The Shakers, also known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, were a religious group that originated in 18th century England before migrating to America in the 1770s. The group was founded by Ann Lee, who came to be known as Mother Ann. She believed she was the incarnation of Christ in female form and that God dwelled within her. The Shakers believed in communal living, confession of sins, spiritual equality between the sexes, and celibacy. They were known for their simple living, industriousness, and furniture craftsmanship.
The Shakers took their name from the ecstatic dancing and trembling they engaged in during worship services, which was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit working within them. They believed Christ had already returned to earth in Ann Lee and that the second coming, or millennium, had already begun. Shakers did not believe in procreation so they gained converts to increase their numbers. At their peak in the mid-19th century, there were around 6,000 adherents living in Shaker communities across America.
Some key beliefs and practices of the Shakers were:
- Celibacy – Shakers took a vow of celibacy and practiced gender equality. They lived communally in separate dwelling houses for men and women.
- Confession of sins – Public and private confession of sins was a regular practice. Shakers believed in the dual nature of God as male and female, so confession was made to both male and female elders.
- Communalism – Believers renounced private property and lived a common, shared life together. The community supported itself through agriculture and crafts like broom-making.
- Pacifism – The Shakers were pacifists who believed all violence was contrary to the nature of God. They did not bear arms or participate in military service.
- Worship services – Shakers worshipped through song, dance, testimony, and messages received from the Holy Spirit. Their services involved shaking, trembling, singing, dancing, and glossolalia.
The Shakers established around 20 religious communal settlements across America in places like New York, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Some of their settlements like Pleasant Hill, Kentucky grew quite large. The Shakers thrived in America during the late 1700s and early 1800s.
However, due to their celibate lifestyle the group struggled to add new converts to sustain their communities. Their numbers dramatically declined from peak membership to just a few remaining Shakers today. In 2017, the last remaining original Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine had just two living members.
The legacy of the Shakers lives on through their cultural contributions, especially their minimalist and functional furniture design aesthetic. Shaker design emphasized clean lines, simplicity, quality materials and functional craftsmanship. This distinctive and innovative furniture is widely collected and appreciated today.
While the Shakers faded away, during their peak they successfully established some of the longest running communes in American history. Their belief in equality between the sexes and pacifism was quite progressive for 18th and 19th century America. The Shakers left behind a rich spiritual and cultural legacy that had an impact far beyond their relatively small numbers.
History and Origins
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing was founded in Manchester, England in 1747 by a small group of followers led by James and Jane Wardley. Ann Lee joined them and went on to became the leader and main prophetess of the group. After suffering intense religious persecution in England, Ann Lee and a small band of followers immigrated to America in 1774, settling first in New York.
Mother Ann, as she came to be known, claimed she was the female incarnation of Christ on earth. At the age of 23 she had received a revelation from God that sexual intercourse was the root source of all human sin and that only through celibacy and confession could one be free of sin. Shakers referred to Mother Ann as the “second coming” of Christ and the millennium.
The Shakers believed God had both male and female aspects, represented by Adam and Eve. Mother Ann taught absolute equality between the sexes, though leadership roles were still divided based on gender. She also believed she was sent to prepare the way for Christ’s millennial kingdom on earth, which Shakers maintained had already arrived with the establishment of their communal settlements.
The group expanded west from New York into Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana according to a revelation Mother Ann received to “gather” converts. At each new settlement, the Shakers created villages, meetinghouses, barns, mills and workshops. Their first and largest settlement was at New Lebanon, NY.
The Shakers called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. They soon gained the nickname “Shakers” due to the ecstatic dancing and whirling they engaged in during worship services. Shakers did not believe dancing was incompatible with Christian piety. They shocked outsiders with their habit of shaking, trembling, shouting, dancing, speaking in tongues and singing. This was seen as proof of the Holy Spirit working within them.
Since the Shakers did not believe in sexual relations or procreation, the only way they grew their ranks was by admitting new converts and adopting orphans. At their peak around 1860, there were almost 6,000 believers living in Shaker settlements across the country.
Beliefs and Practices
The Shakers believed they were living in Christ’s millennial kingdom on earth as the second coming had already occurred in Mother Ann. Distinctive Shaker beliefs included:
- Celibacy and Communalism – Shakers took a vow of celibacy and practiced communal sharing of property and possessions. Men and women lived in separate communal dwelling houses.
- Spiritual Equality of the Sexes – Shakers believed in the equality of men and women. Women could hold leadership roles and serve as preachers.
- Confession of Sins – Public and private confession of sins was practiced regularly and was seen as purifying.
- Pacifism – The Shakers were total pacifists who would not bear arms.
- Holy Spirit Manifestations – Ecstatic dancing, shaking, speaking in tongues, prophesying and singing were seen as physical proof of the Holy Spirit.
- Millennial Kingdom – Shakers believed the second coming and establishment of the millennium had already begun in their settlements.
- Simplicity & Perfectionism – Shakers believed in living simple, orderly and perfect lives in emulation of God’s nature.
Celibacy was foundational to the Shaker way of life. They believed the surrendering of all carnal desires prepared the way for Christ’s kingdom on earth and brought them closer to spiritual purity and perfection.
Shakers practiced gender equality and believed that God had male and female aspects. Women assumed leadership roles in the Shaker ministry and served as preachers and prophets. This was very progressive for the time period.
Each Shaker village was organized into smaller communal “families” that shared labor, resources and dwelling houses. The Shakers invented labor saving devices and crafts to support their villages financially. Music was integral to their worship services.
New converts had to sign over all their possessions and wealth to the community. Children were placed in a community children’s residence after weaning. The Shakers adopted many orphans to increase their numbers.
While quietly anticipating the full establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth, the Shakers lived reserved, simple and orderly lives defined by hard work. They refused to quarrel, hold grudges or take oaths.
Public confession was an important Shaker practice stemming from Mother Ann’s revelation that confession opens the way to reunion with God. Believers regularly confessed their sins in order to purify themselves. Confession was made both in private to the Shaker elders and in public gatherings.
Shakers could be expelled from the community for transgressions like theft or sexual relations. Members who chose to leave the group were free to go after refusing three requests to return.
Worship Services
The Shakers worshipped through dance, song, testimony, prophesying and speaking in tongues. Their legendary worship gatherings were known for ecstatic dancing and displays of spiritual manifestations including:
- Shaking, whirling, trembling
- Singing, chanting, shouting
- Glossolalia or speaking in tongues
- Marches and dancing in lines or circles
- Visions, prophesying, testimony
During these lively services, Shakers would become filled with the Holy Spirit and engage in shaking, shouting, glossolalia and ecstatic dancing. Young Shaker girls might dance together in lines or circles. Trembling and shaking of hands, feet or head were seen as proof the Holy Spirit had “seized” or possessed them.
Outsiders who witnessed Shaker worship services were often alarmed or shocked by believers who shouted, yelped, danced, twitched and spun about. Doctors of the day offered theories that these ecstatic trances were caused by religious hysteria, mania or hypnosis. But the Shakers saw it as evidence of God’s divine presence.
The sexes were usually separated during Shaker worship services which were held on Sundays and midweek. Attendance was mandatory. Their services featured testimonies, confession, prophesying, prayer, spiritual manifestations and instructions delivered by the elders.
Much less animated were the Shaker work songs that were sung during communal labor activities. The songs entertained but also synchronized movements during hand crafts and farm work.
Settlements and Communal Life
At their peak around 1850, there were almost 20 major Shaker communities scattered across the Northeast, Midwest and South. Estimated Shaker membership was as high as 6,000 believers who lived a celibate, communal lifestyle.
Each Shaker settlement was largely self-sufficient through farming and hand-crafts. All property was communally owned, so Shakers had to relinquish personal possessions and wealth after joining the society. Earnings were invested back into the community.
The first and largest Shaker settlement was established at New Lebanon, NY in 1776 under Mother Ann’s leadership. Other major settlements were founded at:
- Pleasant Hill, KY (1805) – largest settlement in west
- Watervliet, NY (1789)
- Harvard, MA (1791)
- Canterbury, NH (1792)
- Union Village, OH (1805)
- South Union, KY (1807)
- Alfred, ME (1793)
At each new settlement, the Shakers built a village on several thousands of acres. Their well-ordered communities had barns, workshops, gathering houses for worship, infirmaries, communal dining halls, and separate dormitories for brothers and sisters.
By diligent work and spiritual order, the Shakers aimed to create a little slice of the heavenly kingdom on earth. Daily life in Shaker settlements was highly structured and regulated by church elders down to the smallest detail.
Shakers invented ingenious labor-saving devices and perfected several profitable craft industries including weaving, broom-making, washing machinery, metal goods, and packaging seeds. Their villages were models of self-sufficiency and good order.
Each Shaker village was governed by a small group of male and female elders who assigned work duties, determined dress codes, approved publications, oversaw finances, made new rules and controlled access to outsiders. Shakers could not marry or own private property.
Children residing in Shaker communities were separated from parents at a young age and raised communally in a children’s residence or school. They were well cared for but led strict, orderly lives designed to “subdue the flesh.” Strict rules governed child labor and recreation.
As a result, the Shaker communities struggled to retain children beyond adolescence even though they had to rely on new converts to sustain the society. Young people had few opportunities for friendship, courtship or excitement within the confines of strictly regulated Shaker life. Maintaining celibacy was also a challenge for many.
The Shaker Legacy
The Shakers made important contributions to American culture and society during their 200 year history including:
- Equality of the sexes – Shaker women enjoyed more autonomy, authority and equality than American women in general at the time.
- Religious tolerance – The Shakers advocated and practiced religious tolerance which was uncommon at the time.
- Racial equality – Unlike most religions then, the Shakers welcomed converts regardless of race.
- Pacifism – The Shakers were complete pacifists, refusing to bear arms.
- Communalism – They successfully established some of the longest running religious communal experiments in American history.
- Inventions & Crafts – Shaker ingenuity produced many labor-saving devices and sustainable craft industries.
- Furniture – Shakers became famous for minimalist, functional furniture designs that are collector’s items today.
- Music – Over 10,000 Shaker songs were composed, recorded and preserved for posterity.
While the Shakers faded away, they had lasting impact as pioneers of gender equality, nonviolence, sustainable living and communal diversity. The simplicity, utility and elegant designs of their crafts like furniture had broad influence on American aesthetics.
The most famous legacy is Shaker minimalist furniture, noted for simplicity, quality and functionality. Shaker design emphasized clean lines, practicality, durability and restraint in decoration. This innovative aesthetic contributed to the rise of modernism.
The Shakers believed “good taste is marked by a beautiful simplicity” and considered beauty a gift from God. Their spare, useful designs made Shaker furniture and craft goods extremely popular for a time. That iconic style is still widely collected, exhibited and reproduced today.
However, the Shaker lifestyle of celibacy, conformity and separateness tended to limit the group’s ability to sustain and grow their communities over generations. After reaching peak membership of around 6,000 by the mid-1800s, their numbers went into steady decline.
By 1900, membership had dwindled to just over 1,000 which forced many settlements to close. America’s entrance into World War I dealt a final blow as the remaining Shakers were forced to find ways to compromise their pacifist beliefs or flee. Some Shakers were unfairly arrested and mobbed during the war for their refusal to buy war bonds.
In the 1920s, there were only about 400 Shakers left across America. A handful of settlements persisted into the 20th century but continued diminishing as older members died without new converts to carry on. By 1960 only a small community of about 10 members was left at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
As of 2017, Sabbathday Lake had just two remaining Shakers – Brother Arnold and Sister June. When the last of the original Shakers eventually pass away, the United Society of Believers will fade into history after nearly 300 years.
Nevertheless, the Shakers will be remembered for their impressive achievements in communal living, equality, inventions, craftsmanship, music, and most of all for their elegant “form follows function” furniture that is now considered an American classic.
