The Utopian Communities of Brook Farm and Oneida in Early 19th Century America.

George Ripley, a Harvard graduate and Unitarian minister, started a transcendentalist experiment known as Brook Farm, which lasted from 1841 to 1848. A one hundred and seventy five acre farm owed by Charles and Maria Ellis in West Roxbury, Massachusetts was the location for the community. Brook Farm was set up as a joint-stock company and 24 stocks were issued at $500 a piece. Each share was secured against the assets of the company and the purchase of the …

…physical events and intellectual endeavors. These communities often brought out principles, desires, and worries that were thoroughly rooted in the American culture. Examples include the view that America might lead the way in redemption of humankind, the thought that change begins within oneself rather than within church bodies and, as Henry David Thoreau states, "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."