[2] Also a prominent abolitionist, Spear organized the first Universalist antislavery convention and helped to oversee the stretch of the Underground Railroad which ran through Boston.
[3] Spear believed that the purpose of this group was to bring new technology to people so that greater levels of personal and spiritual freedom could be achieved.
Spear compared the machine to Jesus Christ, which was intended to power the world with supernatural energies and herald a new era of Utopia.
The New Motive Power was constructed of copper, zinc, and magnets, all carefully machined, as well as a dining room table.
At the end of nine months, Spear and the "New Mary", an unnamed woman, ritualistically birthed the contraption in an attempt to give it life.