Many ideologies began to pop up in the 1800’s. One in particular was the formation of utopias, places where people sought to perfect society. “Such communities looked to replace the competitive individualism of American society with a purer spiritual unity and group cooperation” (Davidson 324). Our culture shares a similar belief of affinity and equality in its beliefs and people, layout of its buildings, and organization of its economy.
The founding settlers of Ascalon sought to escape the divisions of hierarchy in England.They were tired of living in a tiered system of upper and lower classes. They wanted to create a society of innate equality among all its citizens, strengthened by one singular belief. With the former colonies beginning to bloom into a new nation, these settlers say an opportunity and crossed the Atlantic to start a new society in the fledging country. In 1827, the first settlers (about 500) of Ascalon landed in New York harbor, and moved northwest towards the Great Lakes, settling somewhere between the two. The people of Ascalon all share the common belief that a higher power governs their fate. This power has a strong sense of right and wrong and governs people in accordance with their actions. Since this higher power judges people strictly on their performance, it does not matter if someone is rich, poor, intelligent, or of a different race since the power judges everyone equally. Ascalonians also believe that everything around them is a physical manifestation of this great power. With this notion in mind, the people try to maintain a balance of harmony with their surrounding environment, as evidenced by the integration of natural foliage in their community. The people of Ascalon believe in complete equality among the population of humanity. Slavery holds no place in their community and both men and women both receive equal amounts of respect. This is very similar to “Shaker communities [which] accorded women unusual authority and equality” (Davidson 325). Reproduction in the community is handled much the same way as in the rest of the world, except in Ascalon sex is only for procreation not pleasure. In order to maintain their beliefs of total equality and harmony, Ascalonians try to limit the sources of immorality in their life. Avoiding promiscuous behavior and a hierarchy is one such effective solution. 
They founders built the town in honor of the great force, known as Holly, and constructed a massive physical testament in the middle of their community. A giant eye atop a twelve foot column, known as the Eye of Holly rests in middle of the town prayer area. With their center firmly establish the people of Ascalon began to build around the monument. Everything in Ascalon radiates from the Eye of Holly. The monument itself is the pivot point for the whole community. Their residential zones are closest towards the monument, and all windows are positioned to face it. This serves to remind the people of their devotion to this higher force. Outside the residential zones are the farms and crafting facilities. Separating the space between the residential zones and the farms and factories is a small circular forest that borders the residents. This serves two purposes. The first reason is to obstruct the view of the factories and farms, so that the denizens will not be distracted from the view of the monument. The second reason is that it allows the people to feel calmer and closer to nature. Next to the farms are the servant’s quarters, where the hired servants keep their supplies for tending to the fields. Towards the outskirts of the city is the wharf, where incoming trade ships board to give and receive goods and supplies. By the mid 1830’s Ascalon itself was a firmly established community and sustained a population of nearly 1,000 people. 
Ascalon’s economy tries to stay independent of the outside world. Some even fear that the outside influences might possibly taint their perfect society. To compensate for the lack of a large physical labor force, the community hires paid artisans to come into town to fill in the profession gaps. The town, by majority is self-sufficient. It has enough forests in the outlying landscape to support their demand for lumber. The farms provide food for the community, tended by the hired servants that live near them. Their crafting district exports many items such as religious artifacts and handcrafted silverware among other things. The items are then loaded onto the trading ships when they come into the wharf about every month.
Ascalon itself tries to strive for a sense of perfection and harmony that is almost out of its reach. Stressing equality to all citizens never seems to turn out with what was intended, even today. People always find some reason to create separation between them. Yet, their unifying belief and quest to please the great Holly places the people under a common set of rules and regulations. With a unifying religious belief, careful construction of its community, and a somewhat limited economy system Ascalon tries to carve it own special niche in a world of utopias. 
Group Report
Our group met for the first time on Friday at the same time as class. First Sean came up with a great idea for our SimUtopia. Then, the rest of the group drew up a few sketches. We collaborated all of our ideas into one SimUtopia. After that we started to brainstorm ideas about what our city was going to be like, such as religious beliefs and agriculture or industrial based. Our group also met for a second time during class time on Tuesday. We came up with a name for our SimUtopia, and put the finishing touches on our drawing. In order to make sure everyone was doing their job we sent our findings via email.Davidson, James W. Nations of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the American Republic. McGraw Hill: New York, New York. 2006.
Hey Collen (and gang),
I just finished reading your blog. I thought you guys did great with transitional sentences, thesis statement, and research. Your citation to the book fits well with the rest of the paragraph it is included in. It took me a very long time to find mistakes in this blog by I managed to find three. In the 1st sentence of the 3d paragraph, you started the sentence with the word "they" when I'm sure you meant "the" or perhaps even "their." Next, in the 3d sentence of the same paragraph, you forgot to add the suffix "ed" after the word "establish" i.e. (established). Finally, the hardest error to find, you might of wanted to put a comma after the word "majority" in the 4th sentence of the 4th paragraph. Great job guys....
Posted by: Juan | October 19, 2005 at 05:39 PM