A utopian community. When this is
spoken of automatically everyone’s mind goes to a thought of perfection, but
today as you can see that only one utopian community exist; however I was able
to find at least five that prevailed during the 19th century. For those
who may not know what a utopia is; it is an imagined place or state of things
in which everything is perfect.[1]
The five utopian communities I was able to find are as follows; Brook Farm: The
Transcendentalist Romance (1841-1846), Fruitlands: The Farm without Farmers,
New Harmony: The Boatload of Knowledge (1825-1829), Oneida: The Complex
Marriage, and The Shakers: The Simple Life (1745- ). Among these five utopian
communities there is only one that has survived within 200 years and that is
The Shakers. [2]
If I were to choose a utopian community to live in from the 19th century
I would choose The Shakers.
The Shakers are known as one of the
most successful utopian communities in America. They were founded by Ann Lee in
England in 1770. Ann Lee joined a group of Quakers who went by the name “Shaking
Quakers”. They were given this name because they danced and spoke in tongues.
Ann Lee became unsatisfied with the Anglican Church due to the fact that she
had four children and they all died in infancy. Lee began to receive visions
from God which consisted of the tenets that were the basis of their community.
Their four basic tenets were they must live communally, they must be celibate,
they must regularly confess their sins, and lastly they must separate themselves
from the outside world. Despite these four things that they had to live their
lives by I chose the utopian community because they were successful at
coexisting with one another and were firm believers in their lifestyles and
believed that there leader would not steer them in the wrong direction. The
equality that existed within the community is another thing that sparked my
interest with this utopian community. Since they all were to live by those four
tenets I mentioned previously they were capable of offering spiritual and
physical equality; The Shakers even extended this equality to those who were
non-Christians and those of different race. [3]
The Shakers’ utopian community struck
my attention the most because of their sense of equality, their strong beliefs,
and how they push the factor of both men and women being in the workforce. The
Shakers mentality is one that I believe our country should adopt because society
has made it difficult for anyone to just be themselves and have made it seem as
if we all must conform to these social norms which is not true. Overall The
Shakers ideal of their community is the reason why I would choose this place to
live.
[2]
Dunn, Beth. History, "5
19th-Century Utopian Communities in the United States." Last modified
January 22, 2013. Accessed January 30, 2014.
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-19th-century-utopian-communities-in-the-united-states.
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