1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 2: I dropped everything to learn more about Ettien Cabe after 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 2: he and his utopian experiments came up in the Narcisse 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 2: Montreal episode, which was the last thing I worked on 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 2: before this one. I'm not exaggerating. I had a whole 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 2: different plan for what I was going to work on next, 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 2: which I threw out the window and said, Ettien Cabe 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: and so here we are. That's today's episode. 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: Dun Dun Dun. Ettienkaba was born on January first, seventeen 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: eighty eight, in Dijon, France. His father, Claude, was a 14 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: cooper and his mother's name was Francoise. Various sources described 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: Claude as a radical, including being a member of the 16 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: Jacobin Club and the follower of Maximilian Robespierre during the 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: French Revolution. These sources are not entirely clear on whether 18 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: Claude's support of Robespierre continued throughout the Reign of Terror, 19 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: but Etienne was definitely raised in a household that was 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 1: passionately anti monarchy and unafraid to take a stand against 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:21,759 Speaker 1: real or perceived injustice. 22 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 2: Etienne got an education as a boy, and he spent 23 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 2: some time studying medicine before eventually earning a law degree 24 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 2: in eighteen twelve. Unlike Narcis Montsorial, he definitely became a lawyer, 25 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 2: and he practiced law. A lot of his work focused 26 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: on defending or advocating for people who were socially or 27 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 2: politically oppressed, or making things harder for the people or 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 2: the entities that were doing that oppressing. He developed a 29 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 2: reputation for being both eloquent and skilled, but his ongoing 30 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 2: activism and political views led to him being banned from 31 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 2: practicing in Dijon, so he moved to Paris. 32 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: By this point, the French Revolution was well in the past. 33 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: Napoleon Bonaparte had come and gone, and the Bourbon monarchy 34 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: had been restored in France. For about five years after 35 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: Napoleon's final downfall, the French government had been fairly moderate. 36 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: That changed in February of eighteen twenty with the assassination 37 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: of Charles Ferdinand de Bourbon, Duc de Berrie, nephew of 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: King Louis the eighteenth The Assassin had been one of 39 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: Napoleon's supporters and had explicitly stated that his purpose was 40 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: to end the Bourbon line of succession. This led to 41 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: a backlash that brought a more right wing ultra royalist 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: government into power, which led to another backlash by Republicans 43 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: and others on the left, including the establishment of a 44 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: secret revolutionary society called the Charbonarie patterned after the similar 45 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: Carbonari in Italy. 46 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 2: Came became director of the Charbonarie as it planned for 47 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 2: an armed uprising against the king. This plot was discovered 48 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 2: and four French soldiers who were connected to it were tried, arrested, 49 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 2: and guillotined. This fate did not befall Cabe. He continued 50 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 2: his anti monarchy pro republic work through things like politics, journalism, 51 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 2: and pamphleteering, and then he took an active part in 52 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 2: the July Revolution of eighteen thirty. During this revolution, Charles 53 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 2: the Tenth, who had become king after Louis the eighteenth's 54 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: death in eighteen twenty four, abdicated and was replaced by 55 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: Louis Philippe, who had been a member of the Jackoman 56 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 2: Club and for the most part pretty supportive of the 57 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 2: liberal opposition. 58 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: Louis Philippe was styled as King of the French, not 59 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: King of France. A revised constitution established France as a 60 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: constitutional monarchy and preserved various rites that had been achieved 61 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: during the French Revolution. There were also efforts to establish 62 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: a government and administration that would satisfy people on both 63 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: the left and the right, including appointing people from both 64 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: sides to various positions. Ettienn Kabe, at this point, well 65 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: known for his radical and revolutionary activities, was named Attorney 66 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: General of Corsica. This appointment did not last very long, though. 67 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: Trying to satisfy to diametrically opposed factions was an impossible task, 68 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: and the king faced continual challenges from both ends of 69 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: the political spectrum, including from Cabe. Kabe wrote a book 70 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: about what he saw as the failure of the revolution 71 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: and established a radical newspaper called Le Populaire. Ultimately, Kabe 72 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: either left his position as Attorney General or was removed 73 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: from it. I'm not totally clear on the details, but 74 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: he still had enough support from like minded people to 75 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: be elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the French parliament. 76 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: The government suppressed Kabe's newspaper in eight thirty four, and 77 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: he was charged with les majeste, or crime against the sovereign. 78 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: After being convicted, he was given a choice of going 79 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: to prison or going into exile, and he chose exile. 80 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: He went to London, where he stayed for almost five years. 81 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: One of the sources that Tracy used in this episode 82 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: says that he took his common law wife, Delphi Lossage 83 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: with him along with their daughter Celine, but another says 84 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: that he met and married Delphine while he was in London. 85 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 2: In London, Kabe taught French. While working on his English, 86 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 2: he wrote a history of the French Revolution, which came 87 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 2: out in eighteen thirty nine, as well as the six 88 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 2: hundred page History of Christianity, which focused on Jesus Christ 89 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 2: as an advocate of economic equality and described the Kingdom 90 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 2: of Heaven as communist in nature. And he started reading 91 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 2: works like Thomas Moore's Utopia and writings by Robert Owen, 92 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 2: who we talked about in our most recent Saturday Classic. 93 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 2: Cabe and Owen also met to talk about these ideas. 94 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 2: At this point, Owen had ended his efforts with communal 95 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 2: living in New Harmony, Indiana, and he had returned to Britain. 96 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: Here's how Kabay saw the state of things, as described 97 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: by journalist Albert Shaw in a book about him in 98 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four. Quote. What had been at first a 99 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: movement of the middle class against an absolute monarch and 100 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: an intolerable aristocracy had almost imperceptibly come to be a 101 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: movement of the lowest class against the middle class. The 102 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: first and second estates were no longer formidable. Louis Philippe 103 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: was the king of the bourgeoisie. Money was the new tyrant. 104 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,359 Speaker 1: Capital controlled the electorate. The government was in league with bankers, manufacturers, 105 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: and the mercantile classes. Democracy now meant the movement of 106 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. Society was breaking into two 107 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: more and more clearly defined classes, the rich and pro prosperous, 108 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: the capitalized class numbered by thousands, and the laboring class, 109 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: numbered by millions. Oppression was no longer conceived of as political, 110 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: but as industrial. 111 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 2: Kabey also saw all of this not as a new phenomenon, 112 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 2: but as something that had been playing out over and 113 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 2: over again throughout history. He saw humanity as continually divided 114 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 2: into a quote, crude, idle arrogant minority that hoarded all 115 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 2: the wealth and imposed poverty on everybody else. He thought 116 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 2: the only way forward was to find some way to 117 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 2: prevent this one small portion of humanity from continually praying 118 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 2: on everyone. 119 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: So he wrote a book about a place that was 120 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: free of all this. Voyage on Icari or Voyage to Acaria, 121 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: also known as Voyage and Adventures of Lord William Caresdale 122 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: in Acaria. It's presented as the journal of a young 123 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: English nobleman detailing his experiences in a nation ruled by 124 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: a benevolent dictator known as a car. Akaria is presented 125 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: as an ideal society, completely egalitarian and almost like an 126 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: enormous family. Each province is divided into self governing communes, 127 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: which make decisions by consensus. Representatives from each commune do 128 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: the same at the provincial and national level, with a 129 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: car guiding the nation through a transition into this perfect system. 130 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: Everyone in Akaria worked, but thanks to all that collective 131 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: labor and access to various technologies, the work was easy 132 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: and the days were short. Everyone had what they needed, 133 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: and there was no money or need to buy or 134 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: sell anything, no private property and no crime kebe returned. 135 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: To Paris in eighteen thirty nine after the end of 136 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: his period of exile, and Voyage to Ikaria was published. 137 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: The following year, he also relaunched Le Populaire, and his 138 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: ideas and write became really popular, especially among skilled crafts 139 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:08,599 Speaker 1: people whose work was being affected by mechanization and industrialization. 140 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: One example was tailors who were seeing a shift from 141 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: making bespoke garments to mass production. Kabay's ideas were also 142 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: appealing to a lot of women. He talked and wrote 143 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: a lot about how women were oppressed by the same 144 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: systems as men were, but then were further oppressed by 145 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: being stripped of their rights and relegated to domestic roles 146 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: in servitude. This included both paid and unpaid labor in 147 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: their own families and for others. 148 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 2: Soon people were having discussion groups in places like coffee 149 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 2: shops and other gathering places to talk about Kabay's work 150 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 2: and the idea of a truly egalitarian society. For the 151 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 2: next few years, Kabay continued his writing and his printing work. 152 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 2: He published the book on Christianity that he had written 153 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 2: back in London as well. Eventually, he started making plans 154 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: to establish a real life Akaria. In the words of 155 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 2: journalist Charles Nordoff, who visited an Akarian community much later, 156 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 2: quote Ettien Cabe had a pretty dream. This dream took 157 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 2: hold of his mind, and he spent sixteen years of 158 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 2: his life in trying to turn it into real life. 159 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 2: He advocated for this plan in Le Populaire, announcing it 160 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 2: in May of eighteen forty seven with a proclamation that 161 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 2: began Alonsonicerie. Updates on arrangements and fundraising and proposals for 162 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 2: where to go played out in the paper, and the 163 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 2: following year Le Populaire included an announcement that the settlement 164 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,839 Speaker 2: would be established in Texas. We'll have more on that 165 00:10:46,040 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 2: after a sponsor break. Eten CABE's idea to establish an 166 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 2: Acarian society in Texas was influenced by Robert Owen. Shortly 167 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 2: after the end of Owen's efforts in New Harmony, he 168 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 2: had looked at the possibility of establishing another community in 169 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 2: northern Mexico. This never came to fruition, in part because 170 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 2: of an immigration law passed by Mexico in eighteen thirty. 171 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 2: This was when huge numbers of US citizens were immigrating 172 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 2: to Mexico and Mexico was afraid that the United States 173 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 2: would try to annex this part of its territory. This 174 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: law limited immigration into Mexico from the United States and 175 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 2: also banned enslaved people being brought into Mexico. That was 176 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 2: an issue because a lot of the Americans who were 177 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,959 Speaker 2: wanting to go to Mexico also wanted to bring an 178 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 2: enslaved workforce with them. Of course, this law did not 179 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 2: have the intended effect of keeping Mexico from losing this territory. 180 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 2: Americans moved there illegally anyway, and Texas declared itself independent 181 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 2: in eighteen thirty six. It became a US state in 182 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 2: eighteen forty five, so by the time Kabe started looking 183 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 2: for a place to establish Acaria, the region Owen had 184 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 2: been considering was part of the United States. Owen connected 185 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 2: Kaba to a land agent named William Smalling Peters, who 186 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 2: worked out a deal for one thousand acres of land 187 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 2: along the Trinity River, along with another ten thousand, two 188 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 2: hundred forty acres of land farther away from the river. 189 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 2: But this land would only be theirs if the Acarians 190 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 2: established homesteads on each of the parcels by July first, 191 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 2: eighteen forty eight. Meanwhile, the front page announcement in the 192 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,199 Speaker 2: Populaire announcing a plan to go to Texas came out 193 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 2: on November fourteenth, eighteen forty seven, just a little more 194 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 2: than six months before that deadline. The first group of 195 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 2: sixty nine Akarians didn't set sail from the hav France 196 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 2: until February third, eighteen forty eight. When this group got 197 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 2: to the United States, things went very badly. They arrived 198 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 2: in New Orleans, Louisiana, and then they went on to 199 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 2: Shreveport by steamboat. Once they got to Shreveport, they had 200 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 2: to go west about three hundred miles or four hundred 201 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 2: and eighty two kilometers over roads that barely existed. Once 202 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 2: they got to their allotted land, they discovered that this 203 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 2: was not thousands of contiguous acres. Plots of about six 204 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 2: hundred and forty acres each were scattered in almost a 205 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 2: checkerboard pattern, with the state of Texas still controlling the 206 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 2: rest of the board. The whole point was to establish 207 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 2: a community where people would live and work and eat collectively. 208 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 2: So this arrangement of separated plots of land that were 209 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 2: not connected to each other, that was just not suited 210 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 2: to what they were trying to do. It's a little 211 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 2: unclear whether Kabay or these first arrivals were aware of 212 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 2: this setup beforehand, or whether a language barrier might have 213 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 2: affected what the Akarians understood about exactly what the land 214 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 2: that they were getting. Also, since that first group of 215 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 2: Acarians did not even get to Texas until June second, 216 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 2: they had less than a month to try to build 217 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 2: a house on each of these parcels. This was not 218 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 2: the end of it, though a lot of the land 219 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 2: was swampy and there were lots of mosquitoes. We mentioned 220 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 2: earlier that Kabe's ideas were really appealing to skilled crafts 221 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 2: people whose trades were being affected by industrialization. So these 222 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 2: are the kind of people who might be able to 223 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 2: make things to use or sell to keep a colony 224 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 2: going once it was established. But they were not farmers, 225 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 2: and they were not accustomed to the kind of labor 226 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 2: required to farm completely unbroken ground. They seemed to have 227 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 2: escaped a yellow fever outbreak that struck New Orleans that year, 228 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 2: but many of them contracted malaria. At least four people 229 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 2: died of it or other illnesses. One person was struck 230 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 2: by lightning and their doctor got sick and then had 231 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 2: some kind of serious mental health crisis. Although the Akarians 232 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 2: did manage to get some shacks built on these parcels 233 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 2: of land, trying to do that by their deadline meant 234 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 2: that they had almost no crops planted by the start 235 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 2: of August. Then the late summer heat made that health 236 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 2: situation even worse. It became clear that there was just 237 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 2: no way that they would be able to plant enough 238 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 2: food to live off over the winter. They finally decided 239 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 2: to go back to Shreveport, where they handed over all 240 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 2: the materials and tools and oxen that they had bought 241 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 2: from the Peters Company. A second group of twenty one 242 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 2: men had arrived in Texas just days before this decision 243 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 2: was made, and one of them wrote to Kaba with 244 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 2: just a really discouraging report of what was going on. 245 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: To add to all of this, events back in France 246 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: had called this whole project into question. Kabey had an 247 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: estimated four hundred thousand followers, and fewer than one hundred 248 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: had actually left to go to the United States. Many 249 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: more had put their money toward this cause, though, and 250 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: Kabey started to face a lot of suspicion about exactly 251 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: what he was doing with that money. As the first 252 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: group had been preparing to leave, Kabey had been charged 253 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: with fraud. He was cleared, but this was a huge disruption. 254 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 2: And on February twenty second, just about three weeks after 255 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: that first group had departed for the United States, a 256 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 2: revolution began in France. It was one of a series 257 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 2: of revolutions that started across parts of Europe in eighteen 258 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 2: forty eight. By February twenty fourth, King Louis Philippe had 259 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 2: been deposed and France had once again become a republic. 260 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 2: Acarians in France were split over what they should do. 261 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 2: Should they continue on with their plan of establishing a 262 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 2: colony in the United States, or should they try to 263 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 2: make this new French republic more like what they envisioned 264 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 2: for Akaria. Some went so far as to argue for 265 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 2: that advance group to be recalled, and after hearing the news, 266 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 2: some of the ones who had gone to the United 267 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 2: States wanted to return to France. 268 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: Kabey thought there was no possible way to turn France 269 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: into the communist utopia he envisioned. While he had a 270 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: lot of followers, there was just too much antipathy for 271 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,239 Speaker 1: his ideas and for the entire concept of communism, so 272 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: he continued making preparations to go to the US. Kabe 273 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: arrived in New Orleans with more followers in December of 274 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight. Everybody found temporary places to stay while 275 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,360 Speaker 1: they and those earlier arrivals all decided what to do. 276 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: Although some did go back to France and some filed 277 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: suit against Kabe for fraud. Once they got there, the 278 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: majority decided they should find another more suitable place to 279 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 1: build their utopia. A small group set out to look 280 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: for a new location along the Mississippi River. What they 281 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: found was Navu, Illinois. Navu was built on land purchased 282 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints 283 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty nine, after the church had been expelled 284 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: from the state of Missouri the year before. The church's 285 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: headquarters were located in Navu from eighteen thirty nine to 286 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: eighteen forty six, and during that time the city's population 287 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: was predominantly made up of church members. Navu had grown 288 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: into one of the largest cities in Illinois, but the 289 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: Latter day Saints had started leaving in eighteen forty four. 290 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: After founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram were shot 291 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: and killed while in jail facing charges of treason in 292 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: nearby Carthage. This is, of course a whole long story, 293 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: but the treason charge stemmed from Smith calling out the 294 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: militia to enforce martial law during a dispute involving a 295 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: newspaper that had been highly critical of him. Harassment and 296 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: persecution of church members had escalated after the Smiths were killed, 297 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: including the burning down of more than two hundred homes 298 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: and farms in September of eighteen forty five, so by 299 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: eighteen forty six, much of Navu was abandoned. 300 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 2: When Kabe's Location Scouts arrived there in early eighteen forty nine, 301 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 2: Navu really seemed ready made for their purposes. There were 302 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 2: already homes, farms, stores, and other buildings. The land had 303 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 2: been prepared and tended. It was not an undrained swamp 304 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,360 Speaker 2: or an uncultivated prairie. Since it was on the Mississippi River, 305 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 2: it would be pretty easy for new arrivals to get there. 306 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 2: The remaining Ofkareans in the United States voted to move 307 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 2: to Navu at the end of February, and once they 308 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 2: were there they bought and leased various buildings and parcels 309 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 2: of land from the church trustees. One of these buying 310 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 2: decisions was controversial. Kabai wanted to buy the ten which 311 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 2: had been badly damaged in a fire. Most of what 312 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 2: was left was the stone work. Kabe hoped to turn 313 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 2: this into the community's school, dining hall, and gathering space. 314 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 2: People who objected to this plan thought it was too expensive, 315 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 2: it needed a lot of work to make it usable, 316 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 2: and buying it meant they couldn't afford to buy more 317 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 2: practical buildings. Akaria was at least theoretically supposed to make 318 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 2: decisions based on consensus, although only men had voting rights, 319 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 2: but they had also elected Kabe to essentially act as 320 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 2: a dictator for a ten year period while the colony 321 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 2: was getting started. He went ahead with that purchase, but 322 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,479 Speaker 2: the temple was struck by a tornado in eighteen fifty 323 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 2: when the work on it had barely begun. From that point, 324 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 2: its stones were repurposed into other buildings. Yeah in addition 325 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 2: to the tornado, they had possibly been ripped off by 326 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 2: somebody they bought large timbers from for the work that 327 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,399 Speaker 2: needed to be done on the interior. At this community's peak, 328 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 2: there were about five hundred Akarians living in Navu, although 329 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 2: people were continually deciding to return to Europe and being 330 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 2: replaced by new arrivals, mostly from France, but from other 331 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 2: parts of Europe as well. Emil Valet, whose family joined 332 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 2: the Navu community in eighteen forty nine, described it this way, 333 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 2: to the exception of the family, everything was in common 334 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 2: among them. No private property, no monies, no poor, no rich, 335 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 2: no competition, no antagonism, complete solidarity, the strong working for 336 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 2: the feeble, the sick, the one working for all, and 337 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 2: all working for one, everyone producing according to his strength, 338 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 2: his talent, his skill, and consuming according to his wants. 339 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,120 Speaker 2: No lawyers but arbitrators. The schools open to all children, 340 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 2: equally universal suffrage for men above twenty years of age. 341 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 2: Women having the deliberative right, and as soon as an enlightened, 342 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 2: the consultative right. The people having its full and complete sovereignty, 343 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,879 Speaker 2: making its own laws and willing to submit to the 344 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 2: dictation of the majority. Women rehabilitated, cherished and respected, love, confidence, security, happiness. 345 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 2: Just to be clear that passage was part of an 346 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 2: essay in which Valet hoped to show quote the demoralizing 347 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 2: influence of communism on men and its inadaptability to human nature. Yeah, 348 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 2: that this paragraph sounded so idealistic to me that it 349 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 2: seemed weird to just not make it clear he was 350 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 2: not saying that this turned out great. It's funny because 351 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 2: he does make it sound fantastic. He makes it sound 352 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 2: pretty awesome. To join this community, people had to pay 353 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 2: an entry fee. The amounts changed at various points, but 354 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 2: generally it was around six hundred francs. If somebody left 355 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 2: the community, this money was returned to them. They also 356 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 2: had to be prepared with enough clothing to survive for 357 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 2: about five years, so that money plus clothing meant that 358 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 2: people had to have some income some amount of wealth. 359 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,120 Speaker 2: To join up, parents had to agree for their children 360 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 2: to be educated in what was basically a boarding school 361 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 2: with pretty limited contact with the rest of the family. 362 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 2: Divorce was allowed, but marriage was also expected, so if 363 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,400 Speaker 2: somebody got divorced, they were supposed to find a new 364 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:24,360 Speaker 2: spouse quickly. 365 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: The community was also non theistic, and many members were 366 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: atheist or agnostic, but people could also continue to uphold 367 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: their own religious beliefs if they had them, and much 368 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: of Kabe's writing was underpinned with what he saw as 369 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: Christian morality. Kabai also wanted Akaria to function within the 370 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: scope of local and federal laws, like getting their community 371 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: formally chartered by the Illinois legislature and Akarian's becoming US citizens. 372 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: Kabey himself became a citizen in eighteen fifty four, and 373 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: there was at least one mass naturalization ceremony held in Navu. 374 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 2: At least twenty people died in a cholera outbreak aboard 375 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,640 Speaker 2: the steamboats on their way to Navu from New Orleans, 376 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 2: but apart from that, this effort went far more smoothly 377 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 2: than what had happened in Texas. Soon the Akarians purchased 378 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 2: a distillery and a flour mill to be used as 379 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 2: sources of income for the community. They also acquired a 380 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,679 Speaker 2: printing press and established a library. But things took a 381 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 2: turn after Kabe had to return to France in eighteen 382 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 2: fifty one to face charges of fraud. Although he was 383 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 2: cleared of these charges, he was appalled by how he 384 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 2: found things when he returned to Navu. Although some Akarians 385 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 2: had occasionally consumed alcohol, now people were drinking to excess, 386 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,159 Speaker 2: and some of them had taken up smoking, which he 387 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 2: also despised. 388 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: Some of the women had started wearing perfume and having 389 00:24:55,320 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: individual personal items that they considered their own. Kabe wrote 390 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: up a new, much stricter code of conduct called the 391 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: forty eight Articles that a lot of people found really tyrannical, 392 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: in which the majority voted against implementing. Although Navu had 393 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: a lot of advantages for the Akarians, Kabey had intended 394 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: it to be a temporary home and had planned for 395 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: the community to eventually move farther west. To that end, 396 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty two, a group of Akarians traveled to 397 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: Adams County, Iowa, and they acquired land there near Courning. 398 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: This community became known as a welcoming stop on the 399 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: thirteen hundred mile trek from Navu, Illinois that members of 400 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints followed 401 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: to Salt Lake City. This trek was known as the 402 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: Mormon Trail. Much of this migration took place in eighteen 403 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 1: forty six in eighteen forty seven, but it continued until 404 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in eighteen sixty nine, 405 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: at which point most people just went by train, so 406 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: this community in Iowa was a plan for a future move, 407 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: not schism, but there were schisms to come, and we're 408 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,440 Speaker 1: going to get into those after we paused for a 409 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: sponsor break. 410 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 2: As an Akarian community was being established in Adams County, Iowa, 411 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 2: the community at Navu, Illinois was becoming increasingly contentious. Kabe's 412 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 2: approach to being sort of a limited time benevolent dictator 413 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 2: was falling apart. The community had held annual elections at 414 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 2: which he had been unanimously voted president every time, but 415 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 2: when he wanted to change the community's charter so that 416 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 2: the president would be elected every four years instead of annually, 417 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 2: people objected. There were also growing divisions over the role 418 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 2: of women. Although Kabe had talked a lot about the 419 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 2: ways that women were at a disadvantage in society, Akarian 420 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 2: women still did not have the right to vote, and 421 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 2: a lot of the times they were the ones doing 422 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 2: most of the domestic work. 423 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty six, as Kabai's decisions became increasingly unpopular, 424 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: the Akarians elected JB. Girard to be their president, but 425 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: Kabai refused to allow him and the newly elected governing 426 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: board to be installed. There had also been some back 427 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: and forth leading up to this election, in which Kabey 428 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: agreed to withdraw his proposals for changing their charter in 429 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: exchange for being elected for another term, but then didn't 430 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 1: actually withdraw them. Kabay started undermining the community, doing things 431 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: like raising questions about their financial position with their creditors 432 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 1: and keeping the account books secret from the people who 433 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: were supposed to be taking responsibility for them. Some of 434 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: his critics petitioned the Illinois legislature asking them to repeal 435 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 1: the community's active incorporation, but that effort failed. This eventually 436 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: led to an extremely acrimonious schism, with the majority of 437 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 1: the community voting to expel Kabey. Afterward, kab took about 438 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,439 Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty people who still supported him to 439 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: Saint Louis. Here's how Albert Shaw described the aftermath of 440 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: this quote. It need scarcely be said that the community 441 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: at Navu had been greatly weakened by the split. Much 442 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: of the movable property, all of the account books, a 443 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: large portion of the library had been carried off by 444 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: the cecidars. The titles to the real estate, both in 445 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: Navu and in Iowa, were in Kabay's name, and long 446 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: tedious suits were required in order to give the community 447 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: perfect legal title to its own premises. The whole system 448 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: of industry had been deranged, crops had failed, debts had 449 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: greatly increased. The Saint Louis party, claiming as we have 450 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 1: already shown to be the real Akarians and maintaining the 451 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: old bureau in Paris, had so industriously circulated their version 452 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: of the story in France that the Navu majority were 453 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: there regarded by their still numerous Akarian fellow disciples as 454 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: base ingrates who had overturned the society for selfish ends, 455 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 1: driven away their noble benefactor, Cabe broken his heart and 456 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: caused his death by their brutal treatment. Letters of explanation 457 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: sent from Navu to France were returned unanswered. No more 458 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 1: funds or recruits came to Navu. If that phrase caused 459 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: his death by their brutal mistreatment, caught your attention. On 460 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: November eighth, eighteen fifty six, about a week after arriving 461 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: in Saint Louis, Ettienkabe had a stroke and he died 462 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: at the age of sixty eight. The people who had 463 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: followed him to Saint Louis were truly devastated. One of 464 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: them took their own life, but the rest decided to 465 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: try to carry on. They remained in Saint Louis while 466 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: they tried to work out a plan, and then in 467 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: May of the following year they bought an estate called Cheltenham, 468 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: west of the city. It only came with twenty eight 469 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,719 Speaker 1: acres of land, but it already had a large house 470 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: and some cabins, and was close enough to Saint Louis 471 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: that people who had gotten jobs there could go back 472 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: and forth to work to help keep the community afloat. 473 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: About one hundred and fifty Acarians moved to Cheltenham, but 474 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 1: they soon faced similar divisions to what had happened back 475 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: in Navu, with some people wanting the community to be 476 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,719 Speaker 1: united under one powerful leader and others wanting a system 477 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: that was more egalitarian. People continually left and were continually 478 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: replenished with new arrivals from France, who again thought this 479 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: one was the real Akaria, but eventually there were more 480 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: people leaving than arriving. After the start of the Civil War, 481 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 1: a lot of young men left to join the US army. 482 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 1: By eighteen sixty four, there there were only about twenty 483 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: Akarians left at Cheltenham, which was not enough to keep 484 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: the community going, and it was disbanded that March. 485 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 2: The community at Navu was also following through on the 486 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 2: plan to move to Iowa, although there were some people 487 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 2: who decided to return to France instead. The Akarians had 488 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 2: established a new charter with the state of Iowa in 489 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 2: eighteen sixty, and that charter did allow for some individual 490 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 2: property ownership. Unlike the group at Cheltenham, which had lost 491 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 2: so many members that it could not survive a further 492 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 2: reduction during the Civil War, the Aekarians in Iowa found 493 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 2: that their crops and their wool were in very high demand, 494 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 2: so they weathered the war and they were even able 495 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 2: to acquire some more land for the community. We read 496 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 2: from the writing of journalist Charles Nordhoff earlier in the show. 497 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 2: He visited the Akarians in Iowa in eighteen seventy four. 498 00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 2: At that point, their community had sixty three members described 499 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 2: their life as hard, a huge contrast to what Kabe 500 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 2: had envisioned in recruitment pamphlets that the Akarians produced earlier 501 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 2: on For example, back in eighteen fifty four, the Akarians 502 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 2: in Navou published a German language pamphlet that had described 503 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 2: what Kabe thought he could do if he was able 504 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 2: to secure half a million dollars, an amount that would 505 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 2: give him access to a lot more credit, which he 506 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 2: could then use to secure all kinds of necessities and 507 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 2: even some luxuries. Nordhoff also pointed out the contradiction in 508 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 2: the idea of starting a commune based on the idea 509 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 2: of total economic equality by taking on an enormous amount 510 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 2: of debt. In this pamphlet, Kabe had described quote dwellings 511 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 2: supplied with gas and hot and cold water, of factories 512 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 2: fitted up on the largest scale, of fertile farms, under 513 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: the best culture of schools, high and elementary, of theaters 514 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 2: and other places of amusement, of elegantly kept pleasure grounds, 515 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 2: and so on. But the Acarians in Iowa had started 516 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 2: out twenty thousand dollars in debt, and at first they 517 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 2: were able to build only mud huts to live in. 518 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 2: They eventually upgraded to log cabins and then two frame houses, 519 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 2: plus a dining hall, a wash house, a dairy, a schoolhouse, 520 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 2: and various workshops for things like carpentry, blacksmithing, and shoemaking. 521 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 2: A two story building served as their common dining room 522 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 2: and their kitchen, and it also did have a library 523 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 2: and living space on the upper floor. They'd built a 524 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 2: sawmill and a gristmill that they could use to bring 525 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 2: in more income, and they had paid off all of 526 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 2: their debt. 527 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 1: In other words, for more than twenty years, they had 528 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: worked really, really hard, often living in a way that 529 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: was barely above subsistence, to get out of debt and 530 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 1: keep their community going. In Nordhoff's words, quote a moderate 531 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: degree of prosperity is possible to them now, but they 532 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: have waited long for it. I judged that they had 533 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 1: but poor skill in management and no business talent, but 534 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 1: certainly they had abundant courage and determination. 535 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 2: However, they were still facing similar ideological divisions to what 536 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 2: had played out in the other Akarian communities. One of 537 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 2: the big issues was still women's suffrage, but there were 538 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 2: also disagreements over how strict the community should be and 539 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 2: how open to newcomers, as well as whether they should 540 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 2: be focused on their own community or on trying to 541 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 2: spread communist ideals to the wider public. They gradually coalesced 542 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 2: into two groups known as Young Ikaria and New Ikaria. 543 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:53,720 Speaker 2: Although some of these divisions felt very broadly along age lines. 544 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 2: There were some older people in the young group and 545 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 2: some younger people in the new group. One of the 546 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 2: difficulties in all of this was that the more progressive 547 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 2: people had an overall majority, but they did not have 548 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,279 Speaker 2: a majority among the people who were both male and 549 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 2: old enough to vote. These two groups wound up in court, 550 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,160 Speaker 2: and in August of eighteen seventy eight, the Akarians charter 551 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 2: was declared to be forfeit. The circuit court designated trustees 552 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,319 Speaker 2: from outside the community to divide its property, resulting in 553 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 2: the Iowa settlement being divided into east and west portions. 554 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 2: The young Akarians went to one side and the new 555 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 2: Akarians to the other, with new charters being established in 556 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy nine. I don't know if in practice it 557 00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:45,279 Speaker 2: felt like they just put a big tape line down 558 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:47,880 Speaker 2: down the middle of town. That is what it sounds like. 559 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 2: That's how it comes across from me. Eventually, seventeen of 560 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 2: the young Kharians left and they joined a small group 561 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:00,040 Speaker 2: that had previously gone to California. They called themselves the 562 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 2: Acaria Speranza community, with Sporanza coming from Lesperance. That name 563 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 2: was taken from other utopian writing. This group disbanded in 564 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty six. The Akarian community in Iowa carried on 565 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,800 Speaker 2: until eighteen ninety eight, and it was the last Akarian 566 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 2: community to disband. It had existed for forty six years, 567 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 2: making it the longest known non religious communal living experiment 568 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,160 Speaker 2: in the US. Some of the Akarian communities buildings in Navu, 569 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 2: Illinois and in Corning, Iowa, are still standing and at 570 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,759 Speaker 2: least at some points they've been operated as living history museums. 571 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,040 Speaker 2: I had trouble tracking down whether any of these are 572 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 2: still operating currently. It seemed like in one case maybe 573 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 2: by appointment, but like no longer functioning websites, phone numbers 574 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 2: hard to track down. 575 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,799 Speaker 1: That kind of a thing. Oh, do you also have 576 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,880 Speaker 1: some listener mail? I have so many thoughts about this. 577 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: I can't wait for behind this. 578 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 2: This email is from Mary and it is titled Revolutionary Cookies, 579 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,799 Speaker 2: Sweet History, And it's like, we have the email and 580 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 2: we also have a story about the email. The email 581 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,359 Speaker 2: starts Hello, Holly and Tracy, and then that's followed by 582 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 2: a series of photographs and the photographs are on a 583 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 2: cookie package for a Jovita edar Concha cookie. Yeah, and 584 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,280 Speaker 2: so scrolling pastologies as well as a very cute picture 585 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 2: of a very cute dog can return to the email, 586 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:39,080 Speaker 2: which says, recently, I took a motorcycle ride to the 587 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:44,200 Speaker 2: Claremont packing House In Claremont, California. There are restaurants and stores, 588 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:48,520 Speaker 2: but there was also a kiosk called Revolutionary Bites Bakery, 589 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 2: and since I love cookies and revolutionaries, I stopped to 590 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 2: buy all of their cookies pay tribute to various historical revolutionaries, 591 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 2: many of whom I've never heard of. The strawberry concha 592 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 2: cookie clebrating Hovey to Dar caught my eye. I'm attaching 593 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,839 Speaker 2: pictures of the cookie and the history behind Miss Dar 594 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 2: possible future episode. I actually got to see you live 595 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 2: in Los Angeles a few years ago for a spooky 596 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,279 Speaker 2: Halloween show. The picture I took with you is one 597 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,360 Speaker 2: of my treasured memories for my pet tax I'm attaching 598 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 2: a picture of my granddog Cooper and his silhouette I 599 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,440 Speaker 2: had done of him at Disneyland. Thank you Mary, So First, 600 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,319 Speaker 2: thank you Mary for this email. Second, when I read it, 601 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,160 Speaker 2: I felt like I had fallen into some kind of 602 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 2: wormhole because this email arrived after we had recorded our 603 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 2: episode on Hovey to Edar, but before the episode had 604 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:42,480 Speaker 2: come out, So. 605 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,719 Speaker 1: In my head I was like. 606 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 2: Oh, wow, we already have email about the Hovi' to 607 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:52,960 Speaker 2: Edar episode that just came out. 608 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 1: No, it was not out yet. 609 00:38:55,239 --> 00:39:00,080 Speaker 2: It was just a serendipitous discovery of this cookie. I 610 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 2: looked at the website and the Instagram page of Revolutionary 611 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 2: Bites Bakery. I found that whole thing very charming. If 612 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 2: I were closer to there, I would definitely go check 613 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 2: out and try some of these cookies. There's the packaging 614 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:18,839 Speaker 2: for the Hovi toa Edark cookie on the back has 615 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:24,520 Speaker 2: like a very brief biography of her and again just 616 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,520 Speaker 2: incredibly incredibly cute puppy dog. 617 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,440 Speaker 1: It's also interesting because contra cookies are like have a 618 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,200 Speaker 1: long pre colonial history. Oh yeah, yeah, like they're an 619 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: interesting historical thing in and of themselves. That's great. 620 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,960 Speaker 2: I did not know this, so thank you so much 621 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 2: for this email and these pictures, even though it caused 622 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,200 Speaker 2: me to kind of go, what day am I? Where 623 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 2: am I living? Did I fall through time by accident? 624 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,280 Speaker 2: If you would like to send us a note about 625 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,600 Speaker 2: this or any other podcast, including episodes that we have recorded, 626 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,759 Speaker 2: but not really at least yet. You can We're at 627 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 2: History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com and you can find 628 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 2: us on various social media ad Missed in History and 629 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,040 Speaker 2: you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app 630 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:20,480 Speaker 2: or wherever else you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff 631 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,280 Speaker 2: you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 632 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 633 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,440 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.