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Christian commune where all property was commonly owned. Work and worship was combined.
In 1855, they moved to an 18,000 acre area in Iowa, forming the community of Amana. It
eventually expanded into seven villages, with farms, stores, sheds and factories. The commune
still exists today, with its factories producing various appliances. Its stock was held by about
1400 members.
Comte Henri de Saint-Simon (1776-1825), French nobleman, philosopher and socialist, was
the grandson of the author of King Louis XIV’s memoirs. He was considered by some to be
mentally unbalanced, because of an infliction inherited from his insane mother. Others believed
him to be a genius. His philosophy, known as the “New Christianity,” advocated the placing of
all property and people under the State’s control, to insure that the exploitation of the poor would
end. He declared that the existing social system was dead and should be done away with. He
called for the merging of scientific and technological knowledge towards industrialism, in order
to have the elite rule. He said that all men were not created equal. His followers, known as “The
Family” instituted a political program, calling for the public control of industrial production,
abolition of inheritance, and equal rights for women. They even tried to start a Saint-Simonian
Church.
In 1836, one of Simon’s disciples, Philippe Joseph Benjamin Buchez, attempted to combine
Socialism with Catholicism, with something called Christian Socialism. This was a continuation
of Weishaupt’s efforts to identify Christianity with the Illuminati, in order to draw members.
Peaceful revolution was to be carried out through the principles of Christian love and
brotherhood, with Jesus being represented as a Socialist. The group published a labor newspaper
called L´Atelier (“The Workshop”), which was written and edited by the workers themselves.
They warned against the use of violence to obtain social change, and barred the workers from
belonging to secret organizations. Small co-op communities were established. They started the
Council for Promoting Working Men’s Associations, and in 1854, started the Working Men’s
College in London.
As Christian Socialism developed, it was promoted by saying that Socialism was the ultimate
goal of Christianity. In America, prominent Protestant clergymen, such as Washington Gladden,
Walter Rauschenbusch, Lyman Abbott, Josiah Strong, and Charles M. Sheldon, through
sermons, books, magazine and newspaper articles, called for better working conditions for
women, the elimination of child labor, a six-day work week, and a decent working wage. These
principles were later adopted by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America in 1908.
The aforementioned ministers, and economist Richard T. Ely, in 1889, organized the Society of
Christian Socialists, which advocated a cooperative society based on the teachings of Christ.
Rev. Endicott Peabody, founder of the Grotan School, spoke of such reform to the capitalist
system. One of his young students was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Buchez’ followers soon grew dissatisfied with the equal payment plan, and the organization
split into several factions, one professing Christianity (setting up several Christian Socialist
organizations), and the other, calling for revolution.
Francois Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837), a French philosopher, planned out model
communities, in which people would live in a pleasurable atmosphere, and work at their own
pace, at jobs they like. Everyone would know what to do and when to do it. There would be no
need for regulations. In his communities, called ‘phalanxes’ (or ‘phalansteries’), everyone was to
live in the same building. Jobs were assigned, and workers received a nominal wage. In 1832, he
failed in an attempt to set up such a commune at Versailles. However, his followers founded
about 30 communal settlements in the United States, such as the Brook Farm (1841-47).