Sunday, December 11, 2011

List major similarities among the alternative visions of the nineteenth century?

After the Second Great Awakening, which occurred around 1800, several new spiritual movements and religions took off with the common principle of emphasizing the importance of faith and in carrying out good works. For example, several utopian communities developed in the United States that organized their lives and goods communally and that did not believe in private property. Among these groups were the Shakers (who came to the U.S. from England in 1774); the Harmonists, an originally German group who settled in Pennsylvania and shared goods in common; and the Oneida, who believed that Jesus had already returned to earth so that they could create a perfect community in his vision. In addition, thinkers such as Edward Bellamy, the author of the influential science fiction novel Looking Backward (published in 1888), imagined communities based on sharing and cooperation rather than competition.


All of these alternative visions shared a wish to revert to an earlier, more communal approach to life, and an opposition to the harsher forms of capitalism that were developing in the United States during the Industrial Revolution. While new forms of capitalism emphasized competition and a winner-takes-all approach, the alternative visions focused on a gentler vision that involved sharing goods communally and working to make the world fairer and kinder. 

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