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Line 1: − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − + − − (1850-1898), American author and social reformer, was born at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on the 25th of March 1850. He studied for a time at Union College, Schenectady, New York, and in Germany; was admitted to the bar in 1871; but soon engaged in newspaper work, first as an associate editor of the Springfield Union, Mass., and then as an editorial writer for the New York Evening Post. After publishing three novelettes (Six to One, Dr Heidenhoff's Process and Miss Ludington's Sister), pleasantly written and showing some inventiveness in situation, but attracting no special notice, in 1888 he caught the public attention with Looking Backward, 2000-1887, in which he set forth ideas of co-operative or semi-socialistic life in village or city communities. The book was widely circulated in America and Europe, and was translated into several foreign languages. It was at first judged merely as a romance, but was soon accepted as a statement of the deliberate wishes and methods of its author, who devoted the remainder of his life as editor, author, lecturer and politician, to the promotion of the communistic theories of Looking Backward, which he called " nationalism "; a Nationalist party (the main points of whose immediate programme, according to Bellamy, were embodied in the platform of the People's party of 1892) was organized, but obtained no political hold. In 1897 Bellamy published Equality, a sequel to Looking Backward. He died at Chicopee Falls on the 22nd of May 1898.
Organization
'''Edward Bellamy''' was a socialist author who, under the title of 'nationalism', brought socialism into the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heath |first1=Frederic |year=1900 |title=Social democracy red book |publisher=Debs publishing Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46A0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA64 |pages=42 |quote=The American awakening to Socialism began with the appearance of Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" in 1888, although in 1884 Laurence Gronlund's "Co-operative Commonwealth" was the first book to place the new theory before American readers in a popular way. This had a very fair sale and set many prominent men to thinking along new lines - and among them probably the novelist Edward Bellamy himself. "Looking Backward" was not at all scientific in its conception of Socialism or the probable Socialistic state, but it came as a great message to the American people, nevertheless, and its success was phenomenal. In the succeeding few years over 600,000 copies were sold and for a time it had a record of sales of over 1,000 a day. Still it must be noted that the word Socialism nowhere appeared in the book. Bellamy and his converts at once organized clubs, which, with a cowardice that was perhaps justified, they called Nationalist clubs, and they persisted in calling their Socialism ''Nationalism''.}}</ref>
'''Edward Bellamy''' (1850-1898) was a socialist author who, under the title of 'nationalism', brought socialism into the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heath |first1=Frederic |year=1900 |title=Social democracy red book |publisher=Debs publishing Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46A0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA64 |pages=42 |quote=The American awakening to Socialism began with the appearance of Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" in 1888, although in 1884 Laurence Gronlund's "Co-operative Commonwealth" was the first book to place the new theory before American readers in a popular way. This had a very fair sale and set many prominent men to thinking along new lines - and among them probably the novelist Edward Bellamy himself. "Looking Backward" was not at all scientific in its conception of Socialism or the probable Socialistic state, but it came as a great message to the American people, nevertheless, and its success was phenomenal. In the succeeding few years over 600,000 copies were sold and for a time it had a record of sales of over 1,000 a day. Still it must be noted that the word Socialism nowhere appeared in the book. Bellamy and his converts at once organized clubs, which, with a cowardice that was perhaps justified, they called Nationalist clubs, and they persisted in calling their Socialism ''Nationalism''.}}</ref>
==Early Life==
American author and social reformer, was born at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on the 25th of March 1850. He studied for a time at Union College, Schenectady, New York, and in Germany; was admitted to the bar in 1871; but soon engaged in newspaper work, first as an associate editor of the Springfield Union, Mass., and then as an editorial writer for the New York Evening Post.
==Literary Career==
After publishing three novelettes (Six to One, Dr Heidenhoff's Process and Miss Ludington's Sister), pleasantly written and showing some inventiveness in situation, but attracting no special notice, in 1888 he caught the public attention with Looking Backward, 2000-1887, in which he set forth ideas of co-operative or semi-socialistic life in village or city communities.
===Looking Backward===
The book was widely circulated in America and Europe, and was translated into several foreign languages. It was at first judged merely as a romance, but was soon accepted as a statement of the deliberate wishes and methods of its author, who devoted the remainder of his life as editor, author, lecturer and politician, to the promotion of the communistic theories of Looking Backward, which he called "nationalism"; a Nationalist party (the main points of whose immediate programme, according to Bellamy, were embodied in the platform of the People's party of 1892) was organized, but obtained no political hold.
====Influence====
Following the publication of his book ''Looking Backward'', there began what was called at the time a "Nationalist movement".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Edward Bellamy Megapack: 20 Classic Novels and Stories |publisher=Wildside Press LLC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KS70AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |year=2013 |pages=9}}</ref> Toward the height of its popularity, there were "no fewer than 162 [[Nationalist Clubs]] in existence."<ref>{{cite book |title=Looking Backwards from 2000 to 1887 (Annotated) |publisher=Bronson Tweed Publishing |pages=142}}</ref> The "nationalist movement" used the word 'nationalism' as a euphemism for the nationalization of industry;<ref>{{cite book |first1=John R. |last1=Shook |title=Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, Volume 1 |publisher=A&C Black |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ijpj1tB3Qr0C&pg=PA188 |year=2005 |pages=188}}</ref> that is, socialism.
Following the publication of his book ''Looking Backward'', there began what was called at the time a "Nationalist movement".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Edward Bellamy Megapack: 20 Classic Novels and Stories |publisher=Wildside Press LLC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KS70AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |year=2013 |pages=9}}</ref> Toward the height of its popularity, there were "no fewer than 162 [[Nationalist Clubs]] in existence."<ref>{{cite book |title=Looking Backwards from 2000 to 1887 (Annotated) |publisher=Bronson Tweed Publishing |pages=142}}</ref> The "nationalist movement" used the word 'nationalism' as a euphemism for the nationalization of industry;<ref>{{cite book |first1=John R. |last1=Shook |title=Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, Volume 1 |publisher=A&C Black |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ijpj1tB3Qr0C&pg=PA188 |year=2005 |pages=188}}</ref> that is, socialism.
==Later years==
In 1897 Bellamy published Equality, a sequel to Looking Backward. He died at Chicopee Falls on the 22nd of May 1898.
==Legacy==
Noted marxist [[Erich Fromm]] wrote the foreword for the 1960 edition of ''Looking Backward''<ref>{{cite book |first1=Edward |last1=Bellamy |first2=Fromm | last2=Erich |title=Looking Backward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LZXNRb5IYIC |year=1960 }}</ref>, in which he wrote regarding Bellamy's word choice:
Noted marxist [[Erich Fromm]] wrote the foreword for the 1960 edition of ''Looking Backward''<ref>{{cite book |first1=Edward |last1=Bellamy |first2=Fromm | last2=Erich |title=Looking Backward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LZXNRb5IYIC |year=1960 }}</ref>, in which he wrote regarding Bellamy's word choice:
{{cquote|He(Bellamy) called this movement "nationalist," referring by this word both to the nationalization of all means of production and to the fact that only this form of society could bring about the rich flowering of a nation's life.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Dwight D. |last1=Murphey |title=Liberal Thought in Modern America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hYUjAQAAIAAJ |year=1987 }}</ref>}}
{{quotation|He(Bellamy) called this movement "nationalist," referring by this word both to the nationalization of all means of production and to the fact that only this form of society could bring about the rich flowering of a nation's life.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Dwight D. |last1=Murphey |title=Liberal Thought in Modern America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hYUjAQAAIAAJ |year=1987 }}</ref>}}
==See Also==
==See Also==