Looking Backward Critical Essay | Critical Essay by George E. Connor

Critical Essay by George E. Connor

SOURCE: Connor, George E. “The Awakening of Edward Bellamy: Looking Backward at Religious Influence.” Utopian Studies: Journal for the Society for Utopian Studies 11, no. 1 (2000): 38-50.

In the following essay, Connor correlates Bellamy's utopist ideas and some millenialist religious movements.

Introduction

Traditional scholarship has explored the connection between Edward Bellamy and the religious influence of the early American Puritans and the First and Third Great Awakenings. With respect to the Puritans and the First Great Awakening, this linkage is especially emphasized with reference to Bellamy's millennialism. The traditional biographical literature (Morgan 1944; Bowman 1958, 1986) establishes this linkage. Analyses of Bellamy's millennialism (Howells 1968; Ketterer 1974; Schiffman 1962, 1974; Smith 1965; Tichi 1979, 1986, 1987) also stress the influence of the Puritans and the First Awakening. Similarly, overviews of the relationship between millennialism and utopianism (Olson 1982; Tuveson 1949, 1968) also link Bellamy to these early religious movements. While...
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