The successful example of antebellum utopian communities converted many americans to socialism is a. True. There were about 80 utopian communities in the 1840s, many of them were inspired by the beliefs of Charles Fourier, who believed in socialist practices such as "Associationism". According to the book "Seven American Utopias" written by Dolores Heiden, communities in the antebellum inspired later communities in the 1970s.