Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Encyclopedia of American Communes, 1663-1963

Encyclopedia of American Communes, 1663-1963

Stockwell, Foster

Paperback

Dictionaries & EncyclopediasReligion General Social Movements

ISBN10: 0786476206
ISBN13: 9780786476206
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: May 14 2013
Pages: 267
Weight: 0.95
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.90
Language: English

Swanendael, the first communal experiment in America, was established in 1663 by Mennonites from Holland. The scant records available on the community show that 41 people, led by Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy, settled in an area near Lewes, Delaware, in the late summer. These souls, as they were called, shared all things in common, refused to keep slaves, practiced religious toleration for all but Catholics and stiff-necked Quakers, and had the first free school in the New World. The opening of the New World made America the ideal location for many experimental communities. Its unspoiled and inexpensive land encouraged social experimentation and as a result most of the world's communes have been established in the United States. This encyclopedia details the more than 500 communes established in America, from Swanendael (1663) through Tolstoy Farm, founded in 1963. Entries include the name of the commune, the years it operated, the community's leaders, a brief history, a discussion of extant buildings or artifacts, and sources for further study.

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