The Shakers In Nineteenth-Century America

The Shakers, also known as The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, was one of the protestant religious groups that emerged during the eighteenth-century. They contributed much to our modern culture and, in their time, organized one of the most successful communal societies in nineteenth-century America. Founded by James and Jane Wardley (also known as Mother Jane), the movement spread from England to Kentucky and across the United States by an illiterate textile worker named Ann Lee after 1774, a time during which she was mistreated by many people for her religious belief. The characteristics and values of Mother Anne Lee, a spiritual mother, shaped the Shaker’s life in one way or another. The Shakers were remarkable

with regard to equality between men and women, simplicity in everyday life, religious celebrations and honesty in a person helped to contribute to the success of the Shakers’ society.
Members of the Shaker society didn’t believe in procreation and they lived a communal life, which was based on common ownership of property, confession of sins, and a strict practice of celibacy.

People those who already had children allowed everyone in the community to help raising their kids. For other “families” who wanted to have babies, they could “either took in orphaned or unwanted children” (Joanne 1). The Shakers were celibate and did not get married or have children. They would adopt children who needed homes and accepted babies from people who didn’t want them. At the age of twenty-one, adopted children chose whether or not they wanted to join the Shakers permanently or live their own lives in the outside world. Relationships among Young Believers inside a “family unit” went pretty well “even across the gender lines,” even though many of the commentators showed disrespect towards the Shakers’ way of living. An observer once noticed that the bonds between the two sexes were "much less restricted than is generally supposed,” and applauded "those affectionate friendships and pure platonic enjoyments that spring up under what the world perhaps falsely calls an overwhelming obstacle to earthly

happiness".
The Shaker movement was attractive to large American families and most of the women in the community enjoyed equal status with men.

While living together, the Shakers looked up on one another as Brothers, or what they called Brethren, and Sisters. Despite the mocking manner of commentators in the 19th century towards their practices, their relationships were strong in a friendly way and brought upon a spirit and the warmth of family. Also, the Shakers advanced in their approach to the concepts of equality, figuring out the best way to keep everything in peace between two genders. Christian Becksvroort, a professional woodworker whose interest was studying Shaker furniture, stated in The Shaker Legacy Perspectives on an Enduring Furniture Style that the Shakers viewed God as both a mother and a father, and that the “theological basis for the Shaker belief in the basic equality of the sexes and has important implications for Shaker organizational structure, which required male and female representatives in key roles” (Becksvroort). A photographer and a famous author named Raymond Bial further described the Shaker society: “The community itself was organized into families of fifty to one hundred brothers and sisters who shared a building with separate doors and stairways for men and women… Others were simpler, but in every case, men and women used separate sets of stairs. Each dwelling had its own sleeping quarters and dining room, where women and men sat apart, as well as its

own kitchen, week-day meeting room, and perhaps an infirmary” (Bial 7-8). According to Shaker Communities, Shaker Lives,” a strict division of labor was typically maintained” (Brewer 72) among men and women. The purpose of this separation was to divided the tasks that suited both while working in different parts of the community, in which “the Brethren were commonly held to be gifted in temporal matters, but Sisters were in general considered more spiritual-minded” (Brewer 74). Americans living at that time considered that “the hallmarks of relationships” (Brewer 74) between the Brethren and Sisters resulted from “cooperation and cordiality” (Brewer 74). Despite of the separation of genders, some exceptions were made so that anyone can feel free to seek for help or volunteer to help others. Leaders from each of the Shaker villages or families regularly assigned the strong Brethren to assist the Sisters where heavy work were involved.
The Shakers held religious practices to pray for Gods and gathered together every Sunday along with singing and dancing their own songs and music. All the Shaker “families” would convene at the Church Family’s Meetinghouse, which became the center to begin worship services. The brothers and sisters sat facing each other in separate rows of the room, several feet apart. As always, they “discussed subjects of common interest or sang together, then shared refreshments” (Bial 28). They also confessed their sins here or even gave long religious speeches. In the evening the brothers and sisters might complete a few tasks together, such as preparing dinner or sweeping the stores and barns. After that, both withdrew to their rooms to take a short rest before doing their next job. The brothers and sisters also worshipped and practiced dances. The dancing took place right after that, along with traditional Shaker songs or songs that were written and composed by the Shaker men and women. The traditional hymn "Simple Gifts” also known by its first line, "'Tis the gift to be simple," was the most famous and simple song that the Shakers wrote for dance, which “has gone from total obscurity to become one of the most beloved American religious songs today” (Hall 99). During the mid-twentieth century, "Simple Gifts" has been sung in many locations including churches, schools, folk clubs, concert halls, and other venues. Dancing faded away and was replaced with homilies, testimonials, hymns, or even only the sound of silence at the end of the nineteenth-century. They usually ended the fun around nine in the winter and ten in the summer.