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| | Half of the Oregon territory, which included the current states of Oregon and Washington, was controlled by the British. In 1846 the Oregon Treaty settled the disputes between America and Britain, giving most of the Oregon territory to the United States. | | Half of the Oregon territory, which included the current states of Oregon and Washington, was controlled by the British. In 1846 the Oregon Treaty settled the disputes between America and Britain, giving most of the Oregon territory to the United States. |
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| − | Along with the expansion and migration came great social change in the older portions of the United States. Utopian communities thrived in the 1840s to pursue idealistic societies, often based on common religious beliefs and sharing homes and property. The homeschooling movement today could be compared with the movements in the 1840s, though homeschooling is more of a concept than a centralized community having shared property. Examples of Utopian communities in the 1840s (and earlier) were the Shakers, the Oneida Community, Brook Farm and the Rappites:<ref name="Utopian">http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/amana/utopia.htm</ref> | + | Along with the expansion and migration came great social change in the older portions of the United States. Utopian communities thrived in the 1840s to pursue idealistic societies, often based on common religious beliefs and sharing homes and property. The homeschooling movement today could be compared with the movements in the 1840s, though homeschooling is more of a concept than a centralized community having shared property. Examples of Utopian communities in the 1840s (and earlier) were the Shakers, Brook Farm, the Rappites, and the Oneida Community:<ref name="Utopian">http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/amana/utopia.htm</ref> |
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| − | * The Shakers, whose formal name was the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming, believed in communal living (people sharing each other's homes and property), productive labor, celibacy, pacifism, simplicity, and ritualistic dancing and shaking during services. It was founded by an Englishwoman in 1758, split off from the Quakers in 1772, and grew to 6,000 members in America before the Civil War. The Shakers rejected slavery and other American values, and had thriving communities in Enfield, Connecticut and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, stand as two noteworthy examples of Shaker communities. Other Shaker communities existed in Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York (New Lebanon), and Maine (New Glochester), where Shakers survive to this day! | + | * The Shakers, whose formal name was the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming, believed in communal living (people sharing each other's homes and property), productive labor, celibacy, pacifism, simplicity, and ritualistic dancing and shaking during services. It was founded by an Englishwoman in 1758, split off from the Quakers in 1772, and grew to 6,000 members in America before the Civil War. The Shakers rejected slavery and other aspects of American life, and had thriving communities in Enfield, Connecticut and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Other Shaker communities existed in Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York (New Lebanon) ... and Maine (New Glochester), where Shakers survive to this day! |
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| − | * Brook Farm was a Utopian community based on "transcendentalism", which was a philosophy started by Immanuel Kant in the late 1700s that emphasized man's ability to "transcend" experience and pursue a lifestyle of simple living, self-reliance, and rejection of industrialization. This movement took inspiration from Ralph Waldo Emerson, was the leading American proponent of this philosophy (without himself living in a Utopian community), and his friend Henry David Thoreau, who did spend some time living in simplicity on "Walden's Pond," except when he went over to Emerson's house to enjoy a good meal and better surroundings! (Thoreau also became famous for his book advocating "civil disobedience" to laws and authority.) Brook Farm itself was located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts and was led by a former Unitarian minister. The community provided to all members, their children and family dependents, housing, fuel, wages, clothing and food, and had schools at all levels before college. The project ended in failure due to financial difficulties and even a bitter lawsuit by investors attempting to recover their money. The community never exceeded 120 persons, making it smaller than most homeschooling communities today. | + | * Brook Farm was a Utopian community based on "transcendentalism", which was a philosophy started by Immanuel Kant in the late 1700s that emphasized man's ability to "transcend" experience and pursue a lifestyle of simple living, self-reliance, and rejection of industrialization. This movement took inspiration from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was the leading American proponent of this philosophy (without himself living in a Utopian community), and his friend Henry David Thoreau, who did spend some time living in simplicity on "Walden's Pond," except when he went over to his friend Emerson's house to enjoy a good meal and better surroundings! (Thoreau also became famous for his book advocating "civil disobedience" to laws and authority.) Brook Farm itself was located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts and was led by a former Unitarian minister. The community provided to all members, their children and family dependents the following: housing, fuel, wages, clothing and food. It also had schools at all levels before college. This project ended in failure due to financial difficulties and even a bitter lawsuit by investors attempting to recover their money. This community never exceeded 120 persons, making it smaller than most homeschooling communities today. |
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| − | * The Rappites, also known as The Harmony Society, were founded by Johann Georg Rapp and first consisted of immigrants from Germany seeking religious freedom in America. They settled in Butler County, Pennsylvania, called Harmony, and believed that Bible was humanity's sole authority. Similar to the Shakers, they required celibacy also led a communal life without individual possessions. Frederick Rapp, George Rapp's adopted son, transformed the economy of Harmony from subsistence agriculture to gradual diversified manufacturing, and by 1814 the Society was thriving with 700 members and a town of 130 homes and factories. The products they produced, ranging from textiles to woolens to wine and whiskey, were highly valued by other Americans for their quality. They continued to succeed economically, and repeatedly outgrew their towns, moving to Indiana (after selling their town for $100,000 to Mennonites) and later back to Pennsylvania. They peaked in 1866 and, after several schisms, disbanded in 1905. Their sturdy buildings remain to this day. | + | * The Rappites, also known as The Harmony Society, were founded by Johann Georg Rapp and first consisted of immigrants from Germany seeking religious freedom in America. They settled in Butler County, Pennsylvania, called Harmony, and believed that the Bible was humanity's sole authority. Similar to the Shakers, they required celibacy also led a communal life without individual possessions. Frederick Rapp, George Rapp's adopted son, transformed the economy of Harmony from subsistence agriculture to gradual diversified manufacturing, and by 1814 the Society was thriving with 700 members and a town of 130 homes and factories. The products they produced, ranging from textiles to woolens to wine and whiskey, were highly valued by other Americans for their quality. They continued to succeed economically, and repeatedly outgrew their towns, moving to Indiana (after selling their first town for $100,000 to Mennonites) and later back to Pennsylvania. They peaked in 1866 and, after several schisms, disbanded in 1905. Their sturdy buildings remain to this day. |
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| | * The Oneida Community in Madison County, New York, was an abolitionist movement founded by the minister John Humphreys Noyes. He preached the radical view that perfection was attainable in this life, and his followers became known as "Perfectionists". Unfortunately, he also preached a concept of "complex marriage," whereby men and women married in groups such that every man in the group was married to every woman in the group, and children were raised by everyone. "Bible communism" resulted in no individual property either. A 1879 meeting of ministers in Syracuse, New York, condemned the settlement, and unrest caused Noyes to flee to Canada. | | * The Oneida Community in Madison County, New York, was an abolitionist movement founded by the minister John Humphreys Noyes. He preached the radical view that perfection was attainable in this life, and his followers became known as "Perfectionists". Unfortunately, he also preached a concept of "complex marriage," whereby men and women married in groups such that every man in the group was married to every woman in the group, and children were raised by everyone. "Bible communism" resulted in no individual property either. A 1879 meeting of ministers in Syracuse, New York, condemned the settlement, and unrest caused Noyes to flee to Canada. |
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| − | The decline of all the Utopian communities has been attributed to increased industrialization and hostility by a broader public to the concept. Inflammatory newspaper articles played a role as the public became reliant on secular sources for information. Historians concluded that "religious utopian colonies possessed a longer life then their secular counterparts."<ref name="Utopian"/> Most of the Utopian communities have remnants that are preserved today and can be visited. | + | The decline of all the Utopian communities has been attributed to increased industrialization and hostility by a broader public to the concept. Inflammatory newspaper articles played a role as the public became reliant on secular sources for information. But historians have concluded that "religious utopian colonies possessed a longer life then their secular counterparts."<ref name="Utopian"/> Most of the Utopian communities have remnants that are preserved today and can be visited. |
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| − | In addition to the Utopian communities, there were key social and religious movements in or around the 1840s that resulted from the culmination of the Second Great Awakening that swept America from 1790 to 1840: | + | In addition to the Utopian communities, there were key social and religious movements in or around the 1840s that resulted from the culmination of the Second Great Awakening, which swept America from 1790 to 1840: |
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| | * the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church), the only major church founded in America, was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in western New York. He then moved to Ohio, and then Nauvoo, Illinois, where it thrived so much that it became the largest town in Illinois in 1844 (even bigger than Chicago). The movement ban alcohol and emphasized hard work and entrepreneurship. But in 1844 an anti-Mormon newspaper (the "Nauvoo Expositor") began attacking the church, and city council responded by ordering destruction of its printing presses, which in turn led to the imprisonment of Mayor Joseph Smith. While in jail with his brother, Joseph Smith (and his brother) was killed by a mob that was unlawfully allowed to enter the prison. Brigham Young became leader of the church within a few years, and led the 70,000-person community on a 1,300-mile migration to establish a new state in the west, then part of Mexico but now Utah. Today the Mormon Church is the fourth largest church denomination in the United States, after the Catholics, Baptists and Methodists.<ref>http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html</ref> | | * the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church), the only major church founded in America, was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in western New York. He then moved to Ohio, and then Nauvoo, Illinois, where it thrived so much that it became the largest town in Illinois in 1844 (even bigger than Chicago). The movement ban alcohol and emphasized hard work and entrepreneurship. But in 1844 an anti-Mormon newspaper (the "Nauvoo Expositor") began attacking the church, and city council responded by ordering destruction of its printing presses, which in turn led to the imprisonment of Mayor Joseph Smith. While in jail with his brother, Joseph Smith (and his brother) was killed by a mob that was unlawfully allowed to enter the prison. Brigham Young became leader of the church within a few years, and led the 70,000-person community on a 1,300-mile migration to establish a new state in the west, then part of Mexico but now Utah. Today the Mormon Church is the fourth largest church denomination in the United States, after the Catholics, Baptists and Methodists.<ref>http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html</ref> |