Communal Experiments: Shakers; Robert Owen, New Harmony; Oneida community (jan 1, 1848 – jan 1, 1848)

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Shakers were one of the earliest religious communal movements, with a total of 6,000 members distributed over various communities by the 1840s (it was founded in 1747). The community was characterized by the separation of women and men (forebode marriage and sexual relations), and died out due to lack of new reuits by the mid 1900s. New Harmony was a nonreligious experiment that was the brainchild of Welsh reformer Robert Owen, which he hoped would provide an answer to inequity and alienation caused by the Industrial Revolution. The experiment failed after disagreements between members and lack of funds to keep the commune running. John Humphrey Noyes started an experimental community in 1848 in Oneida New York. The community would share property and marriage partners, and its system of planned reproduction as a sinful experiment in “free love.” Unlike the previous communities, production and sale of high-quality silverware kept the community’s economy stable.

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