Owen was absolutely opposed to violence of any kind and was extremely favorable to recognition of the value of capital. He withdrew from the labor movement after the leaders had violated his doctrine expressed in his _Address to the Workman_, namely, that all workers must renounce hatred and violence directed against the capitalist or ruling class.[5]
While Owen failed to establish a Utopia in Europe or America, he did have great influence as stated by one writer:
And yet, despite his errors in judgment and the failure of many of his plans, the great-hearted and lovable cotton manufacturer and communist did exert a profound influence on the social thinking of the world. His indictment of the present order of society for its waste, its injustices, its tragedy of unemployment; his emphasis on social happiness as the ideal of human progress; his insistence that character was profoundly influenced by social environment; his urgent plea that all co-operate for the common welfare in the production and distribution of wealth, all these left their imprint on future generations. And his life of untiring devotion and sacrifice proved one of the great sources of inspiration to those who followed later in the socialist, co-operative, and trade union movements, as well as those who worked in behalf of child training, of labor legislation, of prison reform, and of similar causes.[6]
Another class of socialists found in the United States who came from across the Atlantic consisted of various religious groups. New Harmony itself had been originally created and founded by the Rappists and later purchased by Owen.
Fourier was to France what Owen was to England. There is a great difference between the position of men like Owen and Fourier and the one assumed by those who accepted Karl Marx, whose doctrines are best represented by Wilhelm Weitling. The communism of the first group was merely the communal possession of goods produced by communal effort with no thought of class conflict or the confiscation of goods produced by other means. This group sought to deny hostility and hatred between classes saying that the wealthy had the same desire to create a perfect society as did those who labored for a living. Marx held to the view that constant conflict between classes was fundamental.