Charles Lane (transcendentalist) - Fruitlands

Fruitlands

Lane was an admirer of Bronson Alcott and cofounded Alcott House in England based on his philosophy of teaching. The two met in 1842, when Alcott had traveled to England to enlist support and people for his experiment in communal living. Lane offered his support and returned to the United States with Alcott on October 21, 1842. The next May, Lane purchased the 90-acre (360,000 m2) Wyman Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts for $1800. They had moved to the farm on June 1 and optimistically gave it the name "Fruitlands", despite only ten old apple trees on the property. A month later, Alcott announced the community in The Dial: "We have made an arrangement with the proprieter of an estate of about a hundred acres, which liberates this tract from human ownership".

In principle, the Fruitlands reformers did not believe in purchasing property; Lane said the following on the subject: "We do not recognize the purchase of land; but its redemption from the debasing state of proprium, or property, to divine uses, we clearly understand; where those whom the world esteems owners are found yielding their individual rights to the Supreme Owner." The commune attracted 14 residents, including the Alcott and Lane families.

"The consociate family", as Fruitlands residents referred to themselves, wished to achieve complete freedom by separating entirely from the world economy. To accomplish this, they refrained from trade, allowed no personal property, and did not use hired labor. They intended to grow all their own food; they also eliminated animal products from their diets entirely. Referring to their strict vegetarian diet, Lane wrote, "Neither coffee, tea, molasses, nor rice tempts us beyond the bounds of indigenous production... No animal substances neither flesh, butter, cheese, eggs, nor milk pollute our tables, nor corrupt our bodies." Diet was usually fruit and water; many vegetables—including carrots, beets, and potatoes—were forbidden because they showed a lower nature by growing downward. Lane and Alcott also asked participants to wear only linen clothes and canvas shoes; cotton fabric was forbidden because it exploited slave labor and wool was banned because it came from sheep. As they believed that animals should not be exploited, Fruitlands would not use animals though, eventually, they allowed an ox and a cow.

The land that Lane purchased for Fruitlands proved to be not sufficiently arable. Fruitlands ultimately failed the winter after it opened, largely due to food shortages and accompanying unrest in the inhabitants. Lane blamed the community's failure on Alcott, who he believed mislead him with his optimism. Alcott and Lane also disagreed on definitions of the consociate family. Lane believed in the renunciation of marriage in exchange for a universal or communal family.

In January 1844, Lane left Brook Farm with his son to join a local community of Shakers. Lane admired the Shaker commitment to celibacy and it was one of the points that drew him there.