In the fourth decade of the nineteenth century there was much agitation,
both in France and America, over the teachings of a remarkable man named
Francois Marie Charles Fourier. He claimed that if people would band
themselves together in communities, in the proper spirit of mutual
forbearance and helpfulness, and upon plans laid down by him, it would
be proved that they could get along very well with no strife of any
sort, either in business, or religion, or politics. Then, if the nations
would but unite themselves in the same way, universal peace would reign.
During the stirring times of the French Revolution and of the great
Napoleon, there had been much social agitation of the violent sort. A
reaction had come. The talk about the rights of man was no longer
confined to the violent, revengeful element of the population; it was
now chiefly heard among the good and gentle folk, among men of wealth
and benevolence, as well as those of learning and poverty.
In France, Fourier was the leader among this new class of socialists. In
France, England, and Holland, colonies more or less after the Fourier
model were established; and it was not long before communities came to
be founded in the United States. The most famous of these latter was
Brook Farm, in Massachusetts, because among its members were several
well-known authors and scientists, who wrote a great deal about their
experiences there. But the only community in America conducted strictly
on Fourier's plan, flourished in Wisconsin.
The _New York Tribune_, edited by Horace Greeley, a noted reformer, was
earnest in advocating Fourierism, as it was called, doing much to
attract attention to "the principle of equitable distributions." One of
the many readers of the _Tribune_ was Warren Chase, of Kenosha, a young
New Hampshire man, thirty years of age, who became much attached to the
new idea.
This was during the winter of 1843-44. Chase gathered about him at
Kenosha a group of intelligent men and women, some of whom had property,
and they formed a stock company, incorporated under the laws of
Wisconsin Territory, but based strictly on the plans laid down by
Fourier.
Having purchased six hundred acres of government land, in a gentle
valley within the present Ripon township, in Fond du Lac county,
nineteen pioneers, led by Chase, made their way thither in May. There
were no railroads in those days, and the little company proceeded
overland through flower-decked prairies, and over wooded hills, in
oxcarts and horse wagons, with droves of cattle, and tools and utensils.
The reformers called their colony "Ceresco," after Ceres, the goddess of
agriculture. Plowing was commenced, buildings were erected, shops and
forges established. Very soon some two hundred men, women, and children
had arrived, and in due time many branches of industry were in full
operation.
The Ceresco community was, as suggested by Fourier, styled a "phalanx."
The members were classified, according to their capacity to labor, in
educational, mechanical, and agricultural series, each series being
divided into groups. The government was headed by a president and nine
councilors; each series had a chairman, and each group a foreman.
Labor was voluntary, the shops being owned by the community at large;
while the land was divided equally among all the members, old and young,
save that no family might possess over forty acres. As the community
grew, more land was purchased for their use. The council laid out the
work to be done, or the policy to be pursued. When there was a question
to be decided, the series interested voted upon it; but in some
important cases, the matter was referred for final action to the several
groups. Each person received pay according to his value as a worker, the
record being kept by the foreman of his group. They were not paid upon
the same scale; for instance, the members of the council and the
school-teachers received more than skilled mechanical laborers, and
these in turn more than ordinary workmen.
The phalanx at first lived in temporary quarters, and a year later
erected a large building "four hundred feet in length, consisting of two
rows of tenements, with a hall between, under one roof." Each family
lived in its own compartments, but all ate in common at a boarding
house called the "phalanstery," where a charge was made of seventy-five
cents a week for each person. The "unitary" was a large building used
for business and social meetings, these being held in the evenings; each
Tuesday evening the literary and debating club met, Wednesday evening
the singing school, and Thursday evening a dancing party.
Unlike many other communities, the Fourier colonies were not religious
in character. Each member of the phalanx at Ceresco might worship as he
pleased. At various times, for the membership fluctuated somewhat,
ministers of different denominations were members of the colony, and
frequently there were visits from wandering missionaries.
None of the colonists were allowed to use intoxicating liquors as a
beverage. There must be no vulgar language, swearing, or gambling; and
one of the by-laws commanded that "censoriousness and fault-finding,
indolence, abuse of cattle or horses, hunting or fishing on the first
day of the week, shall be deemed misdemeanors, and shall be punishable
by reprimand or expulsion." These punishments were the only ones which
the community could inflict upon its members, for it had no judicial
powers under the law.
But there was small need of punishments at Ceresco. Its members were, as
a rule, men and women of most excellent character. There was never any
dishonesty, or other serious immorality, within the phalanx; the few
neighboring settlers regarded the reformers with genuine respect. All
the proceedings of the community were open, and its carefully kept
accounts and records might be inspected by any one at any time.
Whenever charges were brought against a member, they were laid before
the full assembly at the next weekly meeting; a week elapsed before
consideration, in order to give ample opportunity for defense; then the
entire body of colonists, women as well as men, voted on the question,
acquitting the offender or reprimanding him or, by a two-thirds vote,
expelling him from the phalanx.
Wisconsin was then sparsely settled at best; the peaceful little valley
of Ceresco was equally far removed from the centers of population at
Green Bay and in the southern portion of the Territory. Yet many
pioneers came toiling over the country, to apply for admission to this
Garden of Eden. But it is recorded that not one in four was taken into
fellowship, for the phalanx desired "no lazy, shiftless, ne'er-do-well
members," and only those believed to be wise, industrious, and
benevolent were taken into the fold.
And thus the Ceresco phalanx seemed mightily to prosper. Its stock
earned good dividends, its property was in excellent condition, the
quality of its membership could not be bettered. Far and near were its
praises sung. The _New York Tribune_ gave weekly news of its doings, and
was ever pointing to it as worthy of emulation; the Brook Farm paper
hailed it as proof that socialism had at last succeeded.
Had each member been equally capable with his fellows, had the families
been of the same size, had there been no jealousies, no bickerings, had
these good folk been without ambition, had they, in short, been
contented, the phalanx might have remained a success. They were
clothed, fed, and housed at less expense than were outsiders; they had
many social enjoyments not known elsewhere in the valley; and, according
to all the philosophers, should have been a happy people.
The public table, the public amusement rooms, and all that, had at first
a spice of pleasant novelty; but soon there was a realization that this
had not the charm of home life, that one's family affairs were too much
the affairs of all. The strong and the willing saw that they were yoked
to those who were weak and slothful; there was no chance for natural
abilities to assert themselves, no reward for individual excellence.
Wisconsin became a State in 1848. Everywhere, ambitious and energetic
citizens in the rapidly growing commonwealth were making a great deal of
money through land speculations and the planting of new industries,
everywhere but in Ceresco, where the community life allowed no man to
rise above the common level. The California gold fields, opened the
following year, also sorely tempted the young men. The members of the
phalanx found themselves hampered by their bond. Caring no longer for
the reformation of society, they eagerly clamored to get back into the
whirl of that struggle for existence which, only a few years before,
they had voted so unnecessary to human welfare.
In 1850 the good folk at Ceresco voted unanimously, and in the best of
feeling toward one another, to disband their colony. They sold their
lands at a fair profit to each; and very soon, in the rush for wealth
and for a chance to exercise their individual powers, were widely
distributed over the face of the country. Some of them ultimately won
much worldly success; others fell far below the level of prosperity
maintained in the phalanx, and came to bemoan the "good old days" of the
social community, when the strong were obliged to bolster the weak.