The Brook Farm Utopian Community
The Decline of Brook Farm
Brook Farm, did not survive the financial disaster of 1846, when their uncompleted central building was burned.
After the burning, George Ripley made an unexpected break from the farm. Many others began to leave soon after that. The decline of the community was a very slow process.
By: Krislyn Jobes
By the end of Brook Farm, the farm had a total debt of $17,445.
Much later, this land was offered to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It had been used for training and was known as "Camp Andrew".
Background on Utopian Communities
Utopian Communities were experiments of communal living in the United States during the 1840s. These communities were made up of groups of Transcendentalists who had tried to form a perfect society. This experiment was meant to set examples for the rest of the world. Brook Farm, was one out of at least 80 communal experiments during this time period.
Brook Farm Utopian community
George Ripley the founder of the Brook Farm Utopian Community.
Transcendentalists
Life
Transcendentalists believed people should depend on their own insights and themselves rather than outside authorities. Important transcendentalists are Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The Brook Farm Utopian Community was founded by George Ripley in 1841. It was located in Brook Farm, Massachusetts what the location was known as during this time. It was inspired by the ideals of Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalists in utopian communities pursued complex spirituality and collaborative lifestyles.
-The life at Brook Farm was based off of leisure and labor with everyone working together to make a better community. People spent most of their time either studying, or working on the farm. Members of the community joined the philosophical movement known as transcendentalism.