tvillage along the Iowa River. The Amana set up their communities with a diligent effort. Each village practiced their Utopian ideals and worked together as one large community.Perhaps the most impressive view of the Amana may be their unique contributionsto social reform. Many aided and abetted the abolitionists, womens rights, andobjections to war. Their history and communal methods were basically unchanged for 89years. The Amana is definitely one of the longest lasting communal societies in theworld. In a sense you could actually say it was a bit of a success.The Amana had thier whole social class set up eliminating the need for conflict. The land and buildings were owned by the community; families were assigned livingquartyers, and each person over school age worked at assigned tasks in the kitchens,fields, factories ro shops. This proves to me that every member of the commune totallyexcepted their way of life and basically lived by it. If I was told where to work and whatage I had to work, their definetly would have been some rebelling in the community.It seems that all good things come to an end, if you can label that way of lifegood, because in 1932, the people voted to end the communal way of life. It looks likethe Amana way of life may have died, but the Amana people still exist, they created theAmana Church Society to direct matters of their faith, and the Amana Society, Inc. toeversee their businesses and farming operatioins. Today, many of the businesses in theAmana Colonies are independently owned and operated proving to me that they have stillretained their individuality from American society as a whole, way to go Amana! 2 ...
