The Collapse of the Intentional Communities

At this point in our history, the intentional communities, other than the Amish and two Shakers in Maine, no longer exist due to many reasons. The collapse of the intentional communities ranges from little to no leadership, too radical of ideas, or the influence of the modernization of America. Whatever the manner of collapse, the craze of intentional communities has ended and those that survived are still fighting the battle against the influence of American society. Throughout the nineteenth century, intentional communities began due to people with radical ideas being persecuted in their homes and deciding to set up a “perfect” community of their own, most commonly in America.

During this time, there were many communities created but most collapsed. They were created with good intentions, the leaders of the communities thought of their “perfect’ society and got followers but this was not enough. Some communities like Phalanxes, based off Fourier, did not have the capital necessary to survive while other communities like New Harmony, did not have the leadership to survive. Also, when a change of leadership occurred, the community tended to collapse because of differing views between the two leaders. Another reason is a generation gap between the generation that created the community and the younger generation which occurred in most intentional communities of the nineteenth century.

In the end, intentional communities were not able to last for long times without proper leadership and community unity. The reason the Amish are able to survive is because of the unity of the people, common religious beliefs, and isolation from the temptation of the American society. In conclusion, the craze of the intentional communities of the nineteenth century was not able to succeed due to lack of unity and the temptation of the American society.