Question

Why do you think New Harmony lasted only three years?

a.Perhaps people didn’t really like living in a.

b.New Harmony may not have been a utopia.


c.It was never intended to last longer.

Answer 1

i think It was never intended to last longer.
Owen provided New Harmony with everything he could imagine that it would need to succeed, it was missing the essential component that made other communities, like the Shakers, cohesive. Because Owen did not believe in God, their was no central covenant that committed the residents of New Harmony to their enterprise. Although they were united by their communal labor, and to the idea of Utopian life, the very rational concepts upon which Owen had based the community were antithetical to communal life. Because they lacked the strong central belief which served to unite other Utopian groups, the members of the community were lacking the commitment to carry out the mission that Owen envisioned. New Harmony dissolved in less than three years.