Background Charles Fourier (1772–1837) was a French philosopher who believed that the structure of modern civilization led to poverty, unemployment, isolation, and unhappiness and that people would be better off living in organized communal societies rather than individual family units. Fourier developed the idea of the , a collectively dwelling and cooperatively working community of 1,620 people organized on the basis of a
joint stock company. While never pursued in France during his lifetime, Fourier's ideas found practical realization in the United States in the 1840s and early 1850s as a result of the books and newspaper columns of
Albert Brisbane (1809–1890). It was Brisbane who translated, distilled, and adapted Fourier's ideas for an American audience, largely through the pages of
Horace Greeley's
New York Tribune, stirring popular enthusiasm for the French intellectual's ideas for the formation of local associations, known as "phalanxes." Early in 1843 a general call was issued in
New York City by Brisbane, Greeley, and others, seeking local organizations of
Fourierist groups. This call inspired the formation in the summer of 1843 of a group calling itself the
Albany Branch of the North American Phalanx. It was believed by the first participants that considerable capital would be raised for establishment of an American cooperative association and that a number of other branch organizations would emerge throughout the New York region, inspired by the Albany group's activity and success. Despite clearly inadequate resources, the Albany Branch, headed by Charles Sears and Nathan Starks, decided to persevere and a search began for suitable agricultural lands upon which a local phalanstery might be established.
Establishment A domain of was located near the small town of
Red Bank, New Jersey, priced at $14,000. Of this sum $5,000 of the community's funds were invested as a
down payment, leaving a mortgage of $9,000 to be repaid over time. In addition, the community included stables, animal and wagon sheds, carpentry shops, a school and children's day care area, guest cottages, landscaped gardens and paths, and an artificial pond for bathing, boating and a supply of ice in the winter. Most of the household heads living in the North American Phalanx at the time of its formation had either passing or practical knowledge of agriculture. A 70-foot long restaurant was also constructed at the same time. The North American Phalanx was moderately successful during its first seven years of operation, paying annual dividends ranging from 4.4% to 5.6% on capital invested, as well as hourly wages to all workers of the community.
Labor and compensation In accordance with the Fourierian scheme, labor was divided into general departments, called "series," of which there were six at the North American Phalanx: agriculture, livestock, manufacturing, domestic work, education, and "festal" (entertainment). Within each of these there were additional subdivisions called "groups," consisting of 3 to 7 people, who would work cooperatively on specific given tasks. Each of these groups elected a chief, who kept track of labor time and who represented it at meetings with other group chiefs at meetings of the department, called the "council." Domestic work was performed by women, with the organized subdivision of domestic tasks practiced in accordance with the model used for other series. Jobs were compensated at three levels, with exhausting or repugnant jobs earning a premium and light and attractive jobs being docked a penalty. This "house currency" was of the same general size and appearance as regular paper money of the day, but featured a central bust of Charles Fourier. Wages and assessments for room and board were made monthly, with scrip used as tender to settle the balances of all such accounts. The situation was further complicated by the presence of significant numbers of associationists with specific dietary beliefs, including contingents of
vegetarians and Christian sectarians who foreswore the use of
all products produced at the cost of a sacrifice of life. The dietary dilemma was ultimately resolved by the replacement of the common table with a restaurant; board was provided on an
à la carte basis rather than through a common menu. While religious matters were frequently the object of discussion and debate, heated division over religious topics does not seem to have occurred in the community until 1853, with the climate sharpening as the end of the institution approached. Efforts were made to build an appreciation for collectivist ideals in the minds of the community's 30 to 40 children, with children and youth encouraged to work cooperatively in organizing amusements, forest expeditions, camping trips, and craft projects. In addition, the community had a vibrant informal social atmosphere, with nightly walks in the woods, card games, and singing around the
piano. A steady stream of visitors infused new ideas and earnest discussions into the small rural society.
Decline The North American Phalanx, like the Fourierist movement in general, was ultimately undermined by its utopian basis — a general creed which as one scholar observed "promised too much and required too little of its adherents." The disparity between promises of social transformation and economic abundance and the realities of primitive agriculture and crude living conditions ended with the disillusionment of starry-eyed communitarians and their inflated expectations. The community's unity was also undermined by an inequality of workloads and compensation, as Carl Guarneri has observed: "For Fourier, the notion that some Harmonians would work less than others demonstrated true passional freedom; life in the American phalanxes, however, required hard work and self-sacrifice. As their communities struggled through indebtedness, chronic shortages, and crop failures, Associationists found themselves undermined by their own propaganda. ... The phalanxes never solved the problem of what to do about those who did not assume their share of the work." Wage rates were another source of discord, with machine operators formally complaining in 1853 that their wages paid as members of the phalanx ran significantly behind wages paid for comparable work in competitive industry outside the association. The North American Phalanx was also hard hit by the loss of its chief carpenter, a skilled horticulturalist, and other leading members in an 1853 succession to join the fledgling
Raritan Bay Union. In short order Raritan Bay members and financial supporters owned fully one-sixth of the North American Phalanx's stock, further weakening the older phalanx's resolve to continue.
Dissolution Disaster came on September 10, 1854, when a fire swept the colony's mill and all its contents. No insurance was recovered, and the community found itself facing $30,000 in accumulated debt with no ready means of repayment. Additionally, at the time of the fire the mill had housed a large quantity of wheat purchased on credit, for which the phalanx was financially responsible. While Horace Greeley offered to loan the association $12,000 for construction of a replacement facility, members of the phalanx ultimately decided not to take advantage of this offer, which would have boosted the debt load and necessitated another arduous reconstruction period. Efforts were made to sell the phalanx to a group organizing around Fourierist adherent
Victor Considerant to act as a staging point for newcomers to his new colonization project in the state of Texas. The property was subsequently owned by the Bucklin family, maternal grandparents of the drama critic and
Algonquin Round Table member
Alexander Woollcott.
Legacy The North American Phalanx was the second most publicized association of the 1840s Fourierist movement, surpassed in general interest only by
Brook Farm in
West Roxbury, Massachusetts. The main edifice of the North American Phalanx stood until November 1972 when it was destroyed in another fire. At present, two structures – both private homes – from the original Phalanx property survive. One of them, constructed around 1851, was the cottage of
Marcus Spring, a merchant from Brooklyn, New York, who was a supporter of the Phalanx. He and his family used the cottage as their summer home. Although Mr. Spring was not a resident member of the Phalanx, he was one of its largest shareholders, having invested, with several New York colleagues, over $50,000 in the endeavor. The
Monmouth County Historical Association in
Freehold Borough, New Jersey houses a collection of records of the North American Archive which include legal and financial documents, meeting minutes, miscellaneous manuscripts, published material about the phalanx, photographs and illustrations, maps, drawings, and blueprints. The collection contains a total of 148 items and occupies 2 linear feet of shelf space and is open for use by researchers without restriction. c; ==See also==