Utopian Societies: The Nashoba Community

Utopian Societies: The Nashoba Community

By: Dina Pobudanovic

                In today’s world, when we think of Utopian societies we usually think of books such as 1984 by George Orwell. We think of a society that has perfect ideals because by definition a utopia is, “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect.”[i] However, Utopian societies aren't imaginary and a few different types of Utopian societies were present in Victorian America. These communities “embodied American quest for perfection” and the people that started these societies had a “longing to recreate small-scale homogeneous communities in a time of rapid growth.”[ii] Overall, these people joined these societies because they wanted structure and a government to keep their values at heart, while the world around them because more industrialized.

                The society that I would have liked to be a part of is the Nashoba Community. These people were known as the “Free Lovers” and they “embraced the idea of individualism and elevated love and desire as the basis for the sexual union.”[iii] These people that lived in this society had always been taught that sex was for procreation and women didn’t have the same rights as men. Due to this conservative backlash, people wanted to break free from the cultural norms that they were used to. A woman by the name of Francis Wright formed the community known as Nashoba. She formed her own type of utopia that she believed people wanted to live in and they did. They were founded on the basis of love without marriage and they everyone should have equal rights. And for a while the people of Nashoba lived peacefully.

                The society’s downfall came due to sickness and conflict in the community. Wright had gone off to Europe in 1827 “to raise funds for the venture, but by the time she returned, she found her idealistic dream of a community of equals was gone.”[iv] She knew her Utopian community was coming to its end but she still offered to purchase freedom for the slaves that were still in her community. This really goes to show Wright’s true character. Even though her dreams were crumbling in front of her, she still had the heart to care about what happened to th

e remaining people in her community. This, along with many other reasons, is why I would chose to live in the Nashoba community. Most Utopian leaders, as I've known them, have always been communist-like and Wright wasn't. She actually cared about her people and she wanted to give them a society that didn’t force people to do something they didn’t want to do. She focused on love rather than marriage and equality for all, and that is why I would have chosen this society to live in, in Victorian America.

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[i] Merriam-Webster. "utopia." Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/utopia (accessed April 28, 2014).

[ii] Moore, Crystal. "Utopian Communities in Victorian America." Class lecture, History of Sexuality in America from UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, March 18, 2014.

[iii] Moore, Crystal. "Utopian Communities in Victorian America." Class lecture, History of Sexuality in America from UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, March 18, 2014.

[iv] Egerton, John. "Nashoba." Welcome to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=963 (accessed April 28, 2014).