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Explore the utopian societies of the Shakers, the Oneida Community, and the Mormons, and their beliefs on religion and sexuality. Learn about their values, practices, and the reasons behind their allure. Discover the ultimate failure of these communities and their reflection on American society.
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Religion and Sexuality A Comparison: The Shakers, The Oneida Community, and The Mormons And other communities
Today’s Agenda • Objective: To examine the various utopian societies founded and the values they encouraged. • Essential Skill: Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions.
Review • With your group sort the terms, figures, movements into categories • Make sure you are able to identify/define each term • Discuss the connection among them
What is a Utopia? Why were these utopias founded? What values did the societies promote and why were they alluring?
The Shakers • Mother Ann Lee • The major tenant of the Shaker faith was a belief in celibacy and no marriage • Shaker men and women lived separately in various communities within the United States.
The Oneida Community • John Noyes • The Oneida Community was based on the belief that monogamy caused jealousy and was the basis for the world’s evils. • They practiced group marriage and believed in perfectionism
Mansion House A sprawling, resplendent building, it formed the center of the Oneida Community’s life and was a stunning specimen of mid-nineteenth-century architectural and engineering achievement. p323
Oneida • Eugenics • Criticism • Complex marriage • Birth Control • Made steel traps • Silverware
The Mormons • Joseph Smith claimed that God had revealed golden tablets of the Book of Mormon. • Became firmly established in Illinois. • Driven out and Joseph Smith killed.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) • Migrated to Utah (Salt Lake City) under Brigham Young. • The Mormons believed in the practice of polygamy until the late nineteenth century. • Utah War with the federal government • Utah admitted to the Union (1896) after polygamy had been repudiated formally • World religion today Mitt Romney
Robert Owen & New Harmony • New Harmony, Indiana • Other Owenites settled in Economy, PA., where their sect survived into the early 1900s. • Communistic colony. A cultural and scientific center; attracted many noted scientists, educators, and writers. • Dissension arose; failed in 1828.The town remained an intellectual center.
Vision of New Harmony • The nation’s first: • kindergarten • free public school (equal for boys and girls) • free library
Brook Farm, Massachusetts Founded by George Ripley, a Unitarian minister. Cooperative living. financed by a joint-stock company Unitarianism and Transcendentalism Intellectual living Nathaniel Hawthorne: Wrote Blithedale Romance Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Horace Greeley also visited. Collapsed = Fire and debt
Utopias vs. Distopias Why did they ultimately fail?
What did the establishment of these utopian and religious communities reflect about American society? Have we seen efforts to establish similar communities in recent times?