Edward Palmer

Who was Edward Palmer?

Edward Palmer was an American religious enthusiast and advocate of socialist reforms. He lectured against the use of money, advocating a simple barter economy among neighbors. His publications include An Address on the Origin and Evil Influences of Money.

Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography wrote of him: "He became a printer in Boston, Mass., and attracted attention by writing and publishing a pamphlet in which he demanded the abolition of slavery and the suppression of capitalized monopolies. Removing to New York city, he associated himself with a coterie of philosophers, under the leadership of Marcus Spring, and promulgated many eccentric ideas. He claimed that men should work for higher motives than that of pecuniary gain, and emphasized his teachings by refusing to accept money for his services, confining himself to the barest necessities of life. At his death he had passed out of recollection, as he had lived in retirement for nearly a generation."

He travelled and lectured extensively and was known to the Transcendentalists and other early utopian socialist experimenters.