New+Religions

=Mormonism:= __Joseph Smith Jr.__ __Main Establishment Locations of Mormonism__ __Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints__ __A Mormon Family__ __The Book of Mormons__ __Quotes__ __Polygamy__
 * Encountered spiritual experiences (saw Jesus) = preparation for prophetic calling
 * Organized religion 1830; led people in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri
 * Kirtland, Ohio = “seat of prophet” where temple is; Independence, Missouri; Nauvoo, Illinois
 * Kirtland and Independence Mormons isolated themselves from neighbors, self-sufficient economy, governing communities
 * Lacking refuge for Mormons so forced to flee in 1839 and went to Commerce Illinois, renamed Nauvoo
 * Not sect of Christianity, new religious tradition
 * People had strong, dominant force in society; leaders promised salvation to believers of Jesus and wanted to restore supernatural belief
 * Anti-Mormonists: Mormons were bizarre, isolated, and self-contained; some thought b/c so bad America could show fear
 * There for others providing economically struggling families w/ a new economy
 * Social order: democracy, hierarchy (people ranked based on authority), and authoritarianism (favor obedience to authority)
 * Family: male was head of household; strengthen head-males authority; lots of kids
 * United religion; people saw it as relief of individualism people
 * Written by founder, Joseph Smith Jr
 * Sacred text, foundation of religion, scriptural truth of God with basis from promises and predictions (from other books)
 * “One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” -Joseph Smith Jr.
 * “Mormonism is the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ; of which I myself am not ashamed.” - Joseph Smith Jr.
 * Mormons accused of having corrupt moral values, and worse when heard about polygamy
 * What is it? Practice having more than one spouse at same time
 * Mormons thought they were justified to practice b/c trying to reestablish patriarchal (male head of household) family; and important social factor for widowed or single women
 * Only 10-20% of Mormon families practiced polygamous
 * 2/3 of polygamous families had 1 man and 2 wives

=American Jews:= __How it started:__ __What they believed:__ __How they adapted__ __Important People__
 * First Jews to Settle: 1654, from Brazil, then New Amsterdam
 * Revolution: Jewish population was 1,500 in US
 * 5 or 6 congregations and no rabbis
 * 19th Century
 * NY has largest population of Jews
 * Protestants try to convert Jews
 * Jews didn’t like this, so they form their own communities (schools, hospitals, etc)
 * By 1850, there are 50,000 Jews
 * Immigrants from Germany, Poland and Hungary = 150,000 in 1860
 * Had to resist threats to identity
 * Had to try to modernize traditions while still being distinct Jews
 * Monotheistic
 * Originally were all orthodox, but some became reformed
 * Kosher diets
 * Adaptations
 * Couldn’t obey traditional laws in small towns without synagogues, kosher butcher, circumciser
 * Some had to work on Sabbath, Saturday
 * Congregations
 * Reformed congregations were formed in SC first
 * Modify system of worship
 * Worshiped from an English prayer book
 * Some played organ music in temple
 * Women and men could worship together
 * Community
 * B’nai Brith
 * Young Men’s Hebrew Association
 * Discrimination
 * Less discrimination than Catholics or Mormons because of their small numbers and they were scattered
 * Were not conspirators
 * No longer dressed differently
 * Resisted threats to identity
 * Had to try to modernize traditions while still being distinct Jews
 * Jew Bill: Maryland Assembly passes Jew Bill- removes restrictions that prevent Jews from holding public office
 * Rebecca Gratz: established the first Hebrew Sunday School and first Jewish woman’s charitable society (Female Hebrew Benevolent Society)
 * Rabbi Morris J Raphall: first clergyman to deliver a prayer at House of Representatives

=Utopian Socialism: The Shakers= __Who were the Shakers?__ __Who was Mother Ann Lee?__ __Shaker Lifestyle:__ __Distinguished Characteristics:__
 * A perfectionist society (one of the first in America). They were kind of like the Quakers in that they believed that people should have a one-to-one connection with God, instead of having to go through a whole clergy system just to talk to God.
 * An English immigrant that founded the Shaker religion. She was married once, and she had had 4 children, but they all died extremely early. Mother Ann decided that they had all died because she had committed the sin of having sex, and so she wanted to create a “perfect” society where that reason would never cause a death again.
 * Men and women are equal, but separate
 * Different sides of the house to sleep, eat, and live
 * Different work areas
 * Everybody shares property like the churches, town squares, and farming land (kind of like the early communities in Massachusetts)
 * Simplicity is emphasized
 * No ornamenting on houses (no curtains, carpets, pictures, etc)
 * Almost uniform outfits for men and women to wear
 * • They completely abstain from sexual relations.
 * Men and women are not even allowed to touch each other, EVER. (they believed that sex = sin)
 * They continue their society by taking in orphans and volunteers, NOT by having children.
 * Rituals – that’s where their name came from
 * They believed that shaking, shouting, and dancing will help cleanse your body and rid you of any evils there are inside you.


 * They were successful for a number of years, but they could not withstand the changing times. Only 5 (3 men and 2 women) are reported to be alive as of 2004.

=Utopian Socialism: New Harmony= __Who was Robert Owen?__ __Distinguished Characteristics:__ __Why did it fail?__
 * He was a Scottish industrialist that came to America in 1824 and studied the then 20 year old -success of the Shakers, and became convinced that a utopian community was very possible. He realized that Britain was a bad place to set up a utopian society because of the negative influences like the Industrial Revolution. He also figured that America was a good place because of the myths that lifestyle here let you do whatever you want and live however you want (the success of the Shaker community kind of proved that belief).
 * He believed that an individual’s character was shaped but his or her environment, therefore if you control your environment, you would because an amazing superior person. This would lead to an awesome utopian, perfect social order. He tried to do just that when he created New Harmony.
 * He rejected Christianity because he thought the world would need something had had more of an importance for social reform
 * The Rappites, another failed utopian effort group, were trying to sell their community, New Harmony, so Robert Owen bought it and transformed it into his own version of a utopia.
 * Equality for everybody
 * Time money/ time stores
 * Your money is worth however much time you “labored” and you can exchange that money for things that are equal in worth to however long you labored
 * Extremely unreligious
 * Marriage ceremony is basically a sentence, nothing more.
 * Children are raised outside of their parents’ homes
 * Unlike other communities (Shakers), they did not believe in God. There was nothing besides the physical labor that connected them all to what they were living in (except for the idea of utopia, but that kind of died out). Since the citizens lacked a strong central belief to hold them together, they lost their motivation and New Harmony dissolved in 3 years.

=Utopian Socialism: Charles Fourier= __Who was Charles Fourier?__ • A French philosopher who believed that it was possible to eliminate poverty by creating “perfect” societies. His version of that was a phalange.

__What is a phalange?__ • A system kind of like a joint stock company, where about 1600 different people (as varied as possible) are brought together to live in an isolated community so they can learn to work together. They would each all play up to their strengths and do the jobs that they were best at (this is why it was necessary to get a very diverse group of people). Everybody would all make a colctive profit, and all of their money would go to one place. The money would then be divided up again into different amounts for different people, based on what how much they invested in the community, how much physical labor they did, and how skilled they were at their job. • In this community, women get equal shares, and are treated the same way as men are. There is no gender discrimination.

__Did this work?__ • Not really. The longest Fourier community lasted about 18 years and then broke down, but most were unsuccessful from the start.

__Why is this important?__ • Fourier’s ideas influenced many people who then came to America and tried to set up somewhat similar communities, with the intention of creating “perfect” societies that would eliminate all the bad things in the world like poverty, discrimination etc. • Robert Owen was one of the specific people who was influenced by Fourier’s ideas.

=Utopian Socialism: Frances Wright= Who was Frances Wright? • A Scottish abolitionist who became inspired by the antislavery thoughts going around. She set up Nashoba Coony in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1826.

What is Nashoba Colony? • An experimental community where blacks and whites lived together peaceful, interracially.

Distinguished Characteristics: • Slaves can get an education and earn money to purchase their own freedom

What were Wright’s intentions in making this community? • To get rid of the strict Southern family order, religion, private ownership of property, and especially slavery

Did it work? • No. It was a promising idea and it had the starting of a lasting lifestyle, but since it was in the South, whites started getting restless because all of their slaves were running away to join this colony. American citizens violently protested, and caused the community to dissolve in just 4 years because of all the controversy.

=Utopian Socialism: The Oneida Community= What was the Oneida community? • One of the most successful social experiments of the century

Who started it? • A former lawyer named John Humphrey Noyes • He believed that people should strive to become perfect by ending the existence of sin forever.

Main Ideas of Oneida Lifestyle: • Everybody shares property (kind of like Shakers) • Complex Marriage o Each member of the community gets married to every single member of the opposite sex in the community. o i.e. each girl gets married to every single guy in the community and vice versa o However, you can NOT get emotionally attached to whoever you are married to at the time, and you are not allowed to have sex with them either. o If you want to have sexual relations with somebody, you have to arrange it beforehand through an intermediary (this was done so that women can be more equal and have a choice in the matter). o Even after it is arranged, the couple cannot have a child unless the child is pre-approved by the rest of the community. If it is not, then they have to use a certain method of birth control. o The entire community brings up the children, not just the parents. o They use “selective mating” in order to get the most perfect children possible.


 * This community lasted until 1879, when the founder, Noyes, was persecuted for adultery and he fled to Canada.