Adin Ballou was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 prominent proponent of pacifism

Pacifism

Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...

, socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and abolitionism

Abolitionism

Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...

, and the founder of the Hopedale Community

Hopedale Community

The Hopedale Community was founded out of Worcester County, Massachusetts in 1842 by Adin Ballou. He and his followers purchased of land on which they built homes for the community members, chapels and the factories for which the company was initially formed....

. Through his long career as a Universalist

Universalist Church of America

The Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States . Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942...

, and then Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

 minister, he tirelessly sought social reform

Reform movement

A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...

 through his radical Christian and socialist views.
Ballou was born in 1803 on a farm in Cumberland, Rhode Island

Cumberland, Rhode Island

Cumberland is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, incorporated in 1746. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 to Ariel and Edilda Ballou. He was raised a Six-Principle Baptist

General Six-Principle Baptists

The Six-Principle Baptists were the first Baptist association in the Americas. The "six-principles" adhered to are those listed in :* Repentance* Faith* Baptism* Laying on of hands* Resurrection of the dead* Final judgment...

 until 1813 when his family was converted in a Christian Connexion

Restoration Movement

The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...

 revival.

Ballou married Abigail Sayles in early 1822, the same year he converted to Universalism.