Religion in North American Town Plans
The Influence of Religion in Pre-Industrial North American Town PlanningReligion has played a vital role in the settling of many pre-industrial North American towns and cities. In fact, religion proved to be one of the main reasons Europeans broke their affiliation with the dictatorial and the monarchial rule in Europe and came to settle the Americas. Generally, these particular religious settlers incorporated town-planning ideas developed in Europe and translated them into their particular beliefs. However, some specific and influential settlers broke away from the norm in a progressive attempt to invent new societies in a new land based on accumulated knowledge.John Reps, the pre-eminent American historian on town planning has this to say about those who strayed from the common ideals. "Almost from the beginning of settlement, America attracted a variety of reformers, utopians, and pariah religious sects. These dedicated... groups shunned existing cities with their temptations and distractions, preferring to create settlements in harmony with their religious, economic, or social convictions." In this paper, I will analyze and compare the influence of two different religions in the settling of their respective tow
The people residing in the Mormon towns, and the people residing in the Moravian towns "all worked under general church direction in a communal form of organization. Essentially Jackson County, Missouri was located in the center of the North American continent. Another aspect that both types of communities shared was that "church doctrines and settlement forms were considered to be closely related," in both religions' settlements. They specialized in industry, and in a fashion similar to that of the Mormons, they worked in an organization of the communal form, whereby the profits made from the mills and other crafts and industries were handed over to the public fund. " This one statement seems to provide the basis of Smith's convictions when he set out to form new towns in hopes of turning people on to his religion. Officially, Joseph Smith, who is recognized as a prophet in modern Mormon teachings, founded the church in 1830 after he said that God had spoken to him. On the other hand, Mormon towns such as the one planned for Independence, Missouri provided a much more liberal dwelling setting - one that was designed to house families upwards of fifteen to twenty people large. The land in this town was very good for harvesting crops, although the Moravians traditionally not a harvesting people. CONCLUSIONIn the cities of today, individuals strive to be free to do their own thing, and avoid giving of themselves to benefit the community without incentive for the most part. The first will be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons, and the second is the Church of the United Brethren, also known as the Moravians.
Common topics in this essay:
Joseph Smith,
City Zion,
North American,
Gemein Haus,
Indians Christianity,
Kirtland Temple,
Independence Missouri,
Friedrich Marshall,
John Reps,
Jacksonian America,
joseph smith,
town plan,
city zion,
independence missouri,
north american,
moravian towns,
communal form,
gemein haus,
jesus christ,
house lord,
christ latter-day saints,
jesus christ latter-day,
planning city zion,
planned independence missouri,
developing town plan,
|
Acceptance Essays
