The Early Nineteenth Century (1800–1850)

Abstract

The nineteenth century, particularly in the United States, sees the great flowering of utopian literature and alternative living experiments. Things start to pick up after 1850, and the last quarter of the century is particularly full of utopian writing and social schemes. But the first half holds literary historical treasures as well, with around 190 literary utopias published in English, and many of the century’s more than 100 communal living experiments beginning before 1850. This essay surveys early nineteenth-century thought and its relationship to utopianism broadly defined as well as the contemporary critical work that informs readings of the literary texts of the period. Utopian texts of the second half of the century participate in the broad revolutionary ferment of 1848, but prior to that the developing industrial and scientific revolutions, the Second Great Awakening of 1800–1840, changing views of slavery, women’s rights, and challenges to existing forms of government such as the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804 are part of a trans-Atlantic conversation about the possibility of alternatives. The chapter presents readings of several exemplary texts, particularly from the United States, which largely set the terms for the genre as it developed.