One
of the most famous and controversial utopian
communities in history, the Oneida community was founded
by John Humphrey Noyes after he underwent a religious conversion. He
came up with the doctrine of Perfectionism, in which all men are made
perfect and sinless at a point in time when they are completely converted
to one religion. He also denounced the practice of marriage, and believed
in a “spiritual marriage” between two people. His controversial claim
that sexual relationships did not affect one’s “spiritual marriage”
and therefore could be had with any person sparked widespread disgust
among activist religious groups. Noyes believed he was God’s agent on
Earth, and started writing articles in a periodical called the “Battle-Axe”
outlining his ideas. After his first “marriage” to a woman named Harriet
Holton, he obtained enough money to start his own publication, “The
Witness”.
The
Oneida community was built in Oneida, New York, and was referred to by
Noyes’ followers as “the Promised Land”. Here, Noyes’ teachings of “Mutual
Criticism”, “Complex Marriage”, “Ascending Fellowship”, and “Male Continence”,
combined with a communist government, led to persecution by many people.
The most outrageous was his theory of “Complex Marriage”, in which every
man was married to every woman, and vice versa; no two people could
be exclusively attached to each other, because that would be selfish
and idolatrous. “Male Continence” was a type of birth control on the
part of the father, in which no ejaculation could take place during
intercourse. “Ascending Fellowship” was a method in which young virgins
were introduced into Complex Marriage, and “Mutual Criticism” was a
process by which the entire community could criticize one of its members
if they so chose (Noyes was exempt from this process). Noyes believed
in equality of the sexes, a view which he used to justify Complex Marriage.
At
it’s height in 1878, there were 306 members living in the Oneida community. The community
never became very large. Problems began in this year, when Noyes tried
to hand control of the community over to his son, who was agnostic and
tried to rule the community with a “tight fist”. Noyes attempted to
regain control, but was too late. Divisions had formed within the community,
resentful of their treatment. Although they prospered economically due
to production of excellent silverware, there was too much unrest in
the community. It finally dissolved in 1881, and its economic profits
were transferred to a joint-stock company called the “Oneida Community,
Limited”.
John
Humphrey Noyes, founder of the Oneida community
Men
and women’s clothing from Oneida. Women wore pants to show their
equal status with men
