CHAPTER II.
BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS.[ToC]
A general survey of the Socialistic field will be useful, before entering on the memoirs of particular Associations; and for this purpose we will now spread before us the entire Index of Macdonald's collections, adding to it a schedule of the number of pages which he gave to the several Associations, and the dates of their beginning and ending, so far as we have been able to find them. Many of the transitory Associations, it will be seen, "made no sign" when they died. The continuous Communities, such as the Shakers, of course have no terminal date.
INDEX OF MACDONALD'S COLLECTION.
| Associations, &c. | No. of Pages. | Dates. |
| Alphadelphia Phalanx | 7 | 1843-6. |
| Auxiliary Branch of the Association of All Classes of All Nations | 3 | 1836. |
| Blue Spring Community | 1 | 1826-7. |
| Brazilian Experiment | 1 | 1841. |
| Brook Farm | 20 | 1842-7. |
| Brooke's Experiment | 5 | 1844. |
| Brotherhood of the Union | 1 | 1850-1. |
| Bureau Co. Phalanx | 1 | 1843. |
| Cincinnati Brotherhood | 5 | 1845-8. |
| Clarkson Industrial Association | 11 | 1844. |
| Clermont Phalanx | 13 | 1844-7. |
| Colony of Bethel | 11 | 1852. |
| Columbian Phalanx | 1 | 1845. |
| Commonwealth Society | 1 | 1819. |
| Communia Working Men's League | 1 | 1850. |
| Convention at Boston of the Friends of Association | 2 | 1843. |
| Convention in New York for organizing an Industrial Congress | 1 | 1845. |
| Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co. | 1 | 1825. |
| Coxsackie Community | 2 | 1826-7. |
| Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood | 2 | 1851. |
| Dunkers | 4 | 1724. |
| Ebenezer Community | 5 | 1843. |
| Emigration Society, 2d Section | 4 | 1843. |
| Forrestville Community | 1 | 1825. |
| Fourier, Life of | 3 | |
| Franklin Community | 1 | 1826. |
| Garden Grove | 1 | 1848. |
| Goose Pond Community | 1 | 1843. |
| Grand Prairie Community | 2 | 1847. |
| Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute | 8 | 1853. |
| Guatemala Experiment | 1 | 1843. |
| Haverstraw Community | 3 | 1826. |
| Hopedale Community | 13 | 1842. |
| Hunt's Experiment of Equality | 12 | 1843-7. |
| Icaria | 82 | 1849 |
| Integral Phalanx | 5 | 1845. |
| Jefferson County Industrial Association | 3 | 1843. |
| Kendal Community | 4 | 1826. |
| Lagrange Phalanx | 2 | 1843. |
| Leraysville Phalanx | 5 | 1844. |
| Macluria | 7 | 1826. |
| Marlboro Association | 10 | 1841. |
| McKean County Association | 1 | 1843. |
| Modern Times | 3 | 1851. |
| Moorhouse Union | 6 | 1843. |
| Moravians, or United Brethren | 9 | 1745. |
| Murray, Orson S. | 3 | |
| Nashoba | 14 | 1825-8. |
| New Lanark | 10 | 1799. |
| New Harmony | 60 | 1825-7. |
| North American Phalanx | 38 | 1843-55. |
| Northampton Association | 7 | 1842. |
| Ohio Phalanx | 11 | 1844-5. |
| Oneida Community | 27 | 1847. |
| One-mentian Community | 6 | 1843. |
| Ontario Phalanx | 1 | 1844. |
| Owen, Robert | 25 | |
| Prairie Home Community | 23 | 1844. |
| Raritan Bay Union | 5 | 1853. |
| Sangamon Phalanx | 1 | 1845. |
| Shakers | 93 | 1776. |
| Skaneateles Community | 18 | 1843-6. |
| Social Reform Unity | 23 | 1842. |
| Sodus Bay Phalanx | 3 | 1844. |
| Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove | 3 | 1853. |
| Spring Farm Association | 3 | 1846-9. |
| St. Louis Reform Association | 1 | 1851. |
| Sylvania Association | 25 | 1843-5. |
| Trumbull Phalanx | 13 | 1844-7. |
| United Germans | 2 | 1827. |
| Venezuelan Experiment | 25 | 1844-6. |
| Warren, Josiah, Time Store &c. | 11 | 1842. |
| Washtenaw Phalanx | 1 | 1843. |
| Wisconsin Phalanx | 21 | 1844-50. |
| Wright, Frances | 9 | |
| Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community | 5 | 1780. |
| Yellow Springs Community | 1 | 1825. |
| Zoar | 8 | 1819. |
On general survey of the matter contained in this index, we may begin to sort it in the following manner:
First we will lay aside the antique religious Associations, such as the Dunkers, Moravians, Zoarites, &c. We count at least seven of these, which do not properly belong to the modern socialistic movement, or even to American life. Having their origin in the old world, and most of them in the last century, and remaining without change, they exist only on the outskirts of general society.
Next we put out of account the foreign Associations, such as the Brazilian and Venezuelan experiments. With these may be classed those of the Icarians and some others, which, though within the United States, are, or were, really colonies of foreigners. We see six of this sort in the index.
Thirdly, we dismiss two or three Spiritualistic attempts that are named in the list; first, because they never attained to the dignity of Associations; and secondly, because they belonged to a later movement than that which Macdonald undertook to record. The social experiments of the Spiritualists should be treated by themselves, as the sequelæ of the Fourier excitement of Macdonald's time.