Amie Rott Megan Buckler Utopia & Robert Owen Amie Rott Megan Buckler

Who was Robert Owen? Born May 14th, 1771 in Newtown, Wales Died November 17th, 1858 in Newtown, Wales Advocated for socialism Notorious for his community experiments which Owen designed in hopes of having a Utopian society

Who was Robert Owen? Owen was pessimistic about religion so he created his own belief system; he believed that one’s personality is shaped by uncontrollable circumstances To execute his plans for autonomous communities he purchased 30,000 acres of land in 1825, naming the town New Harmony (Indiana) Owen left New Harmony after losing £40,000 in the project (approx. $52,820) Prior to New Harmony, Owen assisted with New Lanark, Scotland which was successful Owen also worked in Queenwood (GB), Glasgow (GB), and County Cork (Ireland), and Hamphshire (GB)

Who was Robert Owen? Owen spent a large sum of money on a mansion called Harmony Hall which exemplified his lack of frugalness well Owen believed that everyone was entitled to 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, and 8 hours of play Upon his arrival in the States in 1824, Owen stated 'I am come to this country to introduce an entire new system of society; to change it from an ignorant, selfish system to an enlightened social system which shall gradually unite all interests into one and remove all causes for contest between individuals.’ Owen most likely traveled to America since it was the land of possibility

Utopia Definition: (n) an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect In1516, Sir Thomas More coined ‘utopia’ Comes from the Greek word ‘ou-topos’ meaning 'no place' or 'nowhere’. The word ‘utopia’ is referred to as a play on words since the word ‘eu-topos’ sounds similar, meaning ‘good place’

Origins of utopia The core values of utopian societies came from the Enlightenment, at this time people believed that civilians were not inherently evil By keeping people and the environment pure, people believed that society could be at harmony

Why Utopias? Creators of these utopian communities were frequently motivated by religion A German zealot named George Rapp created the original utopian society in Pennsylvania (1804) Those that designed these communities were often powerful, successful, optimistic, and idealistic Designers believed that all humans were pure and created a socialist community

Citations Dowd, Douglas F. “Robert Owen.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 July 2016 “Experiments with Utopia.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association Kreis, Steven. “Robert Owen, 1771-1858.” Historyguide.org, 13 May 2004 “Utopia” The British Library - The British Library, 3 Apr. 2006