[3] It ultimately took a decade for this underground political effort to bear fruit when in July 1830 revolution erupted seeking the fundamental change of the conservative regime which had gained power in the Bourbon Restoration following the fall of Napoleon.

[3] Historian Morris Hillquit has argued that the posting of Cabet to Corsica was a calculated "shrewd move on the part of the government" to remove a prominent radical critic from the political hothouse of Paris "under the guise of a reward for his services during the revolution.

"[3] Be that as it may, despite his employment as a government functionary in Corsica, Cabet moved into criticism of the new Orléanist regime for its conservatism and half-measures with respect to constitutional rule and the democratic rights of the people.

[7] Cabet's findings were later summarized thus by one of his acolytes: Studying, pondering the history of all ages and countries, he at length arrived at the conclusion that mere political reforms are powerless to give to society the ... welfare which it obstinately seeks.

He found at all epochs the same phenomena: society sundered in twain; on one side a minority, cruel, idle, arrogant, usurping exclusive enjoyment of the products of a majority, passive, toiling, ignorant, who remained wholly destitute.

Academic specialist Robert P. Sutton,[11] professor of history at Western Illinois University, made a translation into English that has been deposited with the Library of Congress, although it remains unpublished.

[13] A basic plot outline was published by Morris Hillquit in 1903: Lord Carisdall, a young English nobleman, has by chance learned of the existence of a remote and isolated country known as Icaria.

It appears that the social order of the country had been similar to that prevailing in the rest of the world, until 1782, when the great national hero, Icar, after a successful revolution, established the system of communism.

This recital gives Cabet the opportunity for a scathing criticism of the faults of the present social structure, and also to outline his favorite measures for the transition from that system to the new regime.

[17] So-called "Icarianism" attracted numerous supporters in such French cities as Reims, Leon, Nantes, Toulouse, and Toulon, with Cabet claiming the existence of 50,000 adherents of his ideas by the end of 1843.

[18] In May 1847, Cabet's organ Le Populaire carried a lengthy article entitled "Allons en Icarie" (Let Us Go to Icaria), detailing the proposal to establish an American colony based upon the Icarian political and economic ideals and calling for those committed to building an artisanal and agrarian community to volunteer.

[19] Towns and huge cities bursting with industry would shortly follow, with accompanying schools and cultural facilities assuring the good life for a happy and fulfilled community.

[19] Announcement of the plan was met with enthusiasm, and offers of participation along with gifts of money, seeds, farm implements, clothing, books, and other valuable and useful items began to flow in.

[26] Only 27 intrepid French settlers were able to make the final leg of the trip from the farm designated as a resting place to their new Texan utopia, a site located in today's Denton County in Texas (northwest of Dallas).

[26] The small group arrived June 2, 1848,[26] and immediately began a frenzied effort to construct dwellings in order to stake their land claims, attempting at the same time to plow and farm the prairie.

[27] The grim reality of their situation now clear, the Texas colonization venture was written off as a total loss by the participants and the survivors divided into small groups to make their way back to Shreveport and from there to New Orleans.

Cabet declared that if a majority sought to return home to France, he would support the decision — although with all the costs absorbed in the previous year such a move would have meant financial disaster for all.

[30] The majority, consisting of about 280 people, joined Cabet in setting out for the Mississippi River town of Nauvoo, located in Hancock County, Illinois, where the Icarian experiment finally began in earnest.

Even though Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was killed in 1844, by 1845 Nauvoo had grown to a community of about 15,000 people – dwarfing the city of Chicago, which had only about 8,000 inhabitants at that time.

This was intended to foster a love for the community "without developing special affection for parents" from a young age,[33] theoretically instrumental to the smooth working of a Utopian society.

The Icarians practiced no religion,[33] but there were days people voluntarily gathered in a fellowship called "Cours icarien" to discuss Cabet's writings and Christian morals and ethics.

When he returned to America, he began to push through a series of restrictive rules, including the prohibition of talking in workshops, banning the use of tobacco and alcohol, and other regulations which were unpopular with some members of the community.

He also moved to reestablish his own personal decision-making authority over the entire community, proposing in December 1855 to revise the constitution to provide for a powerful president elected to a four-year term.

[34] This position by Cabet was anathema to a majority of the Icarian cooperators, who were deeply inspired and influenced by the history and traditions of the Great French Revolution and its democratic ideals.

"[34] The factional battle continued for a year between the Dissidents (led by Alexis Armel Marchand and Jean Baptist Gerard)[35] and the Cabetists, finally resolving itself in a formal split.

[38] The group continued to operate under an elaborate constitution written by Cabet, "which lays down with great care the equality and brotherhood of mankind, and the duty of holding all things in common; abolishes servitude or service (or servants); commands marriage, under penalties; provides for education; and requires that the majority shall rule.

When the Icarians first arrived at Nauvoo on March 15, 1849, they purchased a number of buildings, grounds, houses, cattle and the burned-out Mormon Temple which they intended to use as an academy or school.

After all purchases and repairs were done, the Nauvoo Icarian village consisted of a dwelling of individual apartments, two schools (one for girls and the other for boys), two infirmaries, a pharmacy, a large community kitchen with dining hall, a bakery, a butchery, and a room for laundry facilities.

On July 4, the refectory was decorated with garlands and boughs; cardboard signs declared "Equality", "Freedom", and "Unity", and banners had quotations like "All for Each; Each for All", "To Each According to Their Needs", and "First Right is to Live; First Duty is to Work".

Men and women were given equal participation opportunities in weekly community assemblies, voting on admissions, constitutional changes, and the election of the officer in charge of clothing and lodging.