tried around 1800. The system was based on a
self contained community with equal housing, health
care and education. Employment was the cotton
mill where the majority of workers were women.
Children under 10 went to school and were not allowed to work in the mill. Each family had their own living quarters -and quarters they were.
Two rooms were allowed per family which usually meant 6 to 8 children. Trundle beds are not a modern invention! Laundry room and bathrooms were community shared-but they did have them with running water. The Lee River runs through the middle of the community providing power for the cotton mill. Plus drownings of children were not uncommon as they played too closely to the raging water. This Utopian society taught basic Christian principles of love your neighbor. It's visionary founder thought "all churches were wrong" because of changes by men.
Ironic that this equality ideal encouraged slavery in the US by increasing demand for imported cotton.
1 comment:
Looks like a gorgeous day!
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