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HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
by
JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES.
* * * * *
This is an exact reprint
of the scarce 1870 edition
This edition
Limited to 500 Copies
* * * * *
PREFACE.
The object of this book is to help the study of Socialism by the
inductive method. It is, first and chiefly, a collection of facts; and
the attempts at interpretation and generalization which are
interspersed, are secondary and not intentionally dogmatic.
It is certainly high time that Socialists should begin to take lessons
from experience; and for this purpose, that they should chasten their
confidence in flattering theories, and turn their attention to actual
events.
This country has been from the beginning, and especially 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 have not been in vain; the
successes of the Shakers and Rappites have not been set before us for
nothing. We may hope to learn something from every experiment.
The author, having had unusual advantages for observing the
Socialistic movements, and especial good fortune in obtaining
collections of observations made by others, has deemed it his duty to
devote 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, vigilance. It is hoped that it
will call out from experts in Socialism and others, corrections and
additions that will improve it for future editions.
_Wallingford, Conn., December, 1869._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. BIRDS-EYE VIEW 10
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
XVI. SOCIAL ARCHITECTS 181
XVII. FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM 193
XVIII. LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM 200
XIX. THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM 211
XX. THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION 233
XXI. OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS 251
XXII. THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT 267
XXIII. 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 377
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 COMMUNITIES 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 Community 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 remember 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 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
Fourierism 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 associates, 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 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 hundred 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 probably could not elsewhere be found.
The breadth and thoroughness of Macdonald's intention 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, 1851._
"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-operative experiments that have been made
in this country--their origin, principles, and progress; and,
particularly, 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 forming 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
adventurers. 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:
"1. 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?
"5. What was the number of persons in the Association?
"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?
"11. 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 receipts and expenditures, and were they
honestly managed?
"18. Did the associates agree or disagree, and in what?
"19. How long did they keep together?
"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 consider a good undertaking.
"The work I contemplate will form a neat 12mo. 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
possible, 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,
"A.J. MACDONALD."
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
Associations. We have reason to believe that he spent most of his time
from his arrival in this country in 1842 till his death in 1854, in
pilgrimages to every Community, and even to every grave of a
Community, that he could hear of, far and near.
He had done his work when he died. His collection 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 promised 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 months before his death, we
have a last and sure signal that he considered his collection
finished:
PREFACE TO THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED.
"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 practise those principles which I considered so true.
But the experience of years is now upon me; I have mingled with
'the world,' seen _stern 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 difficulty
in obtaining information on such subjects; but the attempt,
whatever may be its result, should not be put off, since there
is reason to believe that if not now collected, many particulars
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 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. MACDONALD.
"_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
condensed. 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 Macdonald 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.