• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
JOSIAH WARRENThe First American Anarchist
A Sociological Study byWILLIAM BAILIE
BostonSmall, Maynard & Company1906
 
PREFACEThe reader may, in confidence, be told that no biography of Josiah Warren has hitherto been written. Whenthe present writer set himself the task, a quarter of a century had elapsed since Warren's death. Most of thepeople who had known him personally had also paid the final debt of Nature. Of those remaining, most hadknown him only in his latter years. It became necessary, therefore, to conduct an independent investigationin order to obtain the requisite data at first hand. Contemporary sources of information were sought andfound to he most fruitful. In this way everything told of his career has been verified. Files of newspapers havebeen consulted as far back as 1825. A number of highly interesting papers, pamphlets, patents, and otherdocuments relating to Warren, now in the possession of the New Harmony Workingmen's Institute, werekindly loaned by the Librarian. Almost the whole literature of American communities and socialisticexperiments has been read for facts bearing on the labors of Warren. Hardly a book on the subject but hassome reference to him, though in most instances what is told of Warren is inaccurate, or in the spirit ofridicule, displaying no real knowledge of the man or his work.The Periodical Letters, written and printed by Warren himself during many years of activity, were found to bethe most trustworthy sources. Copies of these Letters are now very scarce, and no complete set is known tobe extant.Capt. George A. Warren of Evansville, Ind., the only surviving son of Warren, supplied the writer with much ofthe information concerning his father's early life in Cincinnati and New Harmony.The writer contributed to the Boston Glo1be of December 15, 1901, an unsigned article on Josiah Warren.W. B. Boston, JAN. 1, 1906.
 
CONTENTSPAGEIntroductory: The Anarchist SpiritxiI. Early Life and New Harmony Influence 1II. The First "Time Store" 9III. Relations with Robert Dale Owen25IV. Educational Efforts30V. Various Activities 35VI. The New Harmony "Time Store"42VII. The Village of Utopia 50VIII. Modern Times 57IX. Inventions in Printing 83X. Later Developments and Closing Years92XI. Warren's Place as a Social Philosopher 99Appendix: Letter from Josiah Warren (hislast published writing)127THE ANARCHIST SPIRITIn offering an account of the life and teaching of Josiah Warren, the first American anarchist, it seemsappropriate to anticipate some of the questions that are likely to arise in the mind of the reader by a concisestatement of the Anarchist concept at the present day. Its place in social evolution is still ill-defined, andeven the student is seldom able clearly to differentiate Anarchism from the various phases of economic andsocial thought to which it is related. While not aiming at an exhaustive or complete treatment of the subject,the following outline may yet be found helpful and suggestive to the enquirer.Anarchism is not a cult, nor a party, nor an organization. Neither is it a new idea, nor a reform movement, nora system of philosophy. It is not even a menace to the social order, nor yet a plotting for the destruction ofkings and rulers. Indeed, the social order has often been in danger either from false alarms or from its ownweight since the fabric first arose.Cults are common enough in these days:—they sprout and fade like the flowers of spring. Parties andorganizations rise and fall with almost rhythmic regularity, running their course and becoming transformedwith time like all things beneath the sun. Movements arise as occasion demands, and expire when their workis done. New ideas are rare enough, and seldom retain their novel character on close scrutiny. A philosophy isa scheme of life, an explanation of the universe, a concrete intellectual system.Anarchism is none of these things. It teaches not violence, nor does it inculcate insurrection. Neither is it anincipient revolution. None the less has it its place in the life of our times. Modern Anarchism, in a word, isprimarily a tendency—moral, social, and intellectual. As a tendency it questions the supremacy of the State,the infallibility of Statute laws, and the divine right of all Authority, spiritual or temporal. It is, in truth, aproduct of Authority, the progeny of the State, a direct consequence of the inadequacy of law and government
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...