Robert Owen has for a long time, been a re-known influential utopian socialism advocate. Some of his technical as well as social programs turned out to be a pilgrimage place for social reformers and political leaders. In his varied and long life, Owen successfully touched a few themes vital to the understanding of the 19 th century. These themes included racial politics, industrialization, and socialism through factory reforms, trade unions and co-operative movements. Owen’s experiment of New Harmony in Indiana failed and most of his compatriots disagreed with his views. 1 Owen influenced American history because of the passion of his beliefs on improving working conditions for factory employees, his opinions on new communities, and his being granted the use of The House of Representatives in Washington, DC to give two speeches.
Owen had a plan that would ultimately cure pauperism. It is deduced that the program received considerable favour by his followers until he turned his hostility to religion, condemning it as a setback to progression. Most of his followers, however, believed this outburst turned him into a suspect concerning the classes present in the society. However, Robert did not lose all his supporters and therefore proceeded with his plan of creating self-contained communities in Indiana by buying averagely 30,000 acres of land, previously owned by a religious community and renamed it New Harmony. 2 In the autonomous communities, life was contented and well-ordered under the practical guidance of Owen but not for long. This state of conditions however changed based on the difference in opinion concerning the religion as well as the role of the government despite the existence of a historical consensus where an excellent spirit was able to prevail amongst the discord. At this point, Robert withdrew from the community, having incurred a loss of almost 80% of his total fortune. Regarding these losses, his experiment had failed terribly, through which he learnt not to get directly involved with the communities at Orbiston and Ralahine.
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As part of the reforms, Owens sought a transformation for the social order. His community proposals acted as an attraction point for the young workers who were currently under the factory system forming societies and journals for advocating. Owens views and doctrines were accepted as an expression of workers' aspirations due to the emergence of a working class-view together with the development of labor unionism. 3 Within the unions, Owenism facilitated and stimulated the creation of workshops that were self-governed. Since such shops required a market where their products could be sold, the National Equitable Labor Exchange was formed whose main aim was to apply the principle the source of all wealth is labour. In his continued struggle and propaganda, the effort of Owen and his followers impacted on the transformation of the National Operative Builders Union into a guild in addition to the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union establishment.
In his career, Robert developed political views and conclusions that lead to many describing him as the father of socialism. Based on a study conducted recently, to eliminate or minimize fluctuations in the supply of money and the payment of unjust wages, a superior form of exchange medium would be labour notes that represented the working hours. This being part of the vital reasons, Owen decided to establish communities. In a letter that Owen drafted, it is evident that based on his research and findings, America was splendid for a community establishment. In the letter, he stated that the creation of wealth, the co-operation promoting all the virtues and the principle of union was universally admitted to be superior as compared to the individual systems of operation. 4 Besides, he further described America appeared to prepare or rather rapidly preparing to adopt co-operation and the principle of union giving up individualism in the process. This implied that the nation had the capabilities of commencing on the new empire built on the principle of public property, giving up the uncharitable notions ascertaining man to be the master of his character the root of all ill intentions.
With the lack of belief in the dominant religious forms, Owen needed to develop his creeds which he considered a new and original discovery. In his philosophy, he concluded that the character of the man was as a result of circumstance over which no one had control. Therefore it was improper to either blame or praise man, thereby creating the need to place him under the influence from his previous years. The hallmark of Robert's system of education, as well as the social amelioration, were the effects of early influences together with the non-responsibility of man. As part of his belief, Owen was convinced that the establishment of communities by individuals was nothing but possible just as it was by countries and parishes. 5 This was based on the fact that qualified persons supervised all while work and results were shared collectively. As he struggled with social transformation, various groups of people found his ideologies to be transformative even though some tied his minor successes with destruction and unworkable. The latter was utterly against a community where everyone worked for the common good, where equality was the baseline. A place where peace and love prevailed seemed nothing more than a fairy tale.
Since Owen owned a factory, Owen was able to introduce the fair management approach successfully, and in the process, positive feedback was received in terms of business growth. From this response, Owen proceeded to change the working environment. As an inventor, he improved the working environment for his employees. However, despite the industrial revolution introduction of the supremacy of machines, Owen protested against it to continue humanizing work. 6 Owen directly compared the human manufacturing experience, how substantial, well-executed, and well convened and whether the machines could produce results as beneficial as humanized manufacturing. Among the great leaders of all time, Owen managed to be the first leader who led instead of ordering his workforce. Besides, he also sought an agreement for his ideologies instead of imposing them to his subjects. In his innovation, Owen created an aid to disciple and motivational system, commonly referred to as the Silent Monitor System. This mechanism could be described correctly as one of the distant ancestors of the appraisal scheme.
As a reformer, Owen oversaw that industries increase their returns by 50% in terms of investment. This evidence formed the basis of his profitability schemes and theories, persuading other producers to mimic his techniques in employment procedures. Other than the increased returns, Owens oversaw the passage of the bill that banned the employment of minors. The bill facilitated 30 minutes for educating children below 18 years of age. Finally, the law ensured that the working hours in a day were limited to 10 hours and 30 minutes. 7 However, this bill was met with hostility, as most investors perceived that it was bad for business. In addition, most employees were on a voluntary based scheme. In favour of the elite members of society, the bill was amended to only limit employment to those of 9 years of age.
Studies on the American history have shed light to the on the contribution of Owen to political and economic reforms. The findings of the studies reiterate that Robert’s ideas resulted in the reforms in housing, health and diet as well as the educational opportunities available. 8 Despite his portrayal as one of the benevolent, kind, patron of the poor and the defender of the children working in factories, he similarly attracted a considerable amount of criticism. His detractors described him as a knave, speculative, charlatan, mischievous, and cunning fellow. Nevertheless, he accrued considerable success and wealth during his campaign. His wealth was mostly spent on campaigns, propaganda, and self-promotion. However, his charisma won him considerably large audiences, and his flirtations with the cabinet ministers and royal dukes cast him as an enemy with the political reformers who should have been his allies naturally.
Against the negative response and views, the experiences of those not inspired by Owen were set. Several sectors of the society saw the rise of individuals influenced by Robert's ideas, such as Titus Salt. 9 The foresight he struggled to demonstrate in the various areas such as the industrial management and relations, as well as employee motivation, were only appreciated a century later in FW Tylor's work, among others. A study reveals that based on disagreements and poor planning, the failure of New Harmony in Indiana was ascertained in addition to the disillusion of introducing successful employment legislation that is far-reaching from England. To ensure that despite the collapse, a permanently beneficial changeover in the society was effected, Owens prioritized actions over speaking, trying the effects of the new principles on a small-scale section in the south. Upon receiving results that exceeded his anticipation, Owen became anxious for an increase in the size of the field of action.
In conclusion, based on the evidence provided, the achievements of Robert Owen include the creation of children's homes and education systems integrated with no punishments, the improvement of the working conditions of industrial workers. Also, Owens revealed the science behind the bestowment of a superior character on the human race to produce an abundant amount of wealth as well as procure its equitable and just distribution. Furthermore, Owen was able to provide a mechanism where education may be achieved gradually successfully. In this case, the training is equal for all and just as superior to procure the most affluent conditions. Although the large number of workers joining the unions and their enthusiasm, the opposition, governments, and the courts of determined the fate of the employees. Despite this, the community ideas of Owen maintained a hold, providing the basis for the development of the worldwide consumer cooperative movement.
Bibliography
Owen, R. An Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark , London. 1816. Accessed September 9, 2019. http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/owen_new_lanark.htm .
“ Letter from Mr. Robert Owen. To the President and Members of the New York State Convention, Appointed to Revise the Constitution of the State : Owen, Robert, 1771-1858. Cn : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Washington, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/letterfrommrrobe00owen/page/6 .
Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom: a Documentary History . 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Gordon, P. Robert Owen (1771-1851) PROSPECTS: the quarterly review of education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. 24, no.1/2, 1994, p. 279– 96.
Johnson, Elizabeth, 2007. " A Welcome Attack on American Values: How the Doctrines of Robert Owen Attracted American Society," Constructing the Past: Vol. 8: Issue. 1 , Article 9.
Bibiography
Owen, R. An Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark , London. 1816. Accessed September 9, 2019. http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/owen_new_lanark.htm .
Johnson, Elizabeth, 2007. " A Welcome Attack on American Values: How the Doctrines of Robert Owen Attracted American Society," Constructing the Past: Vol. 8: Issue. 1 , Article 9.
Owen, R. 1813/14. A new view of society, or essays on the principle of the human character and the application of the principle of practice . London, Cadell & Davies.
Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom: a Documentary History . 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.
1 Owen, R. An Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark , London. 1816.
2 Owen, R. 1813/14. A new view of society, or essays on the principle of the human character and the application of the principle of practice . London, Cadell & Davies.
3 Johnson, Elizabeth, 2007. " A Welcome Attack on American Values: How the Doctrines of Robert Owen Attracted American Society," Constructing the Past: Vol. 8: Issue. 1 Article 9.
4 Owen, R. An Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark , London.
5 “ Letter from Mr. Robert Owen. To the President and Members of the New York State Convention, Appointed to Revise the Constitution of the State : Owen, Robert, 1771-1858. Cn : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Washington, January 1, 1970.
6 Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom: a Documentary History . 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.
7 Johnson, Elizabeth, 2007.
8 Gordon, P. Robert Owen (1771-1851) PROSPECTS: the quarterly review of education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. 24, no.1/2, 1994, p. 279– 96.
9 Johnson, Elizabeth, 2007.
