and Finney were both American.s — both natives of Connecticut. In the comparison we confine ourselves to the period since the war of 1812, because the history of the general socialistic excitements in this country is limited NATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 29 to that period. But the Revivals have an anterior his- tory, e.xtending back into the eadiest times of New Encjland. The great American system of Revivals, of which the Nettleton and Finney excitements were the continuation, was born in the first half of the last cen- tury, in central Massachusetts. Jonathan Edwards, whose life extended from 1703 to 1758, was the father of it. So that not only since the war of 181 2, but before the Revolution of 1776, we find Revivalism, as a system, strictly an American production. We call the Owen and Fourier movements, American Socialisms, because they were national in their dimen- sions, and American life chiefly was the subject of them. But looking at what may be called the male element in the production of them, they were really European movements, propagated in this country. Nevertheless, if we take the view that Socialism and Revivalism are a unit in the design of Providence, one looking to the regeneration of externals and the other to the regenera- tion of internals, we may still call the entire movement American, as having Revivalism, which is American, for its inner life, though Socialism, the outer element, was imported from England and France. 30 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. CHAPTER IV. \ E \V 1 1 A k M ( > X \'. American Socialisms, as we have defined them and grouped their experiments, may be called non-rcligioiis Socialisms. Several relis2jious Communities flourished in this country before Owen's attempts, and have con- tinued to flourish here since the collapse of Fourierism. But they were originally colonies of foreigners, and never were directly connected with movements that could be called national. Owen was the first Socialist that stirred the enthusiasm of the whole American peo- ple ; and he was the first, so far as we know, who tried the experiment of a non-religious Community. And the whole series of experiments belonging to the two great groups of the Owen and Fourier epochs, followed in his footsteps. The exclusion of theology was their dis- tinction and their boast. Our programme, limited as it is by its title to these national Socialisms, does not strictly include the religious Communities. Yet those Communities have played indirectly a very important part in the drama of American Socialisms, and will require considerable inci- dental attention as we proceed. NEW HARMONY. 31 In attempting to make out from Macdonald's collec- tion an outline of Owen's great experiment at New Harmony (which was the prototype of all the Owen and Fourier experiments), we find ourselves at the outset quite unexpectedly dealing with a* striking example of the relation between the religious and non-religious Communities. Owen did not build the village of New Harmony, nor create the improvements which prepared his 30,000 acres for his family of nine hundred. He bought them outright from a previous religious Community ; and it is doubtful whether he would have ever gathered his nine hundred and made his experiment, if he had not found a place prepared for him by a sect of Christian Com- munists. Macdonald was an admirer, we might almost say a worshiper, of Owen. He gloats over New Harmony as the very Mecca of his devotion. There he spent his first eighteen months in this country. The finest pic- ture in his collection is an elaborate India-ink drawing of the village. But he scarcely mentions the Rappitcs who built it. No separate account of them, such as he gives of the Shakers and Moravians, can be found in his manuscripts. This is an unaccountable neglect ; for their pre-occupation of New Harmony and their trans- actions with Owen, must have thrust them upon his notice ; and their history is intrinsically as interesting, to say the least, as that of any of the religious Communities. A glance at the history of the Rappites is in many ways indispensable, as an introduction to an account of Owen's New Harmony. We must therefore address ourselves to the task which Macdonald neglected. 32 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. THK HAK.MOXISTS. In the first years of the present century, old Wur- temburg, a province always famous for its religious enthusiasms, was fermenting with excitement about the Millennium ; and many of its enthusiasts were ex'iject- ing the speedy personal advent of Christ Among these George Rapp became a prominent preacher, and led forth a considerable sect into doctrines and ways that brought upon him and them severe persecutions. In 1803 he came to America to find a refuge for his flock. After due exploration he purchased 5000 acres of land in Butler Co.. Pennsylvania, and commenced a settlement which he called Harmony. In the summer of 1804 two ship-loads of his disciples with their families — six hundred in all — came over the ocean and joined him In 1805 the Society was formally organized as a Chri.s- tian Community, on the model of the Pentecostal church. For a time their fare was poor and their work was hard. An evil eye from their neighbors was upon them. Hut they lived down calumny and suspicion by well-doing, and soon made the wilderness blossom around them like the rose. In 1S07 they adopted the principle of celibacy ; but in other respects they were far from being ascetics. Music, painting, sculpture, and other liberal arts flourished among them. Their mu- seums and gardens were the wonder and delight of the region around them. In 1814, desiring warmer land and a better location for business, they sold all in Penn- sylvania and removed to Indiana. On the banks of the Wabash they built a new village and again called it Harmony. Here they prospered more than ever, and their number increased to nearly a thousand. In 1824 they again became discontented with their location, on NEW HARMONY. 33 account of bad neighbors and malaria. Again they sold all, and returned to Pennsylvania ; but not to their old home. They built their third and final village in Beaver Co , near Pittsburgh, and called it Economy. There they are to this day. They own railroads and oil wells and are reported to be millionaires of the unknown grade. In all their migrations from the old world to the new, from Pennsylvania to Indiana, and from Indiana back to Pennsylvania ; in all their perils by persecutions, by false brethren, by pestilence, by poverty and wealth, their religion held them together, and their union gave them the strength that conquers prosperity. A notable example of what a hundred families can do when they have the wisdom of harmony, and fight the battle of life in a solid phalanx ! A nobler "six hundred" than the famous dragoons of Balaklava ! Such were the people who gave Robert Owen his first lessons in Communism, and sold him their home in Indiana. Ten of their best years they spent in building a village on the Wabash, not for themselves (as it turned out), but for a theater of the great infidel experiment. Rev. Aaron Williams, D. D., the historian to whom we are indebted for the facts of the above sketch, thus describes the negotiations and the transfer : " The Harmonists, when they began to think of re- turning to Pennsylvania, employed a certain Richard Hower, an Englishman, and a prominent member of an Engli.sh settlement in their vicinity, to negotiate for a sale of their real estate, offering him five thousand dol- lars to find a purchaser. Flower went to England for this purpose, and hearing of Robert Owen's Community at New Lanark, he sought him out and succeeded in .selling to him the town of Harmony, with all its houses, c 34 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. mills, factories and thirty thousand acres of land, for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was an im- mense sacrifice ; but they were determined to leave the country, and they submitted to the loss. Havinpite church. There was no provision for religious worship. Eive military companies, " consisting of infantry, artillery, riflemen. NEW HARMONY. 37 veterans and fusileers," did duty from time to time on the public square. Constitution No. 2. "Mr. Owen returned to New Harmony on the 12th of January, 1826, and soon after the members of the Prehminary Society held a convention, and adopted a constitution of a Community, entitled The New Hav- 7nony Community of Equality. Thus in less than a year, instead of three years as Mr. Owen had proposed, the ' half-way house' came to an end, and actual Com- munism commenced. A few of the members, who, on account of a difference of opinions, did not sign the new constitution, formed a second Community on the New Harmony estate about two miles from the town, in friendly connection with the first." The new government instituted by Mr. Owen, was to be in the hands of an Executive Conncil, subject at all times to the direction of the Community ; and six gen- tlemen were appointed to this function. But Macdonald says : " Difficulties ensued in organizing the new Com- munity. It appears that the plan of government by executive council would not work, and that the members were unanimous in calling upon Mr. Owen to take the sole management, judging from his experience that he was the only man who could do so. This call Mr. Owen accepted, and we learn that soon after general satisfaction and individual contentment took the place of suspense and uncertainty." This was in fact the inauguration of Constitution N'o. 3. "In March the Gazette says that under the indefati- gable attention of Mr. Owen, order had been introduced 38 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. into every department of business, and the farm presented a scene of active and steady industry. The Society was rapidly becomin<( a Community t)f Equal- ity. The streets no longer exhibited groups of idle talkers, but each one was busily engaged in the occupa- tion he had chosen. The public meetings, instead of being the arenas for contending orators, were changed into meetings of business, where consultations were held and measures adopted for the comfort of all the members of the Community. " In April there was a disturbance in the village on account of negotiations that were going on for securing the estate as private property. Some persons attempted to divide the town into several societies. Mr Owen would not agree to this, and as he had the power, he made a selection, and by solemn examination constituted a nucleus of twenty-five men, which uuclcus was to admit members, Mr. Owen reserving the power to veto every one admitted. There were to be three grades of mem- bers, viz., conditional members, probationary members, and persons on trial. (.-') The Community was to be under the direction of Mr. Owen, until two-thirds of the members shcxild think fit to govern themselves, pro- vided the time was not less than twelve months." This may be called, Constitutiou Xo. 4. In May a third Community had been formed ; and the population was divided between No. i, which was Mr. Owen's Community, No. 2, which was called Macluria, and No. 3, which was called Feiba Pei'en — a name designating in some mysterious way the latitude and longitude of New Harmony. NEW HARMONY, 39 "May 27. The immigration continued so steadily, that it became necessary for the Community to inform the friends of the new views that the accommodations were inadequate, and call upon them by advertisement not to come until further notice." Constitutio7i No. 5. " May 30. In consequence of a variety of troubles and disagreements, chiefly relating to the disposal of the property, a great meeting of the whole population was held, and it was decided to form four separate societies, each signing its own contract for such part of the property as it should purchase, and each managing its own affairs ; but to trade with each other by paper money." Mr. Owen was now beginning to make sharp bargains with the independent Communities. Macdonald says, " He had lost money, and no doubt he tried to regain some of it, and used such means as he thought would prevent further loss." On the 4th of July Mr. Owen delivered his celebrated Declaration of Mental Independence, from which we give the following specimen : " I now declare to you and to the world, that Man, up to this hour, has been in all parts of the earth a slave to a Trinity of the most monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical evil upon his whole race. I refer to Private or Individual Property, Absurd and Irrational systems of Religion, and Mar- riage founded on Individual Property, combined with some of these Irrational systems of Religion." "August 20. After Mr. Owen had given his usual address, it was unanimously agreed by the meeting that 40 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. the entire population of New Harmony should meet three times a week in the Hall, for the purpose of being educated together. This practice was continued about six weeks, when Mr. Owen became sick and it was discontinued." Co?istitntion No. 6. "August 25. The people held a meeting at which they abolished all officers then existing, and appointed three men as dictators." CoHstitutioji No. 7. " Sept. 1 7. A large meeting of all the Societies and the whole population of the town took place at the Hall, for the purpose of considering a plan for the ' auicliora- tiou of the Society, to improve the condition of the people, and make them more contented.' A message was re- ceived from Mr. Owen proposing to form a Community with as many as would join him, and put in all their property, save what might be thought necessary to re- serve to help their friends ; the government to consist of Robert Owen and ionv others of his choice, to be appointed b)' him every year ; and not to be altered for five years. This movement of course nullified all previous organizations. Disagreements and jealousies ensued, and, as was the case on a former change being made, many persons left New Harmony. "Nov, I. The Gazette sa.ys: 'Eighteen months ex- perience has proved to us, that the requisite qualifications for a permanent member of the Community of Common Property are, i. Honesty of purpose ; 2, Temperance ; 3, Industry ; 4, Carefulness; 5, Cleanliness ; 6, Desire for knowledge ; 7, A conviction of the fact that the character of man is formed for, and not by, himself.* NEW HARMONY. 4I " Nov. 8. Many persons leaving. The Gazette shows how impossible it is for a Community of common prop- erty to exist, unless the members comprising it have acquired the genuine Community character. " Nov. 1 1 . Mr. Owen reviewed the last six months' progress of the Community in a favorable light. " In December the use of ardent spirits was abolished. "Jan. 1827. Although there was an appearance of increased order and happiness, yet matters were drawing to a close. Owen was selling property to individuals ; the greater part of the town was now resolved into individual lots ; a grocery was established opposite the tavern ; painted sign-boards began to be stuck up on the buildings, pointing out places of manufacture and trade ; a sort of wax-figure-and-puppet-show was opened at one end of the boarding-house ; and every thing was getting into the old style." It is useless to follow this wreck further. Everybody sees it must go down, and wJiy it must go down. It is like a great ship, wallowing helpless in the trough of a tempestuous sea, with nine hundred passengers, and no captain or organized crew! We skip to Macdonald's picture of the end. "June 18, 1827. The Gazette advertised that Mr. Owen would meet the inhabitants of New Harmony and the neighborhood on the following Sunday, to bid them farewell. I find no account of this meeting, nor indeed of any further movements of Mr. Owen in the Gazette. After his departure the majority of the population also removed and scattered about the country. Those who remained returned to individualism, and settled as farmers and mechanics in the ordinary way. One portion of the estate was owned by Mr. Owen, and the 42 AMKKICAN SOCIALISMS. Other by Mr. Maclure. They .sold, rented, or gave away the houses and lands, and their heirs and assigns have continued to do so to the present day." Fifteen years after the catastrophe Macdonald was at New Harmony, among the remains of the old Com- munity population, and he says : " I was cautioned not to speak of Socialism, as the subject was unpopular. The advice was good ; Socialism was unpopular, and with good reason. The people had been wearied and disap- pointed by it ; had been filled full with theories, until they were nauseated, and had made such miserable attempts at practice, that they seemed ashamed of what they had been doing. An enthusiastic socialist would soon be cooled down at New Harmony. " The strength of the reaction against Communism caused by Owen's failure, may be seen to this day in the sect devoted to " Individual Sovereignty. " Josiah Warren, the leader of that sect, was a member of Owen's Community, and a witness of its confusions and downfall ; from which he swung off into the extreme of anti-Communism. The village of " Modern Times, " where all forms of social organization were scouted as unscientific, was the electric negative of New Harmony. Macdonald thus moralizes over his master's failure : " Mr. Owen said he wanted honesty of purpose, and he got dishonesty. He wanted temperance, and instead, he was continually troubled with the intemperate. He wanted industry, and he found idleness. He wanted cleanliness, and found dirt. He wanted carefulness, and found waste. He wanted to find desire for knowledge, but he found apathy. He wanted the principles of the formation of character understood, and he found them misunderstood. He wanted these good qualities com- NEW HARMONY. 43 bined in one and all the individuals of the Community, but he could not find them ; neither could he find those who were self-sacrificing and enduring enough, to prepare and educate their children to possess these qualities. Thus it was proved that his principles were either entirely erroneous, or much in advance of the age in which he promulgated them. He seems to have forgotten, that if one and all the thousand persons assembled there, had possessed the qualities which he wished them to possess, there would have been no necessity for his vain exertions to form a Community ; because there would of necessity be brotherly love, charity, industry and plenty. We want no more than these ; and if this is the material to form Communities of, and we can not find it, we can not form Communi- ties ; and if we can not find parents who are ready and willing to educate their children, to give them these qualities for a Community life, then what hope is there of Communism in the future .-•" Almost the only redeeming feature in or near this whole scene of confusion — which might well be called New Discord instead of New Harmony — was the silent retreat of the Rappite thousand, which was so orderly that it almost escaped mention. Remembering their obscure achievements and their persistent success, we can still be sure that the idea of Owen and his thousand was not a delusion, but an inspiration, that only needed wiser hearts, to become a happy reality. 44 AMKKICAN SOCIALISMS. CHAPTKR V. INQUEST ON NEW IIARMOXV. TiiK only laudable object any one can have in rehearsing and studying the histories of the socialistic failures, is that of learning from them practical lessons for guidance in present and future experiments. With this in view, the great experiment at New Harmony is well worth faithful consideration. It was, as we have said, the first and mo.st notable of the entire series of non-religious Communities. It had for its antecedent the vast reputa- tion that Owen had gained by his success at New Lanark. He came to this country with the prestige of a reformer who had the confidence and patronage of Lords, Dukes and Sovereigns in the old world. His lectures were received with attention by large assemblies in our principal cities. At Washington he was accomo- dated by the Speaker and President with the Hall of Representatives, in which he delivered several lectures before the President, the President elect, all the judges of the Supreme Court, and a great number of members of Congress. He afterwards jiresented to the Govern- ment an expensive and elaborate model, with interior and working drawings, elevations, &c., of one of the magnificent communal edifices which he had projected. Ho had a large private fortune, and drew into his schemes INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY. 45 Other capitalists, so that his experiment had the advan- tage of unlimited wealth. That wealth, as we have seen, placed at his command unlimited land and a ready-made village. These attractions brought him men in unlimited numbers. How stupendous the revolution was that he contem- plated as the result of his great gathering, is best seen in the famous words which he uttered in the public hall at New Harmony on the 4th of July, 1826. We have already quoted from this speech a paragraph (under- scored and double-scored by Macdonald) about the awful Trinity of man's oppressors-^" Private property. Irra- tional Religion, and Marriage." In the same vein he went on to say : " For nearly forty years have I been employed, heart and soul, day by day, almost without ceasing, in prepar- ing the means and arranging the circumstances, to enable me to give the death-blow to the tyranny which, for unnumbered ages, has held the human mind spell- bound in chains of such mysterious forms that no mortal has dared approach to set the suffering prisoner free ! Nor has the fullness of time for the accomplishment of this great event, been completed until within this hour ! Such has been the extraordinary course of events, that the Declaration of Political Independence in 1776, has produced its counterpart, the Declaration of Mental Independence in 1826 ; the latter just half a century from the former. * * * " In furtherance of our great object we are preparing the means to bring up our children with industrious and useful habits, with national and of course rational ideas and views, with sincerity in all their proceedings ; and to give them kind and affectionate feelings for each 46 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. other, and charity, in the most extensive sense of the term, for all their fellow creatures. " By doing this, uniting our separate interests into one, by doing away with divided money transactions, by exchanging with each other our articles of produce on the basis of labor for equal labor, by looking forward to apply our surplus wealth to assist others to attain similar advantages, and by the abandonment of the use of spir- itous liquors, we shall in a peculiar manner promote the object of every wise government and all really enlightened men. " And here we now are, as near perhaps as we can be in the center of the United States, even, as it were, like the little grain of mustard seed ! But with these Great Truths before us, with the practice of the social system, as soon as it shall be well understood among us, our principles will, I trust, spread from Community to Com- munity, from State to State, from Continent to Continent, until this system and these truths shall over- shadow the whole earth, shedding fragrance and abundance, intelligence and happiness, upon all the sons of men ! " Such were the antecedents and promises of the New Harmony experiment. The Professor appeared on the stage with a splendid reputation for previous thauma- turgy, with all the crucibles and chemicals around him that money could buy, with an audience before him that was gaping to see the last wonder of science : but on applying the flame that was to set all ablaze with happi- ness and glory, behold ! the material prepared would not burn, but only sputtered and smoked ; and the curtain had to come down upon a scone of confusion and disappointment ! INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY, 4/ What was the difficulty ? Where was the mistake ? These are the questions that ought to be studied till they are fully answered ; for scores and hundreds of just such experiments have been tried since, with the same disastrous results ; and scores and hundreds will be tried hereafter, till we go back and hold a faithful inquest, and find a sure verdict, on this original failure. Let us hear, then, what has been, or can be said, by all sorts of judges, on the causes of Owen's failure, and learn what we can. Macdonald has an important chapter on this subject, from which we extract the following : " There is no doubt in my mind, that the absence of Robert Owen in the first year of the Community was one of the great causes of its failure ; for he was naturally looked up to as the head, and his influence might have kept people together, at least so as to effect something similar to what had been effected at New Lanark. But with a people free as these were from a set religious creed, and consisting, as they did, of all nations and opinions, it is doubtful if even Mr. Owen, had he continued there all the time, could have kept them permanently together. No comparison can be made between that population and the Shakers, Rappites, or Zoarites, who are each of one religious faith, and, save the Shakers, of one nation. "Mr. Samson, of Cincinnati, was at New Harmony from the beginning to the end of the Community ; he went there on the boat that took the last of the Rappites away. He says the cause of failure was a rogue, named Taylor, who insinuated himself into Mr. Owen's favor, and afterward swindled and deceived him in a variety of ways, among other things establishing a distillery, con- 48 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. trary to Mr. Owen's wishes and principles, and injurious to the Community. " Owen always held the property. He thought it would be ten or twelve years before the Community would fill up ; but no sooner had the Rappites left, than the place was taken possession of by strangers from all parts, while Owen was absent in England and the place under the management of a committee. When Owen returned and found how things were going, he deemed it necessary to make a change, and notices were published in all parts, telling people not to come there, as there were no accommodations for them ; yet still they came, till at last Owen was compelled to have all the log-cabins that harbored them pulled down. " Taylor and Fauntleroy were Owen's associates. When Owen found out Taylor's rascality, he resolved to abandon the partnership with him, which Taylor would only agree to upon Owen's giving him a large tract of land, upon which he proposed to form a Community of his own. The agreement was that he should have the land and all upon it. So on the night previous to the execution of the bargain, he had a large quantity of cattle and farm implements put upon the land, and he thereby came into possession of them ! Instead of forming a Community, he built a distillery, and also set up a tan-yard in opposition to Mr. Owen ! In the Free Enquirer o{ ]\\x\(i loth, 1829, there is an article by Robert Dale Owen on New Lanark and New Harmony, in which, after comparing the two places and showing the difference between them, he makes the following remark relative to the experiment at New Harmony : "There was not disinterested industry, there was not mutual confidence, there was not practical ex- INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY. 49 perience, there was not unison of action, because there was not unanimity of counsel : and these were the points of difference and dissension — the rocks on which the social bark struck and was wrecked." A letter in the New Harmony Gazette, of January 31, 1827, complains of the " slow progress of education in the Community — the heavy labor, and no recompense but cold ivata' ■Siwd inferior provisions!' Paul Brown, who wrote a book entitled " Twelve months at New Harmony," among his many complaints says, " There was no such thing as real general coninion stock brought into being in this place." He attributes all the troubles, to the anxiety about " exclusive property" principally on the part of Owen and his associates. Speaking of one of the secondary Societies, he says there were " class distinctions " in it ; and Macluria or the School Society he condemns as being most aristo- cratical, "its few projectors being extremely wealthy." In the New Moral World of October 12, 1839, there is an article on New Harmony, in which it is asserted that Mr. Owen was induced to purchase that place on the understanding that the Rappite population then residing there would remain, until he had gradually introduced other persons to acquire from them the systematic and orderly habits, as well as practical knowledge, which they had gained by many years of practice. But by the removal of Rapp and his follow- ers, Mr. Owen was left with all the property on his hands, and he was thus compelled to get persons to come there to prevent things from going to ruin. Mr. Josiah Warren, in his " Practical Details of Equitable Commerce," says : " Let us bear in mind that during the great experiments in New Harmony in D 50 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. 1825 and I.S26, every thinfj went delif^htfiilly on, except pecuniary affairs ! We should, no doubt, have succeeded but for property considerations. Hut then the experi- ments never would have been commenced but for property considerations. It was to annihilate social antajj^onism by a system of coviuioii property, that we undertook the experiments at all." Mr. Sargant, the Enr^lish biographer of Owen, inti- mates several times that religion was the first subject of discord at New Harmony. His own opinion of the cause of the catastrophe, he chives in the following words : "What were the causes of these failures.^ People will <;ive different answers, according to the general sentiments they entertain. For myself I should say, that such experiments must fail, becau.se it is impo.ssible to mould to Communism the characters of men and women, formed by the present doctrines and practices of the world to intense in(ii\ idualism. I should indeed go further by stating my convictions, that even with persons brought up from childhood to act in common and live in common, it would be impossible to carry out a Communistic system, unless in a i:)lace utterly removed from contact with the 'world, or with the help of some powerful religious conviction. Mere benevolence, mere sentiments of universal philanthropy, are far too weak to bind the self-seeking affections of men." John Pratt, a Positivist, in a communication to The Oneida Cireiilar, contributes the following jihilosophical observations : " Owen was a Scotch metaphysician of the old school. As such, he was a most excellent fault-finder and cHs- organizer. He could perceive and depict the existing INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY. 5 1 discord, but knew not better than his contemporaries Shelley and Godwin, where to find the New Harmony. Like most men of the last generation he looked upon so- ciety as a manufactured product, and not as an organism endued with imperishable vitality and growth. Like them he attributed all the evils it endured to priests and politicians, whose immediate annihilation would be followed by immediate, everlasting and universal happi- ness. It would be astonishing if an experiment initiated by such a class of thinkers should succeed under the most favorable auspices. One word as to mere externals. Owen was a skeptic by training, and a cautious man of business by nature and nationality. He was professedly an entire convert to his own principles ; yet set an example of distrust by holding on to his thirty thousand acres himself This would do when dealing with starving Scotch peasantry, glad of the privilege of mod- erately remunerated labor, good food and clothing. Had he been a benevolent Southern planter he would have succeeded admirably with negro slaves, who would have been only too happy to accept any ' Principles.' He had to do with people who had individual hopes and aspirations. The internal affinities of Owen's Com- mune were too weak to resist the attractions of the outer world. Had he brought his New Lanark disciples to New Harmony, the result would not have been different. Removed from the mechanical pressure of despair and want, his weakly cohered elements would quickly have crumbled away." Our chapter on New Harmony was submitted, .soon after it was written, to an evening gathering of the Oneida Community, for the purpose of eliciting discus- sions that might throw light on the failure ; and we take 52 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. the liberty here to report some of the observations made on that occasion. They have the advantage of coming from persons who hav'c had long experience in Com- munity life. E. H. Hamilton said — •' My admiration is excited, to see a man who was prospering in business as Mr Owen was, turn aside from the general drift of the world, toward social improv^ement. I have the impression that he was sincere. He risked his money on his theories to a certain extent. His attempt was a noble manifesta- tion of humanity, so far as it goes. But he required other people to be what he was not himself He com- plains of his followers, that they were not teachable. I do not think he was a teachable man. He got a glimpse of the truth, and of the possibilities of Communism ; but he adopted certain ideas as to the way in which these results are to be obtained, and it seems to me, in regard to those ideas, he was not docile. It must be manifest to all candid minds, that all the im- provement and civilization of the present time, go along with the dev^elopment of Christianity ; and I am led to wonder why a man with the discernment and honesty of Mr. Owen, was not more impressible to the truth in this direction. It seems to me he was as unreceptive to the truths of Christianity, as the people he got together at New Harmony were to his jirinciples. His favorite dogma was that a man's character is formed for him, and not by himself I sujipose we might admit, in a certain sense, that a man's character is formed for him by the grace of God, or by evil spirits. Hut the notion that man is wholly the creature of external circum- stances, irrespective of these influences, seems foolish and pig-headed." INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY. 53 H. y. Seymour, — " I should not object to Owen's doctrine of circumstances, if he would admit that the one great circumstance of a man's life is the possibility of finding out and doing the will of God, and getting into vital connection with him." 6". R. Leonard. — "The people Mr. Owen had to deal with in Scotland were of the servile class, employes in his cotton-factories, and were easily managed, com- pared with those he collected here in the United States. When he went to Indiana, and undertook to manage a family of a thousand democrats, he began to realize that he did not understand human nature, or the principles of Association." T. R. Noycs — " The novelty of Owen's ideas and his rejection of all religion, prevented him from drawing into his scheme the best class in this country. Probably for every honest man -who went to New Harmony, there were several parasites ready to prey on him and his enterprise, because he offered them an easy life without religion. Even if he might have got on with simple- minded men and women like his Lanark operatives, it was out of the question with these greedy adventurers." G. W. Haviilton. — "At the west I met some persons who claimed to be disciples of Owen. From what I saw of them, I should judge it would be very difficult to form a Community of such material. They were very strong in the doctrine that every man has a right to his own opinion ; and declaimed loudly against the effect of religion upon people. They said the common ideas of God and duty operated a great deal worse upon the characters of men, than southern slavery. There is enough in such notions of independence, to break up any attempt at Communism." 54 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. F. W. Smith. — " I understand that Owen did not educate and appoint men as leaders and fathers, to take care of the society while he was crossin*^ the ocean back and forth. He undertook to manage his own atifairs, and at the same time to run this Community. Our experience has shown that it is necessary to have a father in a great family for daily and almost hourly advice. I should think it would be doubly necessary in such a Community as Owen collected, to have the wisest man always at his post." C. A. Burt. — "There are only two ways of governing such an institution as a Community ; it must be done either by law or by grace. Owen got a company together and abolished law, but did not establish grace ; and so, necessarily failed." L. Bollcs. — " The popular idea is that Owen and his class of reformers had an ideal that was very beautiful and very perfect ; that they had too much faith for their time — too much faith in humanity ; that they were several hundred years in advance of their age ; and that the world was not good enough to understand them and their beautiful ideas. That is the superficial view of these men. I think the truth is, they were not up to the times ; that mankind, in point of real faith, were ahead of them. Their view that the evil in human nature is owing to outward surroundings, is an impeach- ment of the providence of God. It is the worst kind of unbelief. Hut they have taught us one great lesson ; and that is, that good circumstances do not make good men. I believe the circumstances of mankind are as good as Providence can make them, consistently with their own state of development and the well-being of their souls. Instead of seeking to sweep away existing NEW HARMONY. 55 governments and forms of outward things, we should thank God that he has given men institutions as good as they can bear. We know that he will give them better, as fast as they improve beyond those they have." y. B. Hcrrick — "Although the apparent efitect of the failure of Owen's movement was to produce discourage- ment, still below all that discouragement there is, in the whole nation, generated in part by that movement, a hope watching for the morning. We have to thank Owen for so much, or rather to thank God, for using Owen to stimulate the public mind and bring it to that state in which it is able to receive and keep this hope for the future." C. IV. Underwood. — "Owen's experiment helped to demonstrate that there is no such thing as organization or unity without Christ and religion. But on the other hand we can see that Owen did much good. The churches were compelled to adopt many of his ideas. He certainly was the father of the infant-school system ; and it is my impression that he started the reform- schools, houses of refuge, etc. He gave impulse, at any rate, to the present reformatory movements." It is noticeable, as a coincidence with our obser- vations on the lust for land in a preceding chapter, that Owen succeeded admirably in a factory, and failed miserably on a farm. Whether his 30,000 acres had anything to do with his actual failure or not, they would probably have been the ruin of his Community, if it had not failed from other causes. We have reason to believe from many hints, that whisky had considerable agency in the demoralization and destruction of New Harmony. The affair of 56 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. Taylor's distillery is one significant fact. Here is another from Macdonald : '* I was one day at the tan-yard, where Squire B. and some others were standing, talking around the stove. During the conversation Squire H. asked us if he had ever told us how he had served 'old Owen' in Community times. He then informed us that he came from Illinois to New Harmony, and that a man in Illinois was owing him, and asked him to take a barrel of whisky for the debt. He could not well get the money ; so took the whisky. When it came to New Harmony he did not know where to put it, but finally hid it in his cellar. Not long after Mr. Owen found that the people still got whisky from some quarter, he could not tell where, though he did his best to find out. At last he sus- pected Squire B., and came right into his shop and accused him of it ; on which Squire B. had to own that it was he who retailed the whisky. ' It was taken for a debt,' said he, ' and what else was I to do to get rid of it.-*' Mr. Owen turned round, and in his simple manner said, ' Ah, I see you do not understand the principles.' This story was finished with a hearty laugh at 'old Owen.' I could not laugh, but felt that such men as Squire B. really did not understand the principles ; and no wonder there are failures, when such men as he thrust themselves in, and frustrate benevolent designs." It was too early for a Community, when this country was a "nation of drunkards," as it was in 1825. Owen's method of getting together the material of his Community, seems to us the most obvious external cause of his failure. It was like advertising for a wife ; and we never heard of any body's getting a good wife by advertising. A public invitation to " the industrious INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY. 5/ and well-disposed of all nations," to come on and take possession of 30,000 acres of land and a ready-made village, leaving each one to judge as to his own industry and disposition, would insure a prompt gathering — and also a speedy scattering. This method, or something like it, has been tried in most of the non-religious experiments. The joint-stock principle, which many of them adopted, necessarily invites all who choose to buy stock. That principle may form organizations that are able to carry on the businesses of banks and railroads after a fashion ; because such businesses require but little character, except zeal and ability for money-making. But a true Community, or even a semi-Community, like the Fourier Phalanxes, requires far higher qualifications in its mem- bers and managers. The socialistic theorizers all assume that Association is a step in advance of civilization. If that is true, we must assume also that the most advanced class of civilization is that which must take the step ; and a discrimination of some sort will be required, to get that class into the work, and shut off the barbarians who would hinder it. Judging from all our experience and observation, we should say that the two most essential requisites for the formation of successful Communities, are religions principle and previous acquaintance of the members. Both of these were lacking in Owen's experiment. The advertising method of gathering necessarily ignores both. Owen, in his old age, became a Spiritualist, and in the light of his new experience confessed what seems to us the principal cause of his failure. Sargant, his biogra- pher, referring to chapter and verse in his writings says : 58 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. " He confessed that until he received the revelations of Spiritualism, he had been quite unaware of the necessity of good spiritual conditions for forming the character of men. The physical, the intellectual, the moral, and the practical conditions, he had understood, and had known how to provide for ; but the spiritual he had overlooked. Yet this, as he nozv saiu, tuas the most important of all in the future development of mankind!' In the same new light, Owen recognized the principal cause of all real success. Sargant continues : " Owen says, that in looking back on his past life, he can trace the finger of God directing his steps, preserv- ing his life under imminent dangers, and impelling him onward on many occasions. It was under the immediate guidance of the Spirit of God, that during the ine.vperi- ence of his youth, he accomplished much good for the world. The preservation of his life from the peculiar dangers of childhood, was owing to the monitions of this good Spirit. To this superior invisible aid he owed his appointment, at the age of seven years, to be usher in a school, before the monitorial .system of teach- ing was thought of To this he must ascribe his migration from an inaccessible Welsh county to London, and then to Stamford, and his ability to maintain himself without assistance from his friends. So he goes on recounting all the events of his life, great and small, and attributing them to the si'i>:ci.\l providence of God." 59 CHAPTER VI. YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY. The fame of New Harmony has of course overshadowed and obscured all other experiments that resulted from Owen's labors in this country. It is perhaps scarcely known at this day that a Community almost as brilliant as Brook Farm, was started by his personal efforts at Cincinnati, even before he commenced operations at New Harmony. The following sketch, clipped by Mac- donald from some old newspaper (the name and date of which are missing), is not only pleasant reading, but bears internal marks of painstaking and truthfulness. It is a model memoir of the life and death of a non- religious Community ; and would serve for many others, by changing a few names, as ministers do when they re- preach old funeral sermons. The moral at the close, inferring the impracticability of Communism, may prob- bly be accepted as sound, if restricted to non-religious experiments. The general career of Owen is sketched correctly and in rather a masterly manner: and the interesting fact is brought to light, that the beginning of the Owen movement in this country was signalized by a conjunction with Swedenborgianism. The signifi- cance of this fact will appear more fully, when we come to the history of the marriage between Fourierism and 60 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. Swedenborgianism, which afterwards took place at Brook Farm. MEMOIR. " The narrative here presented," says the unknown writer, " was prepared at the request of a minister who had looked in vain for any account of the Communities established by Robert Owen in this country. It is sim- ply what it pretends to be, reminiscences by one who, while a youth, resided with his parents as a member of the Community at Yellow Springs. For some years together since his manhood, he has been associated with several of the leading men -of that experiment, and has through them been informed in relation to both its outer and inner history. The article may contain some errors, as of dates and other matters unimportant to a just view of the Community ; but the social picture will be correct. With the hope that it may convey a useful lesson, it is submitted to the reader. " Robert Owen, the projector of the Communities at Yellow Springs, Ohio, and New Harmony, Indiana, was the owner of extensive manufactories at New Lanark, Scotland. He was a man of considerable learning, much observation, and full of the love of his fellow men ; though a disbeliever in Christianity. His skep- tical views concerning the Bible were fully announced in the celebrated debate at Cincinnati between himself and Dr. Alexander Campbell. But whatever may have been his faith, he proved his philanthropy by a long life of beneficent works. At his manufactories in Scotland he established a system based on community of labor, which was crowned with the happiest eflects. But it should be remembered that Owen himself was the owner of the works, and controlled all things by a YELLOW SPRINGS. 6 1 single mind. The system, therefore, was only a benefi- cent scheme of government by a manufacturer, for the good of himself and his operatives. " Full of zeal for the improvement of society, Owen conceived that he had discovered the cause of most of its evils in the laws of vtcnm ct tunni ; and that a state of society where there is nothing mi7ie or thine, would be a paradise begun. Hfe brooded upon the idea of a Community of property, and connected it with schemes for the improvement of society, until he was ready to sacrifice his own property and devote his heart and his life to his fellow men upon this basis. Too discreet to inaugurate the new system among the poorer classes of his own country, whom he found perverted by prejudice and warped by the artificial forms of society there, he resolved to proceed to the United States, and among the comparatively unperverted people, liberal institutions and cheap lands of the West, to establish Communities, founded upon common property, social equality, and the equal value of every man's labor. "About the year 1824 Owen arrived in Cincinnati. He brought with him a history of his labors at New Lanark ; with glowing and not unjust accounts of the beneficent effects of his efforts there. He exhibited plans for his proposed Communities here ; with model farms, gardens, vineyards, play-grounds, orchards, and all the internal and external appliances of the social paradise. At Cincinnati he soon found many congenial spirits, among the first of whom was Daniel Roc, min- ister of the " New Jerusalem Church," a society of the followers of Swedenborg. This society was composed of a very superior class of people. They were intelli- gent, liberal, generous, cultivated men and women — 62 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. many of them wealthy and highly educated. They were apparently the best possible material to organize and sustain a Community, such as Owen proposed. Mr Roe and many of his congregation became fascinated with Owen and his Communism ; and together with others in the city and elsewhere, soon organized a Community and furnished the means for purchasing an appropriate site for its location. In the meantime Owen proceeded to Harmony, and, with others, purchased that place, with all its buildings, vineyards, and lands, from Rapp, who emigrated to Pennsylvania and established his people at Economy. It will only be added of Owen, that after having seen the New Harmonians fairly established, he returned to Scotland. " After careful consultation and selection, it was decided by the Cincinnati Community to purchase a domain at Yellow Springs, about seventy-five miles north of the city, [now the site of Antioch College] as the most eligible place for their purpose. It was really one of the most delightful regions in the whole West, and well worthy the residence of a people who had resolved to make many sacrifices for what they honestly believed to be a great social and moral reformation. " The Community, as finally organized consisted of seventy-five or one hundred families ; and included pro- fessional men, teachers, merchants, mechanics, farmers, and a few commo.n laborers. Its economy was nearly as follows : " The property was held in trust forever, in behalf of the members of the Community, by the original pur- chasers, and their chosen successors, to be designated from time to time by the voice of the Community. All additional property thereafter to be acquired, by labor. o YELLOW SPRINGS. 63 purchase, or otherwise, was to be added to the common stock, for the benefit of each and all. Schools were to be established, to teach all things useful (except reliction). Opinion upon all subjects was free ; and the present good of the whole Community was the standard of morals. The Sabbath was a day of rest and recreation, to be improved by walks, rides, plays, and pleasing exer- cises ; and by public lectures. Dancing was instituted as a most valuable means of physical and social culture ; and the ten-pin alley and other sources of amusement were open to all. " But although Christianity was wholly ignored in the system, there was no free-loveism or other looseness of morals allowed. In short, this Community began its career under the most favorable auspices ; and if any men and women in the world could have succeeded, these should have done so. How they ^t'zV/ succeed, and how they did not, will now be shown. " For the first few weeks, all entered into the new system with a will. Service was the order of the day. Men who seldom or never before labored with their hands, devoted themselves to agriculture and the me- chanic arts, with a zeal which was at least commendable, though not always according to knowledge. Ministers of the gospel guided the plough ; called the swine to their corn, instead of sinners to repentance ; and let patience have her perfect work over an unruly yoke of oxen. Merchants exchanged the yard-stick for the rake or pitch-fork. All appeared to labor cheerfully for the common weal. Among the women there was even more apparent self-sacrifice. Ladies who had .seldom seen the inside of their own kitchens, went into that of the common eating-house (formerly a hotel), and made 54 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. themselves useful among pots and kettles : and refined young ladies, who had all their lives been waited upon, took their turns in waiting upon others at the table. And several times a week all parties who chose mingled in the social dance, in the great dining-hall. But notwithstanding the apparent heartiness and cordiality of this auspicious opening, it was in the social atmosphere of the Community that the first cloud arose. Self-love was a spirit which would not be exorcised. It whispered to the lowly maidens, whose former position in society had cultivated the spirit of meekness — " You are as good as the formerly rich and fortunate ; insist upon your equality." It reminded the favorites of for- mer society of their lost superiority ; and in spite of all rules, tinctured their words and actions with the love of self Similar thoughts and feelings soon arose among the men ; and though not so soon exhibited, they were none the less deep and strong. It is unnecessary to descend to details : suffice it to sav, that at the end of three months — three montJis ! — the leading minds in the Community were compelled to acknowledge to each other that the .social life of the Community could not be bounded by a single circle. They therefore acquiesced, but reluctantly, in its division into many little circles. Still they hoped, and many of them no doubt believed, that though social equality was a failure, community of property was not. But whether the law of mine and thine is natural or incidental in human character, it soon began to develop its sway. The industrious, the skillful and the strong, saw the products of their labor enjoyed by the indolent, the unskilled, and the improvi- dent ; and self-love rose against benevolence. A band of musicians insisted that their brassy harmony was as YELLOW SPRINGS. 6$ necessary to the common happiness as bread and meat ; and decHned to enter the harvest field or the work-shop. A lecturer upon natural science insisted upon talking only, while others worked. Mechanics, whose day's labor brought two dollars into the common stock, in- sisted that they should, in justice, work only half as long as the agriculturist, whose day's work brought but one. "For a while, of course, these jealousies were only felt ; but they soon began to be spoken also. It was useless to remind all parties that the common labor of all ministered to the prosperity of the Community. Iiidividjial happiness was the law of nature, and it could not be obliterated ; and before a single year had passed, this law had scattered the members of that society, which had come together so earnestly and under such favorable circumstances, back into the selfish world from which they came. " The writer of this sketch has since heard the history of that eventful year reviewed with honesty and earnest- ness by the best men and most intelligent parties of that unfortunate social experiment. They admitted the favorable circumstances which surrounded its com- mencement ; the intelligence, devotion, and earnestness which were brought to the cau^e by its projectors ; and its final, total failure. And they rested ever after in the belief that man, though disposed to philanthropy, is essentially selfish ; and that a community of social equality and common property is impossible." E 66 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS. CHAPTER VII. NASHOIJA. Macdonai.d erects a mai^niloquent monument over the remains of Nashoba, the experiment of Frances Wright. This woman, little known to the present generation, was really the spiritual helpmate and better-half of the Owens, in the socialistic revival of 1826. Our im- pression is, not only that she was the leading woman in the communistic movement of that period, but that she had a very important agency in starting two other movements, that have had far greater success, and are at this moment strong in public favor ; viz.. Anti-Slavery and Woman's Rights. If justice were done, we are confident her name would figure high with those ot Lundy, Garrison, and John Brown on the one hand, and with those of Abby l^elly, Lucy Stone and Anna Dickinson on the other. She was indeed the pioneer of the "strong-minded women." We copy the most im- portant parts of Macdonald's memoir of Nashoba : "This experiment was made in Shelby Co., Tennessee, by the celebrated Frances Wright. The objects were, to form a Community in which the negro slave should be educated and ujjraised to a level with the whites, and thus prejiared for freedom ; and to set an example, which, if carried out, would eventually abolish slavery in NASHOBA. 6"] the Southern States ; also to make a home for good and great men and women of all countries, who might there sympathize with each other in their love and labor for humanity. She invited congenial minds from every quarter of the globe to unite with her in the search for truth and the pursuit of rational happiness. Herself a native of Scotland, she became imbued with these phil- anthropic views through a knowledge of the sufferings of a great portion of mankind in many countries, and of the condition of the negro in the United States in particular. " She traveled extensively in the Southern States, and explained her views to many of the planters. It was during these travels that she visited the German settle- ment of Rappites at Harmony, on the Wabash river, and after examining the wonderful industry of that Community, she was struck with the appropriateness of their system of cooperation to the carrying out of her aspirations. She also visited some of the Shaker estab- lishments then existing in the United States, but she thought unfavorably of them. She renewed her visits to the Rappites, and was present on the occasion of their removal from Harmony to Economy on the Ohio, where she continued her acquaintance with them, receiv- ing valuable knowledge from their experience, and, as it were, witnessing a new village, with its fields, orchards, gardens, vineyards, flouring-mills and manufactories, rise out of the earth, beneath the hands of some eight hundred trained laborers." Here is another indication of the important part the Rappites played in the early history of Owenism. As they cleared the 30,000 acres and built the village which was the theatre of Owen's great experiment, so it is 68 .\mi:kican socialisms. evident from the above account and from other hints, that their Communistic ideas and manner of livinj; were systematically studied by the Owen school, before and after the purchase of New Harmon}-. Indeed it is more than intimated in a passai^e from the Xnv Moral World quoted in our 5th chapter, that Owen depended on their assistance in commencing; his Community, and attributed his failure to their premature removal. On the whole we may conclude that Owen learned all he really knew about practical Communism, and more than he was able to imitate, from the Rappites. They learned Communism from the New Testament and the day of Pentecost. " In the autumn of 1825 [when New Harmony was under full sail in the absence of Mr. Owen], Frances Wri