Lane purchased what was known as the Wyman farm and its 90 acres (360,000 m2), which also included a dilapidated house and barn. Residents of Fruitlands ate no animal substances, drank only water, bathed in unheated water, and did not use artificial light.Additionally, property was held communally, and no animal labor was used.
The community was short-lived and lasted only seven months. It was dependent on farming, which turned out to be too difficult. The original farmhouse, along with other historic buildings from the area, is now a part of Fruitlands Museum.
Amos Bronson Alcott, a teacher and member of the Nonresistance Society, first came up with the idea of Fruitlands in 1841. He traveled to England in 1842, where he hoped to find support and people to participate with him in the experiment. England was home to Bronson Alcott's strongest group of supporters, a group of educators who had founded the Alcott House, a school based on Bronson Alcott's philosophy of teaching. One of Bronson Alcott's supporters was Charles Lane, who moved to New England with Bronson Alcott upon his return to the United States on October 21, 1842.
In May 1843, Lane purchased the 90-acre (360,000 m2) Wyman Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts for $1800. Though Bronson Alcott had come up with the idea of Fruitlands himself, he was not involved in purchasing the land, largely because he was penniless after the failure of his Temple School and his subsequent years in Concord, Massachusetts as a farmer. In July, Alcott announced their plans in The Dial: "We have made an arrangement with the proprieter of an estate of about a hundred acres, which liberates this tract from human ownership". They had officially moved to the farm on June 1 and optimistically named it "Fruitlands" despite only ten old apple trees on the property.
In principle, the Fruitlands reformers did not believe in purchasing property; Lane said the following on the subject: "We do not recognize the purchase of land; but its redemption from the debasing state of proprium, or property, to divine uses, we clearly understand; where those whom the world esteems owners are found yielding their individual rights to the Supreme Owner." The commune attracted 14 residents, including the Alcott and Lane families. By July, the community had succeeded in planting 8 acres (32,000 m2) of grains, one of vegetables, and one of melons.
Fruitlands ultimately failed the winter after it opened, largely due to food shortages and accompanying unrest in the inhabitants. The rigors of a New England winter proved too severe for the members of the Fruitlands.
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