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 * John Humphrey Noyes**




 * **John's Early Life:**
 * Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811
 * His father, also named John, was a congressman and Dartmouth graduate
 * His mother, Polly was sixteen years younger than his father and was strong- willed and deeply religious
 * John Humphrey was a rebel who was not interested in theology until his conversion
 * **John's Conversion:**
 * In 1831, John attended a four-day revival meeting in Vermont
 * After the revival "he suffered a feverish cold which led him to think of death, and to humble himself before God."
 * He embraced the faith and the expectation of the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom
 * He came to a new understanding of the way of salvation which he labeled as Perfectionism
 * He saw man as reaching a state of perfection or sinlessness at conversion
 * **The Oneida Community: **
 * In 1848 Noyes started the cooperative community in Oneida, New York
 * The Oneida community was dedicated to social and economic equality
 * members shared their property and even marriage partners
 * women were equal to men
 * People accused the community of being a system of "planned reproduction and communal child-rearing"
 * The community produced and sold silverware
 * The community eventually died out because few people joined the community
 * **Teachings of the Oneida Community:**
 * Complex Marriage
 * every man was married to every woman and every woman to every man
 * no two people could have exclusive attachment with each other because it would be selfish and idolatrous
 * Ascending Fellowship
 * worked to prevent the young members from falling in love with each other
 * there were main people picked to care for the virgins and these were people closer to God
 * Mutual Criticism
 * a member was subjected to criticisms of either a committee or the whole community
 * criticisms were directed toward the member's "bad traits"
 * Equality of the sexes
 * all women equal to all men
 * Confession
 * The members were sinless after conversion, so no confession was needed
 * Millennial Kingdom
 * central belief of the community
 * John thought Christ had made His Second Coming
 * **"Free Love":**
 * John Humphrey Noyes coined the term "free love"
 * the Free Love movement rejects typical marriage because it is seen as a form of social bondage
 * The goal of the Free Love movement was to separate the state from matters that should be personal
 * marriage, birth control, adultery
 * John Humphrey Noyes did not agree with marriage in which men had power and control over women









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 * **Questions:**
 * 1. What criticism of American society did the individual have?
 * He believed it was selfish to be committed to only one person, hence his belief in complex marriage.
 * 2. What methods did the person use to improve American life?
 * He created a community in Oneida, New York to live out his beliefs with his followers. The mansion where these social and personal perfections were practiced can still be visited today.
 * 3. What success did the individual have in promoting reform?
 * Noyes success was unbalanced. While he did successfully created a small community of followers, he also received a lot of criticism for his view on marriage. Due to a decreasing commitment to the idea of complex marriage, the community disbanded in 1881. At the time of separation, the community's holdings were over $600,000, so he was fiscally successful.
 * 4. What detail(s) of the person's work made him an interesting historical figure?
 * It's interesting that before his conversions, Noyes was a rebel and had little interest in theology.
 * 5. To what extent was the reformer obsessed with achieving an impractical goal through fanatical or impractical means?
 * He believed his followers were called by God to do the impossible; be perfect. He even assigned some of his members the task of protecting the young virgins of the community.
 * 6. What lasting impact did the person's reforms have on American society?
 * He challenged the social views on property ownership, gender roles, child-rearing practices, marriage, and work. He highly promoted equality between men and women.
 * **Works Cited:**
 * [|The Oneida Community]
 * [|Free Love]
 * [|The Oneida Story]
 * [|Oneida Silverware]
 * [|Your Hometown: The Oneida Community]
 * [|Extraordinary groups: an examination of unconventional lifestyles]