John+Humphrey+Noyes+-+SP09

=John Humphrey Noyes=

September 3, 1811- April 13, 1886
="Founder of the Oneida Community"= Growing up as a child, John's mother taught her children and John to "fear the Lord." John grew up knowing he wanted to become a minister and follow in the footsteps which would lead him one step closer to God. After going to Dartmouth College, Andover Theological Seminary and Yale, Noyes determined that the second coming of Christ happened in 70 A.D. This led to his belief that if a man was not sinless, there should be no such thing as Christianity. He saw that every person should be a perfectionist, and that all men should reach a state of perfection or sinlessness at conversion. In 1834, Noyes set out to seek followers in New York and much of New England. While looking for supporters, his wife Abigail Merwin, left him to marry another man. This event caused Noyes to write in the "Battle-Axe" which denunciated the institution of marriage. Although very depressed and lonely, Noyes managed to find another great supporter of his beliefs, Harriet Holton, and he quickly realized that by getting married to her, it would advance the work of God. Two years later, Noyes started a bible institution in Putney. Many members of his bible group adopted his teachings. This Putney group adopetd Noyes main beliefs in Mutual Criticism, Complex Marriage, and Male Continence.

//Mutual Criticism:// This doctrine was established to ensure the integrity of the Putney community. Members would be subject to criticisms based on their bad traits, often if they presented themself against family unity.

//Complex Marriage:// Every man was married to every woman, and every woman is married to every man. Two Guidelines for practicing Complex Marriage: 1) Before a man and women could live together, they had to have a 3rd persons consent before hand. 2) You could not have exclusive attachment with each other because it was shown as being selfish

//Male Continence:// A couple should engage in intercourse without the man ever ejaculating, either during intercourse of after withdrawl
 * Noyes and his wife had 5 difficult childbirths, 4 which ended in death of their babies. From this, Noyes believed that when an unwanted pregnancy occured, it was a waste of a mans seed and that it was no different in practice to masturbation.


 * Goals:** Noyes goals were to bring the community together through communal living and to treat sexes equally.


 * Practices:** Noyes believed that the community should share personal belongings, including sexual partners. He said that "true Christians should posses no private property or be in exclusive relationships because that will lead to jealousy, quarreling, and covetousness."


 * Methods to Improve American Life:** John Humphrey Noyes believed that women should not be viewed differently in society. He thought they were capable of doing anything that men would do. Every chore that the women did in the house was done by men, and women worked in the factories just like men did. Noyes wrote many articles in the Battle-Axe to try to convert people to his way of life.


 * Criticisms:** Society frowned upon Noyes' practices because it went against the traditional way of life. Society did not believe that men and women were equal and should not be looked at the same. Men should be superior to women and that they should be the man of the house. In Noyes' case, men and women were treated the same and women were given the same oppurtunities as men such as education and working. Neighboring communities in Oneida were horrified by the sexual practices by the Oneidans. They were shocked by the selective breeding by which people were matched and ordered to procreate.


 * Successes:** Although the Oneidan community only reached its highest at 300 members, it was able to bring in that many supporters who collectively worked together and created their own society which manufactured its own goods and The Oneidan community was joined by Sewell Newhouse, the inventor of steel animal traps. With his joining, he taught the community how to manufacture bags and sewing silk. At this time, the community had around 300 members. Their successes in a communal living attracted many from other states and countries. Many people from Europe came over to dine on the land and speculated the sexual secrets in the community. Oneida became a tourist attraction. In 1800, although abandoning communism, it became a joint stock company where they specialized in silver tableware making. They became the leading manufacturer of stainless steel knives, forks and spoons and brought in half a billion dollars by 1990.

The Oneidan society hardly ever used money because they manufactured and did everything on their own. They had no need to go outside their community. In this case, the only way the government could help the society would be to prevent harrassment. Many people outside the Oneidan community frowned upon the community's way of life and beliefs.
 * Government Help:**

Work Cited: "John Humphrey Noyes." 1 March 2009. . "John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Perfectionists." 1 March 2009. . "The Oneida Commnity." New York History Net. 1 March 2009. . "The Oneida Community." //The American Pageant.// 1 March 2009.