The Fruitlands was a very short lived utopian agrarian society which was established in the early 1840s by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane. By 1841, Alcott had come up with the idea of the Fruitlands and had already begun planning it.
The Fruitlands had 2 main goals that they tried to reach. The first being that they wished to separate themselves from the world economy and wanted to experience something new and learn new things throughout their lifetime. They also wanted to be a model for future utopian societies so they could …show more content…
They were expected to rise early and not use artificial light to prolong the daytime hours. The members of the Utopia pledged themselves to a strict diet that consisted only of fruits, veggies, bread, and pure water, which is where they got their name, the Fruitlands. They believed that these foods helped the body and it’s spirits. They used no animal products and no animal labor was allowed, which caused them to only wear linen clothes; no cotton or wool was worn within the society. Within the group, they shared land and took part in philosophical discussions together. Since the society was so strict on its rules, they also could not bathe in heated water either. Religion was also an important aspect of life in the Fruitlands. The religion that they followed was Transcendentalism. This religion didn’t embrace but also didn’t oppose empiricism. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience and was stimulated by the rise of experimental science. They also were strong believers in the power of each individual. Overtime, people decided to leave because of the strict laws of the society. 7 months into the Utopian experiment, every piece of the society no longer existed. The land was bought later by Joseph Palmer and the Fruitlands was no