1. Madeline Battalio/Angelus McNally
New Harmony
Neither New Nor Particularly Harmonious
Madeline Battalio/Angelus McNally

2. “Man's character was made for and not by him” -Robert Owen

3. Harmony, Indiana
In 1814, the Harmony Society- a Christian group from Germany who had been persecuted by Lutherans- came to the United States and founded the city Harmony in Indiana. For 10 years, they built up a successful and thriving city built on a like-minded society with a strong leader- Johann Georg (George) Rapp.
In 1824, the Society sold their city to Robert Owen, a Scottish craving the opportunity to prove that his ideas could create a successful settlement based on achieving happiness, enlightenment, and prosperity through education, science, technology, and communal living. Owen renamed the city New Harmony.

4. Chronology Established by Harmony Society 1814
Sold to Robert Owen, named New Harmony
1824
1827
Economic failure, subdivision and dissolution
1858
Robert Owen dies

5. Conditions that created the need for change
Robert Owen, a Welshman from a rich background, was a significant part of utopian socialism. Many of his beliefs were based on the idea that people have no control over what
shaped their individual character; therefore, it is necessary to
ensure people are surrounded by physical, social, and moral influences early age. Such beliefs carved his ideas on worker welfare and practical education.
Owen explains that he left his country “in 1824 to go to the United States to sow the seeds in that new Fertile soil- new for material and mental growth- the cradle of the future liberty of the human race”

6. Problem the movement attempted to address
-opposed to things such as private property and religion or property being the basis of existence -instead, he proposed education based on practical training and creating character, rather than classical education Additionally -hoped to create a model communal society with his envisionment of a “new moral world” free of social classes and personal wealth -By controlling the environment, Owen believed that a superior character could be created, and thus a new social order.
“Why did Owen so quickly purchase New Harmony and launch his Utopian village there? The underlying factor was his deep commitment to the belief that it would be the seed for other communities, all of which would eventually lead to the new society he envisioned” (Carmony)

7. Earlier attempts at reform
In addition to New Harmony, Owen had constructed a mill town society at New Lanark in Scotland. This town was pretty successful and put forth huge reforms geared towards Owenite ideals. However, “by the mid-1820s New Lanark was not a promising place for the achievement of his goals... the departure of the Harmonists offered a rare opportunity to purchase a town, already adapted to community living, at a price far less than one could be built” (Carmony).
“Owen became convinced that the United States provided the perfect setting for his utopian experiments... Undoubtedly, Owen was responding in part to the myth of the West and its place in the process of social regeneration... as well as to the success that communities like the Shakers were having in that environment” (University of Virginia).

8. Initial Reactions
“Owen's increasingly radical ideas had stirred resentment and criticism among his business associates and throughout the British Isles” (Carmony)
Many believed Owen’s plans to be financially unstable, as the downfall of the community eventually proved.
“Not to be overlooked is the appeal which America had for Owen (and many Europeans). Here, Owen believed, freedom and progress were thriving, and society was much less encrusted with custom and tradition than in Europe. In short, Owen believed that utopia could be more easily achieved in the New World than in the Old” (Carmony)
Owen’s ideas weren’t well received in Europe, so he took his plan for a commune to America.

9. Visitors to New Harmony remarked upon the beauty and symmetry of the town.

10. Solutions Proposed
The basis for Owen’s New Harmony was, as stated by Donald F. Carmony and Josephine M. Elliott, “Equality among members was strongly emphasized. All were to be considered as one family with no one heldin higher or lower esteem because of occupation… Each member was to render his or her best service to the community and receive the best physical, moral and intellectual education the community was able to provide” (Carmony, Elliot)

11. How effective were the goals?
Josiah Warren, a member of the Harmony Society, noticed that the society lacked individual sovereignty and “it appeared that it was nature’s own inherent law of diversity that had conquered us… our ‘united interests’ were directly at war with the individualities of persons and circumstances and the instinct of self- preservation…”
Owen’s son, William Owen, expressed concern; “I doubt whether those who have been comfortable and content in their old mode of life will find an increase of enjoyment when they come her. How long it will require to accustom themselves to their new mode of living, I am unable to determine.”"

12. How effective were the goals? cont.
One key thing Owen lacked in New Harmony was a uniting leader. Since his utopia was different in that it specifically had no binding religion or religious figure, there was no thing to guide the people with a similar cause and belief. Hence, individual motives played a factor, and it is believed that there was not enough individual sovereignty. Otherwise, Owen set up a communist system that should’ve pleased everyone. But, creating an entirely equal society with the difficult goals he had in mind proved to be a challenge.

13. What did the leaders of the movement say about it?
“Why did Owen so quickly purchase New Harmony and launch his Utopian village there? The underlying factor was his deep commitment to the belief that it would be the seed for other communities, all of which would eventually lead to the new society he envisioned” (Carmony)
Owen served as a fervent promoter for the community, and, much like a club promoter who stirs up so much interest in a club that fights break out, Owen invited so many people to the colony that a rash of overcrowding broke out.
Said William Owen, doubting his father, "’The enjoyment of a reformer,’ he confided in his journal, ‘is much more in contemplation, than in reality ….’ More revealing is his comment: ‘I doubt whether those who have been comfortable and contented in their old mode of life, will find an increase of enjoyment when they come here’” (Carmony)

15. Consequences and Results
Due to a lack of planning on Owen’s part, the community was financially unstable and collapsed after two years.
His welcoming attitude brought an overwhelming amount of people who were unmotivated to work to the colony.
Despite the communist system implemented to avoid them, inequalities led to complaints and frustration.
People, parents especially, became displeased with the age-based labor and education plans enforced by Owen and his family.
Concrete plans for ownership and membership and for the mechanics of the community’s economy weren’t initially laid out and were never finalized, leading to its eventual downfall.

16. Conditions and Implications
Lack of a shared religion lead to a less unified budding society. This absence of a strong central belief lead to the community’s decline.
“Because Owen did not believe in God, there was no central covenant that committed the residents of New Harmony to their enterprise” (University of Virginia)
Owen invited anyone and everyone who shared his ideals to join the community, leading to a skill imbalance.
New Harmony established a number of constitutions that shared visions and ideals for the community, yet contained no plans for the implementation of these ideas.

17. Significance and Achievements
Based on reasoning and ethics rather than religion, as many other movements at the time were.
Despite a volatile dynamic within New Harmony, Owen was able to persuade a number of great thinkers of the time to join the community, including his four highly accomplished sons and William Maclure, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, Joseph Neef, Marie Louise Duclos Fretageot, Frances Wright, and Thomas Say, to name a few.
Achievements included:
first free library
civic drama club
public school system for men and women

18. New Harmony Plans Under Robert Owen

19. Related Movements
Old Economy Village- another town settled by the Harmonists, the original settlers of Harmony.
Zoar- a utopian communist village settled by German religious dissenters, similar to the Harmonists. Was relatively long lasting (80 years).
Shakers- a religiously-based sect with communal colonies.
Hopedale Community- similar to New Harmony, the founder hoped for the utopian community to be a beacon of reform and learning.
Oneida Community- a religious commune with a strong silverware manufacturing industry and unconventional morals.
Brook Farm- a utopian commune inspired by Transcendentalism.
Today: Post, Texas; Twin Oaks, Virginia; Arden Village, Delaware; Fairhope, Alabama

20. Conclusion
The goal of New Harmony was to cultivate a community of social equality, free education, and scholarly achievement.
Didn’t work out as a socialist commune, but did promote and produce scientific and academic accomplishments.
The popularity of the community showed the desire of Americans to have greater equality within their changing Industrial world.
An (albeit Marxist writer) says that “Robert Owen stands out like a giant because he did spend his considerable fortune in the cause of improving the lives of the workers. He established a number of communist societies in Scotland and in the United States and devoted the better part of his life to tireless defense of the interests of the working class” (Marcy).

21. “America and the Utopian Dream. ” Yale, brbl-archive. library. yale
“America and the Utopian Dream.” Yale, brbl-archive.library.yale.edu/exhibitions/utopia/uc07.html.
American Utopia. Public Broadcasting, mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/radiowest/files/201605/american_utopianism.jpg. Accessed 9 Jan
Carmony, Donald F., and Josephine M. Elliott. “New Harmony, Indiana.” Indiana Magazine of History, 1980, scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/10250/14211.
“New Harmony.” Robert Owen Museum, robert-owen-museum.org.uk/Robert_Owen_1771_1858/new_harmony.
“New Harmony.” University of Virginia, xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/HNS/Cities/newharmony.html.
New Harmony Communities. Espazium,
“New Harmony, Indiana.” Town of New Harmony, Indiana,
“New Harmony, Indiana.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Harmony,_Indiana#Owenite_community_ E Accessed 9 Jan
Bibliography

22. New Harmony 1832. Wikimedia, upload. wikimedia
New Harmony Wikimedia, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Karl_Bodmer_New_Harmony_1832_-_1833.jpg.
New Harmony Sign. Hannah Cantebellum, hannahcantebellum.weebly.com/uploads/4/2/6/8/ / png?250.
“Soviet Socialism: Utopian or Scientific?” Workers, edited by Sam Marcy,
World History in Context. Gale World History in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&jsid=6a91e6fe7e4c566356c1effd177d6502&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX &u=mlin_n_wsparker&zid=57dfac2eb73a6e60979ddffee9961e23.
Bibliography