Minstrel Shows Essay

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Imagine practicing complex marriage, or never marrying at all. During the Panic of 1837, communalist groups such as the Shakers and the Oneida Community grew popular. They defined change by dedicating themselves to reform during this religious optimistic period called the Second Great Awakening. By advocating a common ownership of property and unconventional lifestyles, the Shakers and the Oneida Community became a refuge during the economic depression symbolizing social protest. In the Northeast and Midwest, the Shakers and the Oneida Community grew by offering refuge during the Panic of 1837 through a communal ownership of property. In 1837, an economic depression closed banks across the nation.1 Salaries dropped from one-third to one-half of their original numbers, and corn/grain prices slumped to an all-time low.2 Farmers and artisans lost their jobs and their money. Individualism had once encouraged people to fend for themselves, but it became difficult to survive during this “panic.” When the idea of living together and sharing possessions spread, farmers and artisans joined to withstand the hardships. The Shakers’ agriculture and the Oneida Community’s crafts allowed these societies to sustain themselves comfortably during the Panic of 1837. In addition to their communal ownership of property, the Shakers’ and the Oneida Community’s unconventional lifestyles changed the views of marriage and family. Because the Shakers believed that God was both male and female, they refused to accept solely male leadership. In addition to celibacy, they placed their government leaders in the hands of both males and females. These ideas of communalism and sexual equality created a desirable utopia for women. The Oneida Community, like the Shakers, practiced this idea of sexual equality, but in a different form. This community embraced “complex marriage,” where everyone married each other. Complex marriage highlighted the growing debate over legal and cultural constraints over women.3 By rejecting monogamy and urging women to avoid multiple pregnancies, the Oneida’s freed women of their husbands. However, these unconventional lifestyles tore the idea of marriage apart. “Let those about entering wedlock know that a radical change cannot be made in an intended partner,” said Moses Hull, an Oneida Community member.4 Hull believed monogamy held people back from creating change because communalist groups aimed to redefine the meaning of family and marriage. Through these unconventional methods, sexual equality grew more prominent. Women did not
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