civil rights movement
Utopian communities[edit]
New Harmony as envisioned by Owen
Utopian socialism was the US's first Socialist movement. Utopians attempted to develop model socialist societies to demonstrate the virtues of their brand of beliefs. Most Utopian socialist ideas originated in Europe, but the US was most often the site for the experiments themselves. Many Utopian experiments occurred in the 19th century as part of this movement, including Brook Farm, the New Harmony, the Shakers, the Amana Colonies, the Oneida Community, The Icarians, Bishop Hill Commune, Aurora, Oregon and Bethel, Missouri.
Robert Owen, a wealthy Welsh industrialist, turned to social reform and socialism and in 1825 founded a communitarian colony called New Harmony in southwestern Indiana. The group fell apart in 1829, mostly due to conflict between Utopian ideologues and non-ideological pioneers.
In 1841 transcendentalist utopians founded Brook Farm, a community based on Frenchman Charles Fourier's brand of socialism. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson were members of the short-lived community. The group had trouble reaching financial stability, and many members left as their leader, George Ripley turned more and more to Fourier's doctrine. All hope for its survival was lost when the expensive, Fourier-inspired main building burnt down while under construction. The community dissolved in 1847.
The North American Phalanx
Fourierists also attempted to establish a community in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The North American Phalanx community built a Phalanstère - Fourier's concept of a communal-living structure - out of two farmhouses and an addition that linked the two. The community lasted from 1844 to 1856, when a fire destroyed the community's flour- and saw-mills and several workshops. The community had already begun to decline after an ideological schism in 1853.
French socialist, Étienne Cabet, frustrated in Europe, sought to use his Icarian movement to replace
New Harmony as envisioned by Owen
Utopian socialism was the US's first Socialist movement. Utopians attempted to develop model socialist societies to demonstrate the virtues of their brand of beliefs. Most Utopian socialist ideas originated in Europe, but the US was most often the site for the experiments themselves. Many Utopian experiments occurred in the 19th century as part of this movement, including Brook Farm, the New Harmony, the Shakers, the Amana Colonies, the Oneida Community, The Icarians, Bishop Hill Commune, Aurora, Oregon and Bethel, Missouri.
Robert Owen, a wealthy Welsh industrialist, turned to social reform and socialism and in 1825 founded a communitarian colony called New Harmony in southwestern Indiana. The group fell apart in 1829, mostly due to conflict between Utopian ideologues and non-ideological pioneers.
In 1841 transcendentalist utopians founded Brook Farm, a community based on Frenchman Charles Fourier's brand of socialism. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson were members of the short-lived community. The group had trouble reaching financial stability, and many members left as their leader, George Ripley turned more and more to Fourier's doctrine. All hope for its survival was lost when the expensive, Fourier-inspired main building burnt down while under construction. The community dissolved in 1847.
The North American Phalanx
Fourierists also attempted to establish a community in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The North American Phalanx community built a Phalanstère - Fourier's concept of a communal-living structure - out of two farmhouses and an addition that linked the two. The community lasted from 1844 to 1856, when a fire destroyed the community's flour- and saw-mills and several workshops. The community had already begun to decline after an ideological schism in 1853.
French socialist, Étienne Cabet, frustrated in Europe, sought to use his Icarian movement to replace