History of American SocialismsNoyes, John Humphrey
History
History of American Socialisms
Noyes, John Humphrey
Communism -- United States; Socialism -- United States
We must not think of the two great socialistic revivals as altogether
heterogeneous and separate. Their partizans maintained theoretical
opposition to each other; but after all the main idea of both was _the
enlargement of home--the extension of family union beyond the little
man-and-wife circle to large corporations_. In this idea the two
movements were one; and this was the charming idea that caught the
attention and stirred the enthusiasm of the American people. Owenism
prepared the way for Fourierism. The same men, or at least the same
sort of men that took part in the Owen movement, were afterward
carried away by the Fourier enthusiasm. The two movements may,
therefore, be regarded as one; and in that view, the period of the
great American socialistic revival extends from 1824, through the
final and overwhelming excitement of 1843, to the collapse of
Fourierism after 1846.
As a man who has passed through a series of passional excitements, is
never the same being afterward, so we insist that these socialistic
paroxysms have changed the heart of the nation; and that a yearning
toward social reconstruction has become a part of the continuous,
permanent, inner experience of the American people. The Communities
and Phalanxes died almost as soon as they were born, and are now
almost forgotten. But the spirit of Socialism remains in the life of
the nation. It was discouraged and cast down by the failures of 1828
and 1846, and thus it learned salutary caution and self-control. But
it lives still, as a hope watching for the morning, in thousands and
perhaps millions who never took part in any of the experiments, and
who are neither Owenites nor Fourierites, but simply Socialists
without theory--believers in the possibility of a scientific and
heavenly reconstruction of society.
Thus our theory harmonizes Owenism with Fourierism, and regards them
both as working toward the same end in American history. Now we will
go a step further and attempt the reconciling of still greater
repugnances.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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