David G. Bromley

Early Shaker History

Ann Lee, who became the spiritual leader of the Shakers, is thought to have been born on February 29, 1736 in Manchester, England

Lee’s family was poor; her father was a blacksmith; she had no formal education

Lee worked at menial jobs from a young age

In 1758, at age 22, Lee met Jane and James Wardley, who had established a schismatic group of the Society of Friends (Quakers) in the 1740s.

The group was noted for erupting from silent meditation and falling into trances during which they would shout and shake. They were variously known as jumpers, shiverers, and shaking Quakers before finally being referred to as Shakers

In 1762, Lee’s father arranged a marriage with Abraham Stanley, who was also a blacksmith

Lee and Stanley gave birth to four children, all of whom died in infancy. Lee herself nearly died during the delivery of the last child

Lee interpreted her childbirth problems as having their root in sinfulness, her giving in to material pleasures. She attrtibuted her childrens’ deaths to divine punishment. She identified sexual desire (“concupiscence”) as the source of all evil and reasoned that marriage must be wrong since it was founded on sexuality. Lee distanced from her husband and began speaking out publicly against sexual relations.

The Shakers were persecuted in England for their departure from Anglican faith. While in prison in 1770 Lee had a vision in which she witness the original sin, the sexual act that was the root of all evil. She reported that Jesus spoke to her and became one with her in body and spirit. The Wardleys concluded that Ann Lee was indeed the second coming of Christ, in female form, and pronounced her Mother Ann Lee

Lee was believed to have a gift of healing (fractures, infections, cancer, etc.), visions, revelations, and speaking in tongues

The Shakers in America

In 1774 Mother Ann Lee had a revelation directing her to go to America where the group would grow and prosper. Shortly thereafter Lee and eight followers boarded a ship bound for America

The groups established a community in Niskayuna outside of Albany, New York.

By 1779 the group had attracted only one convert. However, the group began proselytizing in 1780, often recruiting at Protestant revival meetings and calling Protestants to a higher faith. The Shakers successfully recruited many new members in the early 1780s as a spiritual revival, the New Light Stir, swept through New England. The group also adopted children, who were raised communally.

Members were recruited primarily from the working class and from a range of age groups. Membership was two thirds female

Converts were attracted by a variety of factors

   Solution for difficult to obtain divorces

   Haven for women whose husbands had died (no life insurance, limited jobs)

   Emotional security, economic security, social support network

   Expressive religious practices

Applicants were carefully screened and instructed by elders and served a probationary period during which they lived separately

In 1784 Ann Lee died at age 48

James Whittaker succeeded Ann Lee as Shaker leader in 1784 and Joseph Meachem became leader in 1786 upon Whittaker’s death

Meacham transformed Shakerism by setting down rules for architecture, communal sharing of goods, behavior and worship, thus placing individual discipline as a cornerstone for spiritual salvation both individually and within the wider Shaker community.

Lucy Wright was appointed by Meachem as head “in the female line” and assumed group leadership in 1796 upon Meachem’s death

By aggressive evangelization the Shakers grew rapidly through the middle of the nineteenth century. They ultimately established 19 of their societies in 8 states, and total membership may have reached 6,000.

There was also considerable membership turnover, particularly “winter Shakers”

Myth and Ritual

The Shakers believed the Bible to be literally true, but also that there were subsequent spiritual revelations. In addition, the Shakers rejected traditional Christian concepts such as original sin, damnation, the immaculate conception, resurrection of the body, and atonement

The Shakers also rejected the Trinity doctrine. They believed that God has a dual (male and female) character and created all things in a dual order. Ann Lee was regarded as the Second Coming in female form (the female element of Christ) that other churches designated as the Holy Spirit.

The Shakers believe that sin originated with the sexual relationship between Adam and Eve. Sexual intercourse was solely given to humans for reproduction and our inability to use it only for this purpose made us base and animal-like. Celibacy was regarded as a cross that Shakers bore in order to aspire to the spirituality Adam and Eve had forfeited by engaged in sexuality. Salvation was to be achieved by overcoming sexual desires. Spirituality was to replace sensuality.

The Shakers sought to re-establish the primitive church based on commonly held property, pacificism, separatism, and celibacy. They taught that the established churches had fallen from these original values.

The Shakers referred to mainstream Christianity as the Antichrist under the leadership of Joseph Meacham, who outlined four dispensations for salvation based on obedience. The "first light of salvation" was God's promises to the patriarchs, procured by obedience illustrated through circumcision. The second dispensation was the law of Moses and it was gained through obedience to those laws. Christ's first appearance as man was the third dispensation, blessing those who followed the way of the cross. The fourth and final dispensation would be when God would come to earth to build the new kingdom and destroy the Antichrist.

According to the Shakers, Christ heralded the first Christian Church and Ann Lee heralded the second Christian Church. They believed that the new millennium had already begun in 1747 with the beginning of the Wardleys' ministry.

In contrast to the rest of the week, the sabbath was a day of spiritual ecstasy. Rituals included “gathering up the good,” “shaking out evil,” rolling, jerking, barking. Women were also the main source of the ecstatic experiences and divine signs that the Shakers considered a vital part of the relationship with God,

Beginning in the late 1830s and extending to about 1850 the Shakers experienced a spiritual revival, the Era of Manifestations. During this time there was frequent communication with the spirit world. Spirits came to earth with visions, most often giving them to young Shaker women. A variety of visitors appeared during the rituals (Mother Ann, Indians, the Devil, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin. Spiritualism declined after 1850.

Organization

The headquarters for the Shakers was the society at New Lebanon, New Hampshire. The church was led by two “elders” and two “elderesses,” with a single elder/elderess serving as head of the church. Church leaders appointed the elders for each Shaker “family.”

Church leaders appointed their own successors and claimed a direct line of succession back to Mother Ann

The establishment of new societies was regarded as a step toward the conversion of the world to the Kingdom of God

Shaker societies were organized into “families,” independent groups of approximately 100 members. Some members continued to live outside these societies as “First Order Shakers”

Families were governed by two elders and two elderesses, who lived separately from members and possessed absolute authority over members and family affairs

Elders typically appointed deacons to handle community work activities and trustees to carry on business with the outside world. Trustees were required to travel in groups of at least two, limit their time away from the community, and avoid unnecessary conversation with outsiders.

Societies supported themselves through the sale of food products and furniture. No Shaker products were patented as a result of their opposition to monopolistic practices. No Shakers were paid for their labor.

All property was held in common

Manual labor by all members, including leaders, was regarded as a moral commitment

Dwellings were simple, organized and austere (no rugs, pictures, ornamentation)

Men and women were completely separated (slept on different sides of houses, ate at separate tables, entered through separate doorways, worked in separate groups, were prohibited from touching, were not permitted to be alone with a member of the opposite sex). Work was divided along gender lines, with women performing inside work and men outside work. Married couples who joined were separated.

Each person was assigned a “brother” or “sister” to help with mundane tasks (sewing, heavy tasks)

“Union meetings” were held several times where rows of brothers and sisters sitting across from one another would engage in impersonal conversation about community life.

Daily routine was tightly organized and ritualized

Challenges and Controversies

When Ann Lee began preaching against marriage and sexuality, there was an intense response. The group was condemned in England for sorcery, heresy and blasphemy. The Shakers were attacked by mobs and Lee was jailed, surviving only because a follower was able to smuggle her food and water

After the group migrated to the U.S., they were suspected of being British sympathizers. Virtually all the group leaders were imprisoned in 1780. After their release, the leaders were repeatedly assaulted by mobs and beaten severely on numerous occasions.

As new societies were established they encountered severe frontier environmental conditions, Indian attacks, persecution and mob violence

Shakers generated opposition as a result of their refusal to participate in public life, vote, or bear arms.

The Shakers also aroused opposition by invading the sanctuaries of other clergy during church services and denouncing the clergy

Conflicts with former members created an unfavorable image for the Shakers. Members leaving Shaker societies were returned their original proper and a monetary allowance. Some former members insisted on remuneration for their labor and instituted lawsuits. The Shakers experienced a great many lawsuits but were almost always legally vindicated. Eventually they replaced the covenant with new members with a formal contract.

The Shakers membership peaked around the Civil War and declined rapidly thereafter as membership declined and societies were closed. In 1965 the Shakers stopped accepting new members

Factors in the Shaker Decline