Pathfinder: Utopian Studies and American Utopian Societies

“Index of Shaker Manuscripts.” 14 Feb. 2006. Pass the Word. 25 March 2006. http://www.passtheword.org/SHAKER-MANUSCRIPTS/#Index>.

This website, compiled by the organization Pass the Word, whose mission is to make religious texts available to everyone, contains a small amount of background information on the Shakers and a large index of Shake primary sources. The Shakers were a religious organization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They believed in communal living, celibacy, pacifism, and the equality of the sexes. The website contains many sources, including Shaker manuscripts and religious books, as well as commentary by the early Shakers on their way of life.

Bible Communism. New York: The Office of the Circular, 1853. Oneida Community Collection. Syracuse University Library. 25 March 2006. http://libwww.syr.edu/digital/collections/b/BibleCommunism/>.

This is the full online text of Bible Communism, a compendium of primary sources concerning the Oneida community. The full text is online courtesy of the Syracuse University Library. Oneida was founded by John Humphrey Noyes, who believed that perfection could be achieved on earth. At Oneida, the residents followed a concept called “Bible Communism,” meaning community living and no individual possessions. They also believed in the idea of “complex marriage,” meaning a person was not married to one other person but the group, and could enjoy marital privileges with any of them.

“Letters from Brook Farm.” The Subcultural Studies Project. University of Louisville. 25 March 2006. http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/english/subcultures/colors/teal/jrhami01/letph.html>.

Brook Farm was a Utopian community based on Transcendentalism, Kant’s idea of the divinity of nature and man rising above earthly experiences. Led by George Ripley and following the example of the Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, who sequestered himself at Walden Pond, the people of Brook Farm decided to set up a society based on plain living and communing with nature. This website displays several letters written by residents of Brook Farm, detailing what life was like on the farm and suggesting internal troubles in the society.

Rapp, George. “Thoughts on the Destiny of Man.” 1824. Esoterica. Michigan State University. 25 March 2006. http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Archive/Thoughts_On_the_Destiny.html>.

George Rapp was the founding father of the Rappites (also called The Harmony Society), who founded a community based on complete and exclusive devotion to the Bible. He advocated celibacy and a communal life without individual possessions. He wrote down his beliefs in a manifesto, “Thoughts on the Destiny of Man.” This document gives an accurate idea of Rapp’s beliefs, as well as a hint of what it was to live in a Rappite community.

“Primary Sources in Mormon History 1839–1918.” Saints Without Halos. 2002. 25 March 2006. http://jfs.saintswithouthalos.com/pri/primary.htm>.

This page, compiled by a website that archives Mormon History (Saints Without Halos), gives a large number primary sources relating to Mormon ideology. It includes excerpts from the diaries of many Mormons, as well as documents by Mormon leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The different sources give different viewpoints of Mormonism; the diaries show was it was like to live as a Mormon in the nineteenth century, while the sermons and writings by Smith and Young reveal the ideological underpinnings of the Utopian movement.