The Rise and Fall of Brook Farm

                                    The Rise and Fall of Brook Farm
         
         In 1841 noted Transcendentalist George Ripley, created the Brook Farm commune to make a sanctuary for better life.  Born in October 1802, Ripley had been born into religion and carried the practice through out his life (Robinson).  Studying Unitarian practices, he graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1826, just three years after graduating from Harvard (Robinson).  After Divinity school Ripley took positions at many churches here and there, and advised many other young aspiring Unitarian ministers.  He also wrote for many Unitarian and Christian magazines and papers.  But his most famous endeavor was the creation and funding of the Brook Farm commune.  In 1840, George Ripley went to the Christian Union Convention in Massachusetts, which was a convention of many Utopian groups voicing their vision (Gordon).  Attending this convention inspired George Ripley to research Utopias.  Then in 1841 inspired by the Transcendentalist philosophy of Charles Fourier, the Utopian Convention and his being discouraged from the Unitarian church because of its lack of social reform and money,
George Ripley decided to leave the church and start Brook Farm, a two-hundred acre parcel of land in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.  The commune did have some success to its name.  The Boarding schools were considered some of the best in the nation and Harvard University recommended it to high school students aspiring to attend Harvard (Wikipedia).  But the commune did not last.  In 1846 a fire to a new communal building dealt a blow to the farms finances that it could not recover.  Other financial issues were caused from poor agricultural practices and social differences.  The Brook Farm Commune could not survive or operate because of agricultural, social and financial practices and issues.
         Before the establishing of Brook Farm on its two-hundred acres, the land was farm land, though not very successful farm land. The dirt was partially sand from the annual flooding of the Charles River which wound all around the country side.  The conditions proved to not be very suitable for agriculture, which was the principle way that George Ripley thought that the farm would sustain its self.  The only good farming that could be done was dairy farming, which could not totally sustain the farm.  As if the lack of proper farming land wasn’t enough, and even though agriculture was supposedly going to be the means of sustaining themselves, Ripley had basically no knowledge of farming.  He had never lived on or near a farm (Gordon).  But Ripley educated himself about diary farming which got the farm on its feet (Robinson)  But even if the farm had been a bountiful source of food, the population wasn’t the farming type.  With the majority of the farm being college students, transients and religious teachers, the amount of farming will or experience was very small.  Even the people who first thought that the farm life was unique and fun soon became tired of the grit and labor.  The land and the inexperienced people who lived there and soon got tired of the farming life were the reasons that what was thought should have been the way the farm sustained and gained money for itself failed.
         The social atmosphere of the community at Brook farm influenced its decline.  There were many disagreements over how to divert expenses and how to handle work. The basic idea of work was that if you enjoy completing a task then you would be assigned that task you enjoy.  This didn’t really work because many people would not know how to do their task or they would simply just get tired of their work and want to change jobs randomly and often.  Or in some cases people just didn’t want to work, which was a huge burden on the farm of which Ripley would have to get rid of (Gordon).  And so people would come and go from the farm, the latter always having to learn how to farm and do manual labor.  Something that would have to work to enable Brook Farm to survive as a healthy social place was to have a strong family network.  But there were few married couples on the land, just mostly transients and college students needing a home or just a knew and fun experience in life (Robinson).  Mostly young people as well lived on the farm, making a very small birth rate on the farm which made the farm have to sustain its numbers from new members joining (Robinson).  Within the financial issues Ripley adopted more and more practices from the Utopian organization of Fourierism, named after its founder Charles Fourier.  This Utopia was based on the system of people working for the community by abolishing social and commercial competition (Wikipedia).  Many people within Brook Farm disagreed with these principles based on that the people should have the freedom to do what they want when they want (Robinson).  The new order caused many of the original members who came for the farms Transcendentalist life to leave.  The disagreements between Ripley and the people of the farm that the people wanted easy life and Ripley was just trying to keep the farm afloat, lead to the down fall of the farm socially because of lack of unity in the community .
         Probably the most instrumental reason for the disbanding of Brook Farm in 1847, which was also a by-product of the agriculture and social issues was the financial issues of the farm.  People who came to live there had to pay a price.  But many of the people who paid to get in were paying with credit or borrowed money which resulted in many payments never being received by Ripley for the farm (Robinson).  This made its so there was less and less money and many people were living on the farm for free from the beginning; no introductory payment and not contributing to the work on the farm.  This was especially evident among poor students wanting to attend some of the boarding schools on site on the farm.  The schools were the only reliable source of income for the farm but it wasn’t nearly enough (Gordon).  Besides people looking for a home, the farm was home to many religious teachers; ministers, priests and reverends preaching.  But none of these people could provide a source of income to the farm, just as many people of the farm couldn’t.    Along with all of the money woes and debts, the citizens of the farm demanded more and more buildings to be built for the people.  With funds scarce the farm devoted its money and resources to the building of the Phalanstery, which was an enormous building that was to house everyone living on the farm.  It would also be a sort of recreational space for fun and relaxing.  Though the project was very strenuous for the
community, Ripley believed that this huge building would renew the physiological drive for work and unite the community.  The project was finally finished in 1846, and a large and joyous celebration was to be held in the building (Wikipedia).  But during the party, the Phalanstery somehow caught on fire and was completely destroyed (Wikipedia).  While no one was hurt, the building was so new that it was not insured yet and was a financial blow to Brook Farm that it could not recover, causing the residents to slowly trickle away.  Lack of funds, debts from members and the loss of the Phalanstery finalized the end of Brook Farm in 1846 (Robinson).
         Overall Brook farm never really got a chance to put forth its utopian dreams to a working functioning reality.  An entire society can’t be crafted when it has to stop after just five years.  The social plan of unity and everyone working together for the benefit of the farm could not be recognized because of disagreements within the community.  The land was not good enough and the people were not educated or wanting of the work for the farm to work (Robinson).  Finances were the largest reason that Brook Farm did not prosper.  Unpaid debts and a non-income making population pulled the farm down to deterioration, when finally the destruction of the Phalanstery along with the money put into it was the event that the community of Brook Farm would not recover.  But especially the psyche of the many people who had poured themselves into the making of the Phalanstery was vanquished causing the lose of hope and finally the end to Brook Farm in 1846.  The Brook Farm Commune could not survive or operate because of agricultural, social and financial practices and issues.

                                                  Works cited

“Brook Farm” Wikepedia. Wikepedia foundation. 14 May 2007
         http://en.Wikepedia.org/wiki/Brook_Farm.
“George Ripley.” Wikepedia.com. Wikepedia foundation. 14 May 2007
         http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/George_Ripley_%28transcendentalist%29
Gordon, Jessica. “Transcendental Ideas: Social Reform.” American                         Transcendentalism web.com. Transcendentalist community center. 14 May 2007
         http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalist/ideas/brhistory.html.
Robinson, David. “George Ripley.” Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalists Biography.
         1999-2007. Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. 14 May 2007
         http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/georgeripley.html.