New Harmony, Indiana's immigrant history
New Harmony, Indiana, has a rich immigrant history that began in the early 19th century. The town was founded in 1814 by the Harmony Society, a group led by George Rapp, a German religious leader. This society, which advocated for communal living and celibacy, moved from Pennsylvania to Indiana as part of its search for a utopian existence. The community thrived initially, maintaining German language and customs, and engaging successfully in agriculture. However, internal and external conflicts prompted Rapp to relocate the society back to Pennsylvania, leading to the sale of New Harmony to Robert Owen in 1825.
Owen, a Scottish industrialist, envisioned the town as a secular utopian experiment based on socialist principles, attracting around 800 reformers who advocated for communal property and gender equality. Despite the initial optimism, Owen’s vision ultimately failed by 1827 due to financial strain and challenges in managing the diverse group of reformers. Despite its brief existence, the ideas generated in New Harmony contributed to the broader American reform movements, influencing future communities seeking social change.
On this Page
New Harmony, Indiana's immigrant history
Identification: German immigrant utopian community later purchased by a Scottish reformer
Date: 1814-1827
Location: New Harmony, Indiana
Significance:New Harmony proved to be a failed millenarian utopia for German Harmonists and a failed secular utopia for the Scottish-led Owenites, but it helped spread reform and socialist ideals.
In 1803, George Rapp, a German who called himself a prophet and proclaimed that the millennium was near, led hundreds of his followers to Pennsylvania. There they formed the Harmony Society, giving up everything they owned to live communally and pledging themselves to celibacy. In 1814, the society moved to Indiana, where they founded the town of New Harmony. New Harmony prospered as new immigrants increased the population, and the inhabitants were successful at farming. While they awaited the millennium, they kept their German language and customs. Trouble with surrounding towns, however, led Rapp to move his flock back to Pennsylvania, selling the town to Robert Owen.
Owen had made his fortune from textile mills in his native Scotland, but his great concern for his workers led him to favor reform. He purchased New Harmony in 1825 as a utopian experiment to prove the viability of socialism. About eight hundred reformers and educators at New Harmony shared their property communally and favored gender equality. Unlike the Harmonists’ commune, Owen’s was purely secular on the assumption that rationality could create a more moral society.
Owen’s experiment soon failed. The town drained his finances, and the freethinking reformers turned out not to be as manageable as Scottish laborers. The utopia disbanded in 1827, but its ideas later influenced other American reform communities.
Bibliography
Taylor, Anne. Visions of Harmony: A Study in Nineteenth-Century Millenarianism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Thompson, Brian. Devastating Eden: The Search for Utopia in America. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
Wilson, William E. The Angel and the Serpent: The Story of New Harmony. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1964.