Edward Bellamy | |
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 Edward Bellamy, circa 1889 | |
| Born | (1850-03-26)March 26, 1850 |
| Died | May 22, 1898(1898-05-22) (aged 48) |
| Occupation | Author |
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| Website | |
| edwardbellamyhouse | |
Edward Bellamy (/ˈbɛləmi/;[1] March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American author, journalist, and political activist most famous for hisutopian novelLooking Backward. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of numerous "Nationalist Clubs" dedicated to the propagation of state ownership of the main pillars of the economy, achieved through nationalization.
After working as a journalist and writing several novels, Bellamy publishedLooking Backward in 1888. It was the third best-selling novel of the 19th century in the United States,[2] and it especially appealed to a generation of intellectuals alienated by the perceived dark side of theGilded Age. In the early 1890s, Bellamy established a newspaper known asThe New Nation and began to promote united action between the various Nationalist Clubs and the emergingPopulist Party. He publishedEquality, a sequel toLooking Backward, in 1897, and died the following year.
Edward Bellamy was born inChicopee, Massachusetts. His father was Rufus King Bellamy (1816–1886), aBaptist minister and a descendant ofJoseph Bellamy.[3] His mother, Maria Louisa Putnam Bellamy, was a Calvinist.[4] She was the daughter of a Baptist minister named Benjamin Putnam, who was forced to withdraw from the ministry inSalem, Massachusetts, following objections to his becoming aFreemason.[5]
Bellamy attended public school at Chicopee Falls before leaving forUnion College ofSchenectady, New York, where he studied for just two semesters.[3] Upon leaving school, he made his way to Europe for a year, spending extensive time in Germany.[3] He briefly studied law but abandoned that field without ever having practiced as a lawyer, instead entering the world of journalism. In this capacity Bellamy briefly served on the staff of theNew York Post before returning to his native Massachusetts to take a position at theSpringfield Union.[3]
At the age of 25, Bellamy developedtuberculosis, the disease that would ultimately kill him.[3] He suffered with its effects throughout his adult life. In an effort to regain his health, Bellamy spent a year in theHawaiian Islands (1877 to 1878).[3] Returning to the United States, he decided to abandon the daily grind of journalism in favor of literary work, which put fewer demands upon his time and his health.[3]
Bellamy married Emma Augusta Sanderson in 1882. The couple had two children.
Bellamy's early novels, includingSix to One (1878),Dr. Heidenhoff's Process (1880), andMiss Ludington's Sister (1885), were unremarkable works, making use of standard psychological plots.[6]
A turn to utopian science fiction withLooking Backward, 2000–1887, published in January 1888, captured the public imagination and catapulted Bellamy to literary fame.[3] Its publisher could scarcely keep up with demand. Within a year it had sold some 200,000 copies, and by the end of the 19th century had sold more copies than any other book published in America up to that time except forUncle Tom's Cabin byHarriet Beecher Stowe andBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ byLew Wallace.[7] The book gained an extensive readership in the United Kingdom as well, more than 235,000 copies being sold there between 1890 and 1935.[8]
InLooking Backward, a non-violent revolution had transformed the American economy and thereby society;private property had been abolished in favor ofstate ownership of capital and the elimination of social classes and the ills of society that he thought inevitably followed from them.[9] In the new world of the year 2000, there was no longer war, poverty, crime, prostitution, corruption, money, ortaxes.[9] Neither did there exist such occupations seen by Bellamy as of dubious worth to society, such as politicians, lawyers, merchants, or soldiers.[9] Instead, Bellamy's utopian society of the future was based upon the voluntary employment of all citizens between the ages of 21 and 45, after which time all would retire.[9] Work was simple, aided by machine production, working hours short and vacation time long.[9] The new economic basis of society effectively remadehuman nature itself in Bellamy's idyllic vision, with greed, maliciousness, untruthfulness, and insanity all relegated to the past.[9]
Bellamy's book inspired legions of readers to establish so-calledNationalist Clubs, beginning in Boston late in 1888.[10] His vision of a country relieved of its social ills through abandonment of the principle of competition and establishment of state ownership of industry proved an appealing panacea to a generation of intellectuals alienated from the dark side ofGilded Age America. By 1891 it was reported that no fewer than 162 Nationalist Clubs were in existence.[11][12]
Bellamy's use of the term "Nationalism" rather than "socialism" as a descriptor of his governmental vision was calculated, as he did not want to limit either sales of his novel or the potential influence of its political ideas.[13] In an 1888 letter to literary criticWilliam Dean Howells, Bellamy wrote:
Every sensible man will admit there is a big deal in a name, especially in making first impressions. In the radicalness of the opinions I have expressed, I may seem to out-socialize the socialists, yet the word socialist is one I never could well stomach. In the first place it is a foreign word in itself, and equally foreign in all its suggestions. It smells to the average American of petroleum, suggests the red flag, and with all manner of sexual novelties, and an abusive tone about God and religion, which in this country we at least treat with respect. [...] [W]hatever German and French reformers may choose to call themselves, socialist is not a good name for a party to succeed with in America. No such party can or ought to succeed that is not wholly and enthusiastically American and patriotic in spirit and suggestions.[14]
Bellamy himself came to actively participate in the political movement which emerged around his book, particularly after 1891 when he founded his own magazine,The New Nation, and began to promote united action between the various Nationalist Clubs and the emergingPeople's Party.[15] For the next three and a half years, Bellamy gave his all to politics, publishing his magazine, working to influence the platform of the People's Party, and publicizing the Nationalist movement in the popular press. This phase of his life came to an end in 1894, whenThe New Nation was forced to suspend publication owing to financial difficulties.[16]
With the key activists of the Nationalist Clubs largely absorbed into the apparatus of thePeople's Party (although a Nationalist Party did run three candidates for office inWisconsin as late as 1896[17]), Bellamy abandoned politics for a return to literature. He set to work on a sequel toLooking Backward titledEquality, attempting to deal with the ideal society of the post-revolutionary future in greater detail. In this final work, he addressed the question offeminism, dealing with the taboo subject of femalereproductive rights in a future, post-revolutionary America.[18] Other subjects overlooked inLooking Backward, such asanimal rights andwilderness preservation, were dealt with in a similar context.[18] The book saw print in 1897 and would prove to be Bellamy's final creation.
Several short stories of Bellamy's were published in 1898, andThe Duke of Stockbridge; a Romance of Shays' Rebellion was published in 1900.
Edward Bellamy died of tuberculosis in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts ten years after the publication of his most famous book. He was 48 years old.
His lifelong home in Chicopee Falls, built by his father,[19] was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1971.[20]
Bellamy was the cousin ofFrancis Bellamy, famous for writing the original version of thePledge of Allegiance.
Bellamy Road, a residential road inToronto, is named for the author.
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