Liberty Farms

Liberty Farms is a utopian society for runaway slaves. This community was set up as refuge for those who were mistreated and managed to escape. The surrounding forest kept this community safe and well hidden from others. This was a place where people could find refuge, shelter, food, and a home. The town was set up agriculturally and socially to meet the towns blossoming needs.

Liberty Farms was an agricultural society. The farms grew by the river, where everyone could help one another with the labor on the fields. There was no trading with other towns or profit being made; the town grew enough to feed its own. A few mills were used for harvesting and separating the crops. They grew corn, wheat, cotton, and other various vegetables. The forest provided lots of game for hunting. It was a self-sufficient community. The center of town had beautiful gardens in the center of town. Apple and peach orchids where grown around the homes. Most people were religious Christians, whose priority was building the church. The church was a place where they could worship God freely in their own manner. It was built away from the houses but used as a social gathering, a place where the whole town could hold social events. The times were changing and more towns were placing the cemetery away from the town. It reduced the consistent reminder of death because of the location.

Most towns during this time were designed to fit the needs of the community. It was clear that these runaway slaves needed a place where their culture and lives would thrive. A safe haven away from the abuse and mistreatment suffered through most of their lives was the answer to their problems. This community had all the essentials, including homes, work, and freedom.

Links:
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_088700_utopiancommu.htm
Utopian Communities, 1800-1890

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1989/1/89.01.04.x.html
The Symbollic Invention of America Utopia

http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/utopo-amer.html

Comments

[Gabriel Cruz]

This is a very good blog. The reader can plainly see that your community was well thought out and organized according to the ideals you wanted to build your community around. The description of the map makes it very clear why each and every part of the town is there and why it is located where it is. Really the only change I could think of that might improve the post would be changing some words. The word town is used a lot and makes a repetitive feeling in the post. Using words like community and settlement would make it easier for the reader. All and all a very strong blog post.

[Kamal Patel]

The town created is very good. It includes everything that its residents could need, and as you said, is a self sufficient society. This creates a separate 'world' where former slaves would not ever have to deal with slave owners and slavery, because they would never ever have to leave the town. And that would allow their children to grow up free as well. Even the title is clever, Liberty Farms. There were very few things I could find wrong in this post. There was one sentence where you repeated yourself, "The center of town had beautiful gardens in the center of town", but other than that, I couldn't find any real grammatical or structural errors. Very well organized and thought out. Excellent work.

[Justin Piteleski]

Jessica, quality work. I really like how you focus on the impact of African American's in your post. For next time, just bold your thesis, and watch your sentence structure. However really good work on your post.