The Shakers Explained

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The Shakers are an apocalyptic offshoot of the Quakers. They believed that their leader, Ann Lee, was Christ incarnate.

[KurtFitzy]

I’m a furniture builder (and general woodworker) from New England. When I was in college getting a degree in sculpture we studied a of examples of shaker furniture as gold standards of simple but elegant and effective furniture design and woodworking practice. They have an incredibly influential legacy because they were a large influence on modern design movements like Danish modern, MCM, Bauhaus, etc.

Pick a random piece of furniture in your living space from the last 80 years and odds are you can trace at least some of the roots of its design and construction back to the shakers. I cannot overstate how much we should be thankful to them for indirectly influencing the form and construction of spaces we inhabit every day.

[MrDanielEarle]

A Protestant offshoot with a charismatic leader that came out the Great Awakening in the Americas? Where have I heard that one before?

[jamesconnolly]

"She had the fullness of the Godhead within her."
Indeed, it must have filled her head completely! Look at its size.

[legomojo]

That Mother Ann sure DOES have one heck of a God Head.

[Owain_Lord_Of_Glyndyfrdwy]

You see?? Women can be crazy cult leaders too! You go girl! So inspiring!

[butternutsquash]

I met Brother Arnold many years ago. He was so kind a spirit. My family has links to the Sabbath Day Lake Community and they raised us with some of their ideas. When I got to ask a friend of my dad's who was raised there (she was an economic orphan in the 30's) about how children were disciplined she said there was no need. She said the Shakers were all so kind and gentle that the kids could not imagine doing anything to upset them.

[elieobeid]

I'm from Lebanon the country, seems like the Shakers headquarters is in Lebanon NY. Turns out wherever there's a Lebanon, things are always shaky!

[markrichards]

The shakers made great furniture and architecture. Let's not forget their contribution to fashion, the Shaker cloak, and their religious music is pretty times. "When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed". A lot of their message was spot on. The main problem is celebacy and being isolated in rural communes. That usually leads to power struggles. I visited the last remaining Quaker community in Sabbathday Lake Maine back in the 70s. The few Remaining members were mostly elderly, but completely committed to their faith and lifestyle. I admired their dedication. They were holding on to the end, believing that there movement would flourish again.

[tomekjankowski]

My wife and I enjoy visiting the Shaker museum in Canterbury, NH. For years, the history docents giving tours would give excellent historical descriptions of the Shakers, but the approach tended to be along the lines of, "Man these people were crazy, right?" Then one year we got someone who took a more emic perspective and it changed our whole view of them. No, we won't be converting any time soon but we could better sympathize with their worldview and why they lived like they did. For instance he quoted a Shaker response to a local's question about why there were no tombstones in the Shaker cemetery; the answer was that tombstones were (in Shaker eyes) icons, attempts at immortality, while God knows where each of us is at all times. He doesn't need a tombstone to find us (according to the Shakers).

The Canterbury, NH community apparently spent much of the 19th century fairly consistently near the 1, 000 population mark, and one of their "recruiting" methods was accepting orphans or even kids from local farming families whom the families couldn't afford to support -- sometimes just seasonally. Kids whom the Shakers raised were taught a trade, and had the opportunity when they turned 18 to either remain with the community or leave -- taking their trade and ability to make a living with them if they went. (Local communities really appreciated this aspect.) The local farmers sent their kids to the Shaker school which was 1. excellent quality, and 2. did not try to convert the kids.

The Shakers also kept up on technology (they were not Amish, we were reminded), and for instance were able to afford to send some of their own to become licensed dentists complete with the latest equipment -- which services they made available to the local farming community. As I think you mentioned, they also started some of their own businesses, with proceeds going back to the community.

Finally, and for me most interestingly, when the dwindling community came to the realization in 1957 that the Canterbury cell was dying -- the creation of state orphanages around the turn of the century put a big dent in their "recruiting" -- they reached out to the local NH artist community to train local artists and artisans in Shaker crafts (baskets, furniture, weaving, wood working, etc.) so that these Shaker styles would not die out with the community, and in fact each year there is a Shaker crafts festival held nearby in Canterbury of the descendants of those artists who continue the Shaker methods and styles. If you buy something in the Canterbury, NH Shaker museum gift shop, it was likely made by one of these non-Shaker artists. They also structured the museum in terms of what was accessible and the finances to ensure the care of the dwindling number of Shakers, so that they could live out their lives on the Canterbury Shaker campus as they had before the changes of 1957. The last one passed away in the 1990s, and had her own apartment in the living quarters that was off-limits to museum visitors -- but she lived out her life well-taken care of.

[patcoyne]

The Shakers achieved their greatest number of members after the Civil War. There were many orphaned children with no organization capable of handling the numbers. The Shakers took them all in and though many left, many still remained.

[Jason-fvrg]

There was a group of Shakers in TN. They were known for making high quality wooden furniture, rocking chairs and such. I remember going to visit "Shakertown" as a kid to check out their furniture because it was a big deal to my grandparents.

[delphinidin]

Fun fact, the US-American folk song "Simple Gifts" or "Tis a Gift to Be Simple" started as a Shaker hymn, written in 1858!

[lshulman]

As a grad student in religious studies at Indiana University in the mid 1980s, I worked closely with Steven Stein as he researched the Shakers. I transcribed microfiche copies of hand written vision diaries and catalogued business letters between the Shakers and "worldly" business associates. In 1995 I visited with a friend who lived on the old Shaker settlement in New Lebanon, NY. The community then housed a new spiritual community (associated with the Sufi Order of the West). I spent the night in a room in the old meeting house, ate in the dining hall where, a century or more earlier, Shakers had eaten. I recall the double staircase where men and women would use separate but mirror image sets of stairs to get to the second floor of the building.

[KurtFitzy]

I’m a fine furniture builder (and general woodworker) from New England. When I was in college getting a degree in sculpture we studied a of examples of shaker furniture as gold standards of simple but elegant and effective furniture design and woodworking practice. They have an incredibly influential legacy because they were a large influence on modern design movements like Danish modern, MCM, Bauhaus, etc.

Pick a random piece of furniture in your living space from the last 80 years and odds are you can trace at least some of the roots of its design and construction back to the shakers. I cannot overstate how much we should be thankful to them for indirectly influencing the form and construction of spaces we inhabit every day.

[anulydal]

I have visited the last active Shaker village a few times! The Sabbath Day Lake Shaker Village in rural Maine. They make some of the best teas and spices, amongst other things. It's worth a visit-there is a museum guided tours and it just a beautiful place to see.

[Hanna]

After the war we had some first very bitter years in Germany. All big cities were destroyed, fuel was scarce, food as well and we had the coldest winters of the century.
The shakers started to send food packages for the starving people in Germany, called "care packages". For us German it seemed as if angels opened the heaven, we knew how guilty we were, and that we didn't deserved any help.

[harrypothead]

2:26 Religious persecution at home meant they weren't allowed to persecute anyone at home based on their own religion.

[Kerats]

I live in the area where the shakers settled down. My high school was even named after them. I still never learned nothing about them until now thank you for always teaching something new

[Incredabad]

Thank you so much for making this! I love your covering of Christianity because it highlights all that we, who grew up in the church, were not taught. Not only of the history of the religion but also the diversity of thought found within.

All your videos are so important in the ways you explain the religions of the world in such an approachable way. You remind us that at root we share commonalities with all people of the world! Keep sharing!

[Pootycat]

13:50 That's exactly what happened to Christianity, generally. The first Christians held to various theologies, their belief in Jesus as the "Christ" ("Anointed One"), "Messiah, " etc, sent by God, being the common denominator. After Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, one faction, which promoted the "orthodox, " "conventional" Christianity, we know today, suppressed competing views, and discarded many Scriptures, at the Council of Nicaea, which threatened their control of the hearts & minds of the followers of Jesus.