An American history . another generation be-fore it gained its first Prohibition. Anotherrcfomi tendency of that timewas the movement against theuse of spirituous Hquors. Untilabout 1840 there was scarcelyany restriction upon their usein all classes of life, from theliflfc clergy at their dinner tables to the sailors in the abuse of the custom ledto the formation of Washing-tonian societies, whose members were pledged to use liquorin moderation. Soon a further step was taken, and in 1851Maine adopted the first state prohibition law. 547. Communism. A curious feat
An American history . another generation be-fore it gained its first Prohibition. Anotherrcfomi tendency of that timewas the movement against theuse of spirituous Hquors. Untilabout 1840 there was scarcelyany restriction upon their usein all classes of life, from theliflfc clergy at their dinner tables to the sailors in the abuse of the custom ledto the formation of Washing-tonian societies, whose members were pledged to use liquorin moderation. Soon a further step was taken, and in 1851Maine adopted the first state prohibition law. 547. Communism. A curious feature of the time was awidespread impulse to invent new forms of social life. Littlecommunities were organized which put various theories tothe test of experiment. Such were The New HarmonyCommunity of Equality in Indiana, and later the famous Brook Farm in Massachusetts. These and other communi-ties of experiment bore witness to the belief that society stoodin need of some sort of reorganization. There was a time when. IRANCES WRIGHT THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 385 Emerson could say, Not a leading man but has a draft of anew community in his waistcoat pocket. 548. The Mormons. One of these societies had a remark-able career. At Palmyra, in New York, Joseph Smith an-nounced himself the prophet of a new religion. He told howthe angel of the Lord had come to him in a vision and revealedto him the Book of Mormon. On the principles laid downin the Book hefounded a commu-nity at Kirtland,in Ohio. Thencethe Mormonsmoved to Nauvoo,Illinois, where theygrew into a city oftwenty , the Mor-mons inspired dis-trust in their neigh-bors and evendefied the laws ofthe state; finallythere was a popu-lar tumult in whichSmith was killed(1844). Soon af-terward his followers went still farther west and, under theleadership of Brigham Young, settled Utah. 549. Conditions in the North. The industrial and socialconditions at which we have glanced characterized the were
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