BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS.
A general survey of the Socialistic field will be useful, before
entering on the memoirs of particular Associations; 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.
INDEX OF MACDONALD'S COLLECTION.
Associations, &c. No. of Pages. Dates.
Alphadelphia Phalanx 7 1843-6.
Auxiliary Branch of the Association
of All Classes of All Nations 3 1836.
Blue Spring Community 1 1826-7.
Brazilian Experiment 1 1841.
Brook Farm 20 1842-7.
Brooke's Experiment 5 1844.
Brotherhood of the Union 1 1850-1.
Bureau Co. Phalanx 1 1843.
Cincinnati Brotherhood 5 1845-8.
Clarkson Industrial Association 11 1844.
Clermont Phalanx 13 1844-7.
Colony of Bethel 11 1852.
Columbian Phalanx 1 1845.
Commonwealth Society 1 1819.
Communia Working Men's League 1 1850.
Convention at Boston of the Friends
of Association 2 1843.
Convention in New York for organizing
an Industrial Congress 1 1845.
Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co. 1 1825.
Coxsackie Community 2 1826-7.
Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood 2 1851.
Dunkers 4 1724.
Ebenezer Community 5 1843.
Emigration Society, 2d Section 4 1843.
Forrestville Community 1 1825.
Fourier, Life of 3
Franklin Community 1 1826.
Garden Grove 1 1848.
Goose Pond Community 1 1843.
Grand Prairie Community 2 1847.
Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute 8 1853.
Guatemala Experiment 1 1843.
Haverstraw Community 3 1826.
Hopedale Community 13 1842.
Hunt's Experiment of Equality 12 1843-7.
Icaria 82 1849
Integral Phalanx 5 1845.
Jefferson County Industrial Association 3 1843.
Kendal Community 4 1826.
Lagrange Phalanx 2 1843.
Leraysville Phalanx 5 1844.
Macluria 7 1826.
Marlboro Association 10 1841.
McKean County Association 1 1843.
Modern Times 3 1851.
Moorhouse Union 6 1843.
Moravians, or United Brethren 9 1745.
Murray, Orson S. 3
Nashoba 14 1825-8.
New Lanark 10 1799.
New Harmony 60 1825-7.
North American Phalanx 38 1843-55.
Northampton Association 7 1842.
Ohio Phalanx 11 1844-5.
Oneida Community 27 1847.
One-mentian Community 6 1843.
Ontario Phalanx 1 1844.
Owen, Robert 25
Prairie Home Community 23 1844.
Raritan Bay Union 5 1853.
Sangamon Phalanx 1 1845.
Shakers 93 1776.
Skaneateles Community 18 1843-6.
Social Reform Unity 23 1842.
Sodus Bay Phalanx 3 1844.
Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove 3 1853.
Spring Farm Association 3 1846-9.
St. Louis Reform Association 1 1851.
Sylvania Association 25 1843-5.
Trumbull Phalanx 13 1844-7.
United Germans 2 1827.
Venezuelan Experiment 25 1844-6.
Warren, Josiah, Time Store &c. 11 1842.
Washtenaw Phalanx 1 1843.
Wisconsin Phalanx 21 1844-50.
Wright, Frances 9
Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community 5 1780.
Yellow Springs Community 1 1825.
Zoar 8 1819.
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 _religious_ Associations, such as
the Dunkers, 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 attempts that are
named in the list; first, because they never attained to the dignity
of Associations; and secondly, 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 _sequelae_ 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 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 commenced 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 within the
forties, we find the main group of Macdonald's Associations.
Thirty-four of the list may clearly be referred 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
affiliation 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
collection, on the following points: 1, 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.
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
experiences 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 1 and 2 years.
Forrestville Community; Indiana; "over 60 members;" 325 acres of land;
duration more than a year.
Franklin Community; New York; no particulars.
Haverstraw Community; New York; about 80 members; 120 acres; debt
$12,000; duration 5 months.
Kendal Community; Ohio; 200 members; 200 acres; duration about 2
years.
Macluria; Indiana; 1200 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 members; 2814 acres;
duration 2 years and 9 months.
Brook Farm; Massachusetts; 115 members; 200 acres; duration 5 years.
Brooke's experiment; Ohio; few members; no further 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; 120 members; 900 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.
Jefferson Co. Industrial Association; New York; 400 members; 1200
acres of land; duration a few months.
Lagrange 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 members; 673 acres; debt
$17,000; duration 12 years.
Northampton Association; Massachusetts; 130 members; 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) Community; 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; 150 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; duration 6 years.
_Recapitulation and Comments._
1. _Localities._ The Owen group were distributed among the States as
follows: in Indiana, 4; in New York, 3; in Ohio, 2; in Pennsylvania,
1; in Tennessee, 1.
The Fourier group were located as follows: in Ohio, 8; in New York, 6;
in Pennsylvania, 6; in Massachusetts, 3; in Illinois, 3; in New
Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in Indiana, 1; in Iowa, 1.
Indiana had the greatest number 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 group--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
Tennessee, 1; in Iowa, 1.
2. _Number of members._ The 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 vary from 15 to 900; but
in a majority of cases they were between 100 and 200.
3. _The amount of land_ reported is enormous. Averaging it as we did
in the case of the number of members, we make a grand total of 136,586
acres, or about 3,000 acres to each Association! This is too much for
any probable average. We will leave out as exceptional, 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. Farming is about the hardest and longest of all roads
to fortune: 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 profit they got 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. Five other
Associations are reported 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 reported; twelve
lasted less than 1 year; two 1 year; four between 1 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.