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Mother Ann Lee

Criticisms:
Throughout her life Ann was never comfortable with her religion and her sexuality due to a loss of 8 children and an unwanted marriage. Ann and the Shakers believed that men and women are equals and should be treated as such. They did not believe in marriage or sex and believed that Manchester was not safe because it was too crowded and that then could cause people to drink their problems away. They did however separate the men from the women on a normal basis. They ate meals on opposite sides of the room and used different doors to enter large rooms. They also believed that people should strive for perfection in life and that if a woman wanted to she could abandon her marriage. At the time most Christian religions focused on God as the trinity, whereas the Shakers believed that God was only two parts, one male and the other female. The Shakers believed that Christ would make a second appearance to the human world in 1844.

Improving Life:
The Shakers attempted to isolate themselves from other Americans so that their beliefs did not hinder due to outside opinion. They tried to lead a simple life through growing their food and crops and making their furniture and houses themselves. The men and women had the same jobs and chores to take of as they were all equals. The females and males started to look more and more similar with there hair and somewhat lack of hygiene, but the women wore different clothing. Mother Ann Lee moved the original Shakers to America to improve their life and escape the crowded Britain where there was much more outside impact of the group. She even went as far as to teach the people that she was the second embodiment of God in a human form, even though she believed that he would not come back until 1844. She discovered this in prison and when she was realized that Manchester was too crowded and led the Shakers to America. Without that revalation the Shakers would have never prospered and would have disappeared shortly after. This helped the people because they then had a strong leader that they knew they could always listen to. They did not conform to the typical prayer and confession traditions, but took on a new approach where they prayed and then expelled the sin from their bodies in a dancing or shaking motion.

Success:
Even though the total number of Shakers was very small they prospered within themselves at first. They were also able to reform people to their beliefs fairly easily and appealed to women as they felt that they wanted to be treated equally also. At the largest the Shakers population totaled about six thousand.

Practicality of time period:
This religion was very practical for the time period as this was when women started to question their rights as citizens and the Shakers took it just one step further to declare that they were equal. Their economic health remained in large part by the production of crafts and architecture, which only became better profit after the Civil War. They incorporated a lot of music in their worship which attracted new people and kept the religion alive.

Government role in helping society:
The best thing that the government could do for the Shakers is to end harassment and imprisonment for expressing their religious beliefs. The Shaker communities flourish on their own but the outsiders intervention into the lives of the Shakers is an unwelcome distraction from the chase to perfection. They Shakers would also like to be allowed to adopt other Quaker children as they oppose sex, but need young children for the religion to continue.

Ending/Heyday:
The heyday for the Shakers came after Mother Ann lee died as they started to modernize and branched from the strict beliefs of Lee. It was during this time that many followers claimed to have visions of God and was later named the Era of Manifestations. When Christ's Second Appearance did not occur in 1844 the religion greatly declined, but did continue for many years later.

References:
1. James Whittaker: James was a very prominent leader in the Shakers movement and therefore would share the same opinions as Lee on their religious beliefs. He might have been related to Lee, but grew up under her care so would know first hand how devoted she was to the religion. He also headed the community for three years so understood the responsibility of the leader that Lee was. 2. Joseph Meacham: Led the religion after Lee's death so would know all about the religion and Mother Ann Lee. He would have also grown up under her authority so as it would be second nature to him he would know all about it. He was a British Minister earlier in his life so would have seen the corruption and known how to make people see it also.

Questions:
1. To Dr. Sylvester Graham: You state that you believe that nutrition is a major factor in preventing sex and not allowing it, but taking away a temptation can lead to the craving of another. Can you explain why this system works for your people and how you control what they eat? Also, how will your religion continue if you believe that all people should remain abstinent while in such close proximity to the opposite sex? 2. To Horace Mann: In order to reform every school in the United States, educate all the teachers, create new libraries, and create whole new colleges for teachers you would require a lot of money. Why do you believe that the government should give the money to your cause when there are other issues in the country that need to be addressed and are more important to right now?

Bibliography:
"Ann Lee -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. .

"IHAS: Artist/Movement/Ideas." //PBS//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. .

"Mother Ann Lee: Biography from Answers.com." //Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. .

"Shakers -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 07 Oct. 2009. .