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Charles Lane (transcendentalist)
Encyclopedia
Charles Lane was an English-American transcendentalist, abolitionist, and early voluntaryist. Along with Amos Bronson Alcott
, he was one of the main founders of Fruitlands
.
Lane was an admirer of Bronson Alcott and cofounded Alcott House
in England
based on his philosophy of teaching. The two met in 1842, when Alcott had traveled to England to enlist support and people for his experiment in communal living. Lane offered his support and returned to the United States with Alcott on October 21, 1842. The next May, Lane purchased the 90 acres (364,217.4 m²) Wyman Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts
for $1800. They had moved to the farm on June 1 and optimistically gave it the name "Fruitlands", despite only ten old apple trees on the property. A month later, Alcott announced the community in The Dial
: "We have made an arrangement with the proprieter of an estate of about a hundred acres, which liberates this tract from human ownership".
In principle, the Fruitlands reformers did not believe in purchasing property; Lane said the following on the subject: "We do not recognize the purchase of land; but its redemption from the debasing state of proprium, or property, to divine uses, we clearly understand; where those whom the world esteems owners are found yielding their individual rights to the Supreme Owner." The commune attracted 14 residents, including the Alcott and Lane families.
"The consociate family", as Fruitlands residents referred to themselves, wished to achieve complete freedom by separating entirely from the world economy. To accomplish this, they refrained from trade, allowed no personal property, and did not use hired labor. They intended to grow all their own food; they also eliminated animal products from their diets entirely. Referring to their strict vegetarian diet, Lane wrote, "Neither coffee, tea, molasses, nor rice tempts us beyond the bounds of indigenous production... No animal substances neither flesh, butter, cheese, eggs, nor milk pollute our tables, nor corrupt our bodies." Diet was usually fruit and water; many vegetables—including carrots, beets, and potatoes—were forbidden because they showed a lower nature by growing downward. Lane and Alcott also asked participants to wear only linen clothes and canvas shoes; cotton fabric was forbidden because it exploited slave labor and wool was banned because it came from sheep. As they believed that animals should not be exploited, Fruitlands would not use animals though, eventually, they allowed an ox and a cow.
The land that Lane purchased for Fruitlands proved to be not sufficiently arable
. Fruitlands ultimately failed the winter after it opened, largely due to food shortages and accompanying unrest in the inhabitants. Lane blamed the community's failure on Alcott, who he believed mislead him with his optimism. Alcott and Lane also disagreed on definitions of the consociate family. Lane believed in the renunciation of marriage in exchange for a universal or communal family.
In January 1844, Lane left Brook Farm with his son to join a local community of Shakers
. Lane admired the Shaker commitment to celibacy
and it was one of the points that drew him there.
Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a...
, he was one of the main founders of Fruitlands
Fruitlands (transcendental center)
Fruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
.
Fruitlands
Alcott House
Alcott House, in Ham, Surrey , was the home of a utopian spiritual community and progressive school which lasted from 1838 to 1848.-History and Ideology:...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
based on his philosophy of teaching. The two met in 1842, when Alcott had traveled to England to enlist support and people for his experiment in communal living. Lane offered his support and returned to the United States with Alcott on October 21, 1842. The next May, Lane purchased the 90 acres (364,217.4 m²) Wyman Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands...
for $1800. They had moved to the farm on June 1 and optimistically gave it the name "Fruitlands", despite only ten old apple trees on the property. A month later, Alcott announced the community in The Dial
The Dial
The Dial was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. In the 1880s it was revived as a political magazine...
: "We have made an arrangement with the proprieter of an estate of about a hundred acres, which liberates this tract from human ownership".
In principle, the Fruitlands reformers did not believe in purchasing property; Lane said the following on the subject: "We do not recognize the purchase of land; but its redemption from the debasing state of proprium, or property, to divine uses, we clearly understand; where those whom the world esteems owners are found yielding their individual rights to the Supreme Owner." The commune attracted 14 residents, including the Alcott and Lane families.
"The consociate family", as Fruitlands residents referred to themselves, wished to achieve complete freedom by separating entirely from the world economy. To accomplish this, they refrained from trade, allowed no personal property, and did not use hired labor. They intended to grow all their own food; they also eliminated animal products from their diets entirely. Referring to their strict vegetarian diet, Lane wrote, "Neither coffee, tea, molasses, nor rice tempts us beyond the bounds of indigenous production... No animal substances neither flesh, butter, cheese, eggs, nor milk pollute our tables, nor corrupt our bodies." Diet was usually fruit and water; many vegetables—including carrots, beets, and potatoes—were forbidden because they showed a lower nature by growing downward. Lane and Alcott also asked participants to wear only linen clothes and canvas shoes; cotton fabric was forbidden because it exploited slave labor and wool was banned because it came from sheep. As they believed that animals should not be exploited, Fruitlands would not use animals though, eventually, they allowed an ox and a cow.
The land that Lane purchased for Fruitlands proved to be not sufficiently arable
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
. Fruitlands ultimately failed the winter after it opened, largely due to food shortages and accompanying unrest in the inhabitants. Lane blamed the community's failure on Alcott, who he believed mislead him with his optimism. Alcott and Lane also disagreed on definitions of the consociate family. Lane believed in the renunciation of marriage in exchange for a universal or communal family.
In January 1844, Lane left Brook Farm with his son to join a local community of Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
. Lane admired the Shaker commitment to celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
and it was one of the points that drew him there.
After Fruitlands
Lane continued his work and became leader of the Shaker community.Voluntaryist leanings
Charles Lane was probably the most consistent voluntaryist of the abolitionist era. He was friendly with Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Thoreau. Between January and June 1843 a series of nine letters he penned were published in such abolitionist’s papers as The Liberator and The Herald of Freedom. The title under which they were published was "A Voluntary Political Government," and in them Lane described the state in terms of institutionalized violence and referred to its "club law, its mere brigand right of a strong arm, [supported] by guns and bayonets." He saw the coercive state on par with "forced" Christianity. "Everyone can see that the church is wrong when it comes to men with the [B]ible in one hand, and the sword in the other." "Is it not equally diabolical for the state to do so?" Lane believed that governmental rule was only tolerated by public opinion because the fact was not yet recognized that all the true purposes of the state could be carried out on the voluntary principle, just as churches could be sustained voluntarily. Reliance on the voluntary principle could only come about through "kind, orderly, and moral means" that were consistent with the totally voluntary society he was advocating. "Let us have a voluntary State as well as a voluntary Church, and we may possibly then have some claim to the appeallation of free men."Works
- A classification of sciences and arts, or, A map of human knowledge, 1826
- A dictionary, English and Burmese, 1841
- A Voluntary Political Government, 1843
- Life in the Woods, 1844
- Brook Farm, 1844