Abstract
In The Communistic Societies of America (1875), Charles Nordhoff defined communism as "a mutiny against society". How far does this definition apply to the Utopian Communities of the United States? The Utopian communities were established with the idea that the world could be started anew. Fleeing from the European wars and religious intolerance, the Pilgrims on the Mayflower found a land upon which they would be able to rebuild a society on European, but with hope for peace. Thus the United States was born. People gathered in communities, each one trying to find the perfect system. They all took their distance from the established order and applied their own sets of ruling in all the different domains of life. The primary sense of "mutiny" is "concerted disobedient or seditious action by persons in military or naval service, or by sailors on commercial vessels"; a topic Charles Nordhoff dealt with in "Mutiny on the Bounty". Therefore we may wonder to what extent these communities were opposed to the ruling society. An impressive number of communities emerged, all with different ways of putting their dream into practice. Yet among all of them very few remain.
