A.P.

English Jan 27, 2011 In the early eighteenth century a religious revival began to develop in Northeastern and Midwestern America. This renewal of faith preached that all men could achieve a perfect lifestyle through religion. Along with perfectionism people sought a chance to escape from revival became known as the Second Great Awakening and preached that people could perfect the evils of everyday life, such as violence and alcoholism. Many utopias were created to isolate and perfect the inhabitants; Fruitlands is one such example. To fully understand the intentions of Fruitlands, the founders life must be examined. Amos Bronson Alcott was born in November of 1799 in Wolcott, Connecticut. As a child Alcott had very little formal education, but was fascinated by books and loved to read. Later in his life he established several schools, but they failed when parents began to question Alcotts methods. Soon after the scholarly experiment failed, Alcott opened another known as the Temple School. This was the final experimental education clinic that he setup, and the schools failure caused Alcott to reexamine his philosophy. With a fresh failure Alcott began to believe that institutions restrain the individual by imposing social customs on the individual. At the same time Emerson decided to help by financing a journey to England. During Alcotts visit to England he found a school that taught ideas very similar to his own. One of the philosophers that taught at the school was Charles lane who became a cofounder of Fruitlands. The institution was called the Alcott house and was based on Alcotts theories. This motivated Alcott to return to America and create a new

society in New England. There were several communities at that Alcott could have joined, but he did not want to compromise his ethics. Therefore, Alcott devised Fruitlands near Boston so that all of his ethics were strictly followed, and to create a land that of purity. In essence Alcotts plan was to make a new Eden(Fruitlands) that would house the spiritually supreme. Everyone that lived at Fruitlands had to follow a strict diet that prohibited anything that came from an animal. The reason behind avoiding meat was that they believed all creatures should be as free as people. Even materials such as wool were not allowed to be used by any resident. In fact, vegetables that grew down into the earth were also prohibited since they disturbed the worms that lived near the crop. These laws were made because Alcott believed that, The entrance to paradise is still through the strait and narrow gate of self-denial (Fruitlands). So by withholding what the body finds to be most comfortable heaven will once again be reachable by lowly humans. Furthermore farm animals were not permitted to be used for labor in any way, so all members needed to cooperate for survival. Most members of Fruitlands joined to establish individual identities away from the rest of society. Most individuals believed that, While they insisted that reform began with the individual, they considered themselves already reformed (Gordon). Each person involved in this land had difficulties between their religious belief and their personal work. To completely separate from the worlds society, those living in the community imposed eccentric customs upon themselves. One man reversed his name to isolate himself, and another planned to consume nothing but crackers for an entire year. These unique choices show that only extreme radicals became members of Fruitlands.

No other utopia was as extreme as Fruitlands, and this showed through the amount of work that all of the members were required to perform. All members of the society were required to work for the benefit of Fruitlands. Men and women were needed to work together to plant the crops and harvest food. The children were perceived to have perfect intuition and purity greater than adults. For this reason Alcott put strong emphasis to educate the children of Fruitlands, but he also wanted their innocence to be passed on to the adults in the society. Since this society was short lived, family life was never placed into Alcotts philosophy. However they also believed that a community must work together as if they were a family. This was only the spiritual section of Alcotts philosophy, but his philosophy also enveloped economic matters. The philosophy surrounding Fruitlands was based strongly based on their agricultural economy. Along with isolating the members from society for reasons of faith, the economy was completely separate from any other. One of the main ideas was that land cannot be owned by man but by God alone. However ninety acres of land was bought in Harvard, Massachusetts which completely contradicted Alcotts philosophy. Therefore all of the territory was shared by the community. A Surplus in goods was also seen has inhibiting spiritual life and would lead to the evils of trade, so the bare minimum was preferred to keep people alive. So, Fruitlands tried to create an independent economy to eliminate corruption within the publics trading system. Unfortunately for the community economic isolation only quickened their downfall. After seven short months the Fruitlands community dispersed because the philosophy did not permit people to get enough food to survive. In the beginning

Fruitlands included twelve adults and five children. All of these members needed to eat but they did not all do equal shares of work. Alcott and his family lead the community and preached, so there was little time for them to grow crops. There were other members that sat around writing poems, while expecting free food. Also, there was only one experienced farmer in the group, which means no one knew how to grow their own food. However the most difficult challenge was the elimination of animal labor. This caused all of the farm work to be done by hand, and severely lowered the amount of food produced. Even with there was enough food other aspects of the society began to unravel. The vegan diet that was imposed on everyone caused widespread malnutrition and lead to sickness. Also, when anyone disobeyed the diet they would be expelled from the community, which caused Fruitlands to lose several members. Since animals were prohibited as food the food supply became limited to fruits and vegetables, which take time and effort to grow. This also removed some vital nutrients that the society needed to live healthily such as iron which is found in meat. After seven months of surviving on few resources the community had to disperse or face death. Almost immediately after the creation of Fruitlands, most Americans knew the community would fail. Only the members ever believed that any success was seen in their community. During the beginging of this land everyone had enough resources and patients to enjoy a happy existence. In fact Emerson was quoted saying, They look well in July. We shall see them in December(Fruitlands). This clearly shows that outsiders saw the problems in the community, while insiders were blind to them. After several months the very members that envisioned a perfect society saw that their group

was a failure. At this point those involved began to disperse for newer or more practical utopian societies. When Fruitlands finally separated there were only two families left; the Alcotts and Lanes. While many utopias were formed during the 1830s, most Americans did not approve of their existence. Many Americans strongly supported capitalism, which depended on a strong economy, trade, and property. These were all of the aspects that Alcott considered evil in the American society. Other communities were also against capitalism, but many went even farther to become communists. Land was usually shared between all members along with food and other resources. These changes in American culture were seen with vehemence by the public, however most ended quickly. So, the people in these societies had to rejoin the United States. These societies led to a richer more equal American culture by incorporating utopian ideas to adapt political policies. Through the failure of utopian communities culture became diversified by adding new ideas. Then changes began to occur in the nation that supported female rights, abolition, and prohibition. These reforms were made by the same groups that participated in societies. Eventually these reformers shaped the very essence of the United States.

Works Cited "Alcott Arrives at Fruitlands." massmoments.org. 2010. masshumanities. 19 Dec 2010 <http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=162>.

Alcott, Louisa. Transcendental Wild Oats and Excerpts from the Fruitlands Diary. Harvard Common Press, 1995. Print. "Fruitlands." Alcott.net. 19 Dec 2010 <http://www.alcott.net/alcott/home/fruitlands.html>. Gordon, Jessica. "Transcendental Ideas: Social Reform." vcu.edu. American Transcendentalism Web. 19 Dec 2010 <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/fruitlands.html>. Howe, Charles. "Bronson and Abigail Alcott." uua.org. 2009. Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. 19 Dec 2010 <http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/bronsonalcott.html>.