Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Hum p h r e y N0 yes i nAmerica are two s·uc hex a. mpies • Fin ­
a 11 y, wh i 1 e many rei igious sects came to Amer ica seeki
n g "r eli g i 0 u s f r e e d 0 m ,n wh a t the y me ant by t his wa s
not freedom for the individual worshiper, but freedom
for the sec t a s a wh 0 Ie, co upIed wit h rig i d con formit y
b Y the mem b e r s 0 f the sec t • The Pur itansat Ma s sach usetts
Bay are an outstanding example. They wanted
" rei i g i 0 u s f r e e d om" topraetice inthe i r . own wa y • But
theyes tab lis h e d a the0 c r a c y d om ina ted by are 1 i g i 0 us
aristocracy. The primary functions of the state were
to compel church attendance, collect taxes for the suppor
t of the church and to preserve rei igious orthodoxy.
I t was in pursuit of the latter end that such religious
dissenters as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were
e x pel led. T hus, the impact 0 f rei i g ion 0 nthe emerge n c e
of American individualism is difficult to gauge. Certainly
it is not a one way street. The other difference
between Deleon's interpretation and mine is his
treatment of the open frontier and capitalism as two
dis tin c t f act 0 r s • But itse em s tome t hat the ex i sten
ceo f the 0 pen fro n tie r wa s I a r gel y res ponsib I e for
the emergence of capitalism. As noted in the text, in
n ear 1 y everye 0 Ion y a con c e r t ed e f for t wa s rna d e to
transplant the European feudal structure and these
attempts failed because of the presence of the open
frontier.
(8)10 Schuster, p. 35.
(9 )On Anne Hutch inson, the early Quakers and the
Antinomian Doctrine and its relation to anarchism see
Schuster, pp. 13-39; Rothbard pp. 14-28; and Deleon,
pp. 14-23.
(10 )For a good presentation of the principles of
Transcendental ism and a summary of the views of two
leading exponents, Emerson and Thoreau, see A. J.
Bei tzinger, A History of American Political Thought
( New Y 0 r k: Do d d , Meadand Co., 19 7 2 ), Pp. 341 -47. AIso
see Alpheus Mason, "Romantic Individualism," Free
Go v ernmentin the Ma kin g, e d: A• T. Ma son ( New Yo r k :
Oxford University Press, 1965), pp. 474-79. On the
reI i g i 0 usb a sis 0 f rna n y 0 f the r ad i c a Ire I i g i 0 usana r ­
chi s t comm u nit i e s 0 f the n i net e en t h c e n t u r y, see Lew i s
Perry's excellent "Versions of Anarchism in the Antislavery
Movement," American Quarterly (Winter 1968),
pp. 768-82. Also see Schuster, pp. 410-86. For a description
of John Humphrey Noyes' Oneida Community
see Stow Persons, "Christian Communitarianism in
Am e ric a ,It Soc i ali sma n d Am e rican L i fe, V0 I. 1, e d s . :
Dona ld Drew Egbert and Stow Persons (Princeton:
Princeton UnIversity Press, 1952), pp. 127-51. Also of
interest' is Morris Bishop, "The Great Oneida Love-in,"
214