Meredith Baldwin Weddle
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131383
- eISBN:
- 9780199834839
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513138X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
“All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny” – so pronounced a small band of the first English Quakers in 1660, renouncing wars, fighting, and weapons and enunciating principles of peace ...
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“All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny” – so pronounced a small band of the first English Quakers in 1660, renouncing wars, fighting, and weapons and enunciating principles of peace called the “peace testimony.” The deceptively simple words of the peace testimony conceal the complexity of the task facing each Quaker as he worked out their precise meaning and the restraints and the actions they required in his own life. Quakers in early New England had to translate peace principles into practice during King Philip's War between settlers and Indians in 1675–76. In a time of terror, individual Quakers had to decide whether the peace testimony allowed service in militias, standing watch, seeking safety in garrison houses, and paying taxes. Their decisions covered a broad range and resulted in a pacifist continuum of interpretation and behavior.During this war, Quakers who dominated the government of Rhode Island were faced with reconciling the peace testimony with their duties as governors to protect their colony, to punish “evil‐doers,” and to reward “those who do good.” Their dilemma stimulated both imaginative legislation and corrosive compromises, illuminating the ambiguities of principles when applied to public policy. Before the war a Quaker government had enacted legislation, the Exemption of 1673, exempting conscientious objectors from all military duties including alternative civil service. But some Quakers chastised their Quaker rulers in a document called the Rhode Island Testimony for putting their faith in “carnal weapons” when they took warlike measures of offense and defense, such as transporting soldiers to battle. The struggle of early Quakers in England and America illuminates the intricate complications of pacifist belief, suggesting the kind of nuanced questions any pacifist must address.Less
“All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny” – so pronounced a small band of the first English Quakers in 1660, renouncing wars, fighting, and weapons and enunciating principles of peace called the “peace testimony.” The deceptively simple words of the peace testimony conceal the complexity of the task facing each Quaker as he worked out their precise meaning and the restraints and the actions they required in his own life. Quakers in early New England had to translate peace principles into practice during King Philip's War between settlers and Indians in 1675–76. In a time of terror, individual Quakers had to decide whether the peace testimony allowed service in militias, standing watch, seeking safety in garrison houses, and paying taxes. Their decisions covered a broad range and resulted in a pacifist continuum of interpretation and behavior.
During this war, Quakers who dominated the government of Rhode Island were faced with reconciling the peace testimony with their duties as governors to protect their colony, to punish “evil‐doers,” and to reward “those who do good.” Their dilemma stimulated both imaginative legislation and corrosive compromises, illuminating the ambiguities of principles when applied to public policy. Before the war a Quaker government had enacted legislation, the Exemption of 1673, exempting conscientious objectors from all military duties including alternative civil service. But some Quakers chastised their Quaker rulers in a document called the Rhode Island Testimony for putting their faith in “carnal weapons” when they took warlike measures of offense and defense, such as transporting soldiers to battle. The struggle of early Quakers in England and America illuminates the intricate complications of pacifist belief, suggesting the kind of nuanced questions any pacifist must address.
Meredith Baldwin Weddle
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131383
- eISBN:
- 9780199834839
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513138X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Gathering as a sect in England in the 1650s, Quakers believed that each person had a “light within,” illuminating not only his own evil but also available as an inner Christ to lead him to God's ...
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Gathering as a sect in England in the 1650s, Quakers believed that each person had a “light within,” illuminating not only his own evil but also available as an inner Christ to lead him to God's will. Obedience to God's principles ensured access to continuing revelation and to the possibility of approaching perfection and dwelling in the Kingdom of God on earth. Quakers emphasized some of God's principles and termed them “testimonies.” Although Quakers believed that God instituted worldly government in order to be a “terror to evil‐doers” and a “praise to them that do well,” non‐Quakers mistrusted them and subjected them to strenuous persecution and suffering.Less
Gathering as a sect in England in the 1650s, Quakers believed that each person had a “light within,” illuminating not only his own evil but also available as an inner Christ to lead him to God's will. Obedience to God's principles ensured access to continuing revelation and to the possibility of approaching perfection and dwelling in the Kingdom of God on earth. Quakers emphasized some of God's principles and termed them “testimonies.” Although Quakers believed that God instituted worldly government in order to be a “terror to evil‐doers” and a “praise to them that do well,” non‐Quakers mistrusted them and subjected them to strenuous persecution and suffering.
Nancy Gallagher
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774161056
- eISBN:
- 9781617970177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774161056.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Before its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the American Friends Service Committee had delivered relief and political and moral assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees in ...
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Before its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the American Friends Service Committee had delivered relief and political and moral assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees in Europe and other parts of the world. When war loomed in Palestine, the United Nations looked to the AFSC to nominate a Quaker municipal commissioner for an internationalized Jerusalem, in the expectation that the nominee would be acceptable to both Jews and Arabs. The volunteers encountered numerous obstacles in Palestine and Israel but managed to learn from them and to adapt in ways that contain useful lessons for today's relief workers and peacemakers. In Gaza, the volunteers found themselves in a territory administered by the Egyptian army. The small-scale grassroots advocacy and unofficial diplomacy that the Quakers pioneered in the early years of the conflict remain for many activists—Israeli, Palestinian, and international—the best hope for reconciliation and resolution of the conflict.Less
Before its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the American Friends Service Committee had delivered relief and political and moral assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees in Europe and other parts of the world. When war loomed in Palestine, the United Nations looked to the AFSC to nominate a Quaker municipal commissioner for an internationalized Jerusalem, in the expectation that the nominee would be acceptable to both Jews and Arabs. The volunteers encountered numerous obstacles in Palestine and Israel but managed to learn from them and to adapt in ways that contain useful lessons for today's relief workers and peacemakers. In Gaza, the volunteers found themselves in a territory administered by the Egyptian army. The small-scale grassroots advocacy and unofficial diplomacy that the Quakers pioneered in the early years of the conflict remain for many activists—Israeli, Palestinian, and international—the best hope for reconciliation and resolution of the conflict.
Meredith Baldwin Weddle
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131383
- eISBN:
- 9780199834839
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513138X.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
When open hostilities began near Plymouth and the Plymouth governor requested help from Rhode Island, the Quaker government agreed to blockade a peninsula and trap Philip's troops. This openly ...
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When open hostilities began near Plymouth and the Plymouth governor requested help from Rhode Island, the Quaker government agreed to blockade a peninsula and trap Philip's troops. This openly partisan military action was only the first of many ways in which Rhode Island participated in the war notwithstanding the sizable Quaker presence in the government. Rhode Island housed and provisioned Massachusetts and Plymouth troops; their troops fought at Nipsachuck; they bought arms from Boston and stored ammunition for Plymouth; and the government transported Massachusetts and Plymouth troops to the largest battle of the war, the Great Swamp Fight, and sheltered English casualties. But participation remained local: no colony‐wide commander was appointed, no colony‐wide army formed.Less
When open hostilities began near Plymouth and the Plymouth governor requested help from Rhode Island, the Quaker government agreed to blockade a peninsula and trap Philip's troops. This openly partisan military action was only the first of many ways in which Rhode Island participated in the war notwithstanding the sizable Quaker presence in the government. Rhode Island housed and provisioned Massachusetts and Plymouth troops; their troops fought at Nipsachuck; they bought arms from Boston and stored ammunition for Plymouth; and the government transported Massachusetts and Plymouth troops to the largest battle of the war, the Great Swamp Fight, and sheltered English casualties. But participation remained local: no colony‐wide commander was appointed, no colony‐wide army formed.
Hilary Hinds
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719081576
- eISBN:
- 9781781702383
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719081576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
What was distinctive about the founding principles and practices of Quakerism? This book explores how the Light Within became the organising principles of this seventeenth-century movement, ...
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What was distinctive about the founding principles and practices of Quakerism? This book explores how the Light Within became the organising principles of this seventeenth-century movement, inaugurating an influential dissolution of the boundary between the human and the divine. Taking an original perspective on this most enduring of radical religious groups, it combines literary and historical approaches to produce a fresh study of Quaker cultural practice. Close readings of George Fox's Journal are put in dialogue with the voices of other early Friends and their critics to argue that the ‘light within’ set the terms for the unique Quaker mode of embodying spirituality and inhabiting the world. This study of the cultural consequences of a bedrock belief shows how the Quaker spiritual self was premised on a profound continuity between sinful subjects and godly omnipotence. It will be of interest not only to scholars and students of seventeenth-century literature and history, but also to those concerned with the Quaker movement, spirituality and the changing meanings of religious practice in the early modern period.Less
What was distinctive about the founding principles and practices of Quakerism? This book explores how the Light Within became the organising principles of this seventeenth-century movement, inaugurating an influential dissolution of the boundary between the human and the divine. Taking an original perspective on this most enduring of radical religious groups, it combines literary and historical approaches to produce a fresh study of Quaker cultural practice. Close readings of George Fox's Journal are put in dialogue with the voices of other early Friends and their critics to argue that the ‘light within’ set the terms for the unique Quaker mode of embodying spirituality and inhabiting the world. This study of the cultural consequences of a bedrock belief shows how the Quaker spiritual self was premised on a profound continuity between sinful subjects and godly omnipotence. It will be of interest not only to scholars and students of seventeenth-century literature and history, but also to those concerned with the Quaker movement, spirituality and the changing meanings of religious practice in the early modern period.
John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ...
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The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ponder the relation between earth’s visible and invisible domains. This disposition is exemplified by the poetry of meditation composed by colonial writers such as Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Bradstreet’s meditative poem “Contemplations” is interpreted ecocritically, so as to probe not only the spirituality of the world that the poet sets forth, but also the discretely material spirit of place that helped inspire her reflections. Outside the Puritan colonies, other forms of ecospirituality can be discerned in the Quaker-inspired prose writings of naturalist William Bartram and social reformer John Woolman. Both exponents of Middle Atlantic Quaker piety envisioned a divine love that encompasses animals as well as humans, and that thereby extends humanity’s ethical responsibility beyond social boundaries to the “brute creatures.”Less
The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ponder the relation between earth’s visible and invisible domains. This disposition is exemplified by the poetry of meditation composed by colonial writers such as Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Bradstreet’s meditative poem “Contemplations” is interpreted ecocritically, so as to probe not only the spirituality of the world that the poet sets forth, but also the discretely material spirit of place that helped inspire her reflections. Outside the Puritan colonies, other forms of ecospirituality can be discerned in the Quaker-inspired prose writings of naturalist William Bartram and social reformer John Woolman. Both exponents of Middle Atlantic Quaker piety envisioned a divine love that encompasses animals as well as humans, and that thereby extends humanity’s ethical responsibility beyond social boundaries to the “brute creatures.”
Geoffrey Cantor
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199276684
- eISBN:
- 9780191603389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199276684.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
A number of historiographical problems are addressed concerning ‘Science and Religion’ to provide a grounding for present study. This study focuses on two religious communities — the Quakers and ...
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A number of historiographical problems are addressed concerning ‘Science and Religion’ to provide a grounding for present study. This study focuses on two religious communities — the Quakers and Anglo-Jewry — both of which stood outside the Established Church, with its close alliance with state power. It aims to ascertain how these two religious communities responded to various aspects of science, from their foundation in the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century. Having framed this leading question, the scope of the present study is specified.Less
A number of historiographical problems are addressed concerning ‘Science and Religion’ to provide a grounding for present study. This study focuses on two religious communities — the Quakers and Anglo-Jewry — both of which stood outside the Established Church, with its close alliance with state power. It aims to ascertain how these two religious communities responded to various aspects of science, from their foundation in the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century. Having framed this leading question, the scope of the present study is specified.
Geoffrey Cantor
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199276684
- eISBN:
- 9780191603389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199276684.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter provides a brief outline of the histories of the Quaker and Anglo-Jewish communities, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century. The development of Quakerism is charted ...
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This chapter provides a brief outline of the histories of the Quaker and Anglo-Jewish communities, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century. The development of Quakerism is charted from its radical roots, through the ‘quietism’ of the 18th century, to the evangelicalism that dominated the 19th century. In discussing Anglo-Jewry, the inter-related themes of assimilation, toleration, and discrimination are explored, with particular emphasis on the early-Victorian perception that British Jews had not contributed adequately to literature, music, and science.Less
This chapter provides a brief outline of the histories of the Quaker and Anglo-Jewish communities, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century. The development of Quakerism is charted from its radical roots, through the ‘quietism’ of the 18th century, to the evangelicalism that dominated the 19th century. In discussing Anglo-Jewry, the inter-related themes of assimilation, toleration, and discrimination are explored, with particular emphasis on the early-Victorian perception that British Jews had not contributed adequately to literature, music, and science.
Heloise Brown
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719065309
- eISBN:
- 9781781700457
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719065309.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This book explores the pervasive influence of pacifism on Victorian feminism. It provides an account of Victorian women who campaigned for peace, and of the many feminists who incorporated pacifist ...
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This book explores the pervasive influence of pacifism on Victorian feminism. It provides an account of Victorian women who campaigned for peace, and of the many feminists who incorporated pacifist ideas into their writing on women and gender. The book explores feminists' ideas about the role of women within the empire, their eligibility for citizenship, and their ability to act as moral guardians in public life. It shows that such ideas made use – in varying ways – of gendered understandings of the role of force and the relevance of arbitration and other pacifist strategies. The book examines the work of a wide range of individuals and organisations, from well-known feminists such as Lydia Becker, Josephine Butler and Millicent Garrett Fawcett to lesser-known figures such as the Quaker pacifists Ellen Robinson and Priscilla Peckover.Less
This book explores the pervasive influence of pacifism on Victorian feminism. It provides an account of Victorian women who campaigned for peace, and of the many feminists who incorporated pacifist ideas into their writing on women and gender. The book explores feminists' ideas about the role of women within the empire, their eligibility for citizenship, and their ability to act as moral guardians in public life. It shows that such ideas made use – in varying ways – of gendered understandings of the role of force and the relevance of arbitration and other pacifist strategies. The book examines the work of a wide range of individuals and organisations, from well-known feminists such as Lydia Becker, Josephine Butler and Millicent Garrett Fawcett to lesser-known figures such as the Quaker pacifists Ellen Robinson and Priscilla Peckover.
ADRIAN DAVIES
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208204
- eISBN:
- 9780191677953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208204.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter discusses the effects of membership upon individual followers of the Quaker faith. It examines the informal social and economical ...
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This chapter discusses the effects of membership upon individual followers of the Quaker faith. It examines the informal social and economical relations which developed among ordinary Friends as a result of membership. It explains the Quakers' gradual development of alternative administrative structure which is as much concerned with order as the church and secular courts it displaced.Less
This chapter discusses the effects of membership upon individual followers of the Quaker faith. It examines the informal social and economical relations which developed among ordinary Friends as a result of membership. It explains the Quakers' gradual development of alternative administrative structure which is as much concerned with order as the church and secular courts it displaced.
J. Matthew Gallman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195161458
- eISBN:
- 9780199788798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161458.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Born in Philadelphia on October 28, 1842, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was the youngest of five children. Her parents were both from old Quaker families, and, like many of their brethren, John and Mary ...
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Born in Philadelphia on October 28, 1842, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was the youngest of five children. Her parents were both from old Quaker families, and, like many of their brethren, John and Mary Dickinson were adamant abolitionists who occasionally opened their Arch Street home to fugitive slaves. Although some later chroniclers tried to paint Anna Dickinson as a heroine born in poverty, it is more accurate to say that she grew up comfortably, but without material excess and certainly with the clear expectation that she would have to find some occupation, at least until she married. This chapter chronicles Dickinson's early life and career and how the events during the Civil War transformed her from a radical reformer to a fervent patriot. It remained to be seen what would become of her budding fame in the midst of the war.Less
Born in Philadelphia on October 28, 1842, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was the youngest of five children. Her parents were both from old Quaker families, and, like many of their brethren, John and Mary Dickinson were adamant abolitionists who occasionally opened their Arch Street home to fugitive slaves. Although some later chroniclers tried to paint Anna Dickinson as a heroine born in poverty, it is more accurate to say that she grew up comfortably, but without material excess and certainly with the clear expectation that she would have to find some occupation, at least until she married. This chapter chronicles Dickinson's early life and career and how the events during the Civil War transformed her from a radical reformer to a fervent patriot. It remained to be seen what would become of her budding fame in the midst of the war.
Robert B. Jones and Margot Toomer Latimer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807842096
- eISBN:
- 9781469616421
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9781469616414_Jones
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The ...
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This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty-five poems here chart an evolution of artistic consciousness. The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as “Five Vignettes,” while “Georgia Dusk” and the newly discovered poem “Tell Me” come from Toomer's Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. “The Blue Meridian” and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the book presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including “Imprint for Rio Grande.” “It Is Everywhere,” another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as “They Are Not Missed” and “To Gurdjieff Dying.” The introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker.Less
This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty-five poems here chart an evolution of artistic consciousness. The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as “Five Vignettes,” while “Georgia Dusk” and the newly discovered poem “Tell Me” come from Toomer's Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. “The Blue Meridian” and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the book presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including “Imprint for Rio Grande.” “It Is Everywhere,” another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as “They Are Not Missed” and “To Gurdjieff Dying.” The introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker.
Stephanie Ford
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199751198
- eISBN:
- 9780199918782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751198.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter describes a pedagogy that employs self-reflection, historical inquiry, and liberation hermeneutics—with particular focus on gender and embodiment issues—used in courses taught at a ...
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This chapter describes a pedagogy that employs self-reflection, historical inquiry, and liberation hermeneutics—with particular focus on gender and embodiment issues—used in courses taught at a Quaker seminary. It considers the particular academic context of a Quaker seminary and the challenges of a feminist standpoint, followed by an overview of the structure and content of such a course, with a reflection on the particular concerns on teaching mysticism to seminarians. It seeks to identify the dynamics among readers and texts. In particular, it considers the pedagogical approaches employed to foster a liberation hermeneutics attentive to issues of gender and embodiment. Finally, in order to ascertain how the course supports students’ ministerial formation, it offers some examples of students’ independent research and creativity, considering their critical, mystical, and often embodied engagement with primary and secondary sourcesLess
This chapter describes a pedagogy that employs self-reflection, historical inquiry, and liberation hermeneutics—with particular focus on gender and embodiment issues—used in courses taught at a Quaker seminary. It considers the particular academic context of a Quaker seminary and the challenges of a feminist standpoint, followed by an overview of the structure and content of such a course, with a reflection on the particular concerns on teaching mysticism to seminarians. It seeks to identify the dynamics among readers and texts. In particular, it considers the pedagogical approaches employed to foster a liberation hermeneutics attentive to issues of gender and embodiment. Finally, in order to ascertain how the course supports students’ ministerial formation, it offers some examples of students’ independent research and creativity, considering their critical, mystical, and often embodied engagement with primary and secondary sources
Brycchan Carey and Geoffrey Plank (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038266
- eISBN:
- 9780252096129
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038266.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This book examines the complexity and diversity of Quaker antislavery attitudes across three centuries, from 1658 to 1890. The chapters show Quaker's beliefs to be far from monolithic. They often ...
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This book examines the complexity and diversity of Quaker antislavery attitudes across three centuries, from 1658 to 1890. The chapters show Quaker's beliefs to be far from monolithic. They often disagreed with one another and the larger antislavery movement about the morality of slaveholding and the best approach to abolition. Not surprisingly, the book explains, this complicated and evolving antislavery sensibility left behind an equally complicated legacy. While Quaker antislavery was a powerful contemporary influence in both the United States and Europe, present-day scholars pay little substantive attention to the subject. This volume faithfully seeks to correct that oversight, offering accessible yet provocative new insights on a key chapter of religious, political, and cultural history.Less
This book examines the complexity and diversity of Quaker antislavery attitudes across three centuries, from 1658 to 1890. The chapters show Quaker's beliefs to be far from monolithic. They often disagreed with one another and the larger antislavery movement about the morality of slaveholding and the best approach to abolition. Not surprisingly, the book explains, this complicated and evolving antislavery sensibility left behind an equally complicated legacy. While Quaker antislavery was a powerful contemporary influence in both the United States and Europe, present-day scholars pay little substantive attention to the subject. This volume faithfully seeks to correct that oversight, offering accessible yet provocative new insights on a key chapter of religious, political, and cultural history.
Clare Midgley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199585489
- eISBN:
- 9780191728969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199585489.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Elizabeth Heyrick's 1824 pamphlet Immediate, not Gradual Abolition challenged the policy of amelioration and gradual emancipation adopted by the Anti-Slavery Society in Britain at its foundation in ...
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Elizabeth Heyrick's 1824 pamphlet Immediate, not Gradual Abolition challenged the policy of amelioration and gradual emancipation adopted by the Anti-Slavery Society in Britain at its foundation in 1823, setting in motion debates that led to a fundamental shift in abolitionist policy in both Britain and the US. This chapter traces the religious wellsprings of Heyrick's outspoken radical abolitionism. It explores the roots in the milieu of late eighteenth-century provincial rational dissent, where religious and political radicalism were interlinked. It then examines the ways in which her radicalism was strengthened and sustained through her subsequent involvement in the Society of Friends at a time when Quaker women were asserting spiritual leadership through searing critiques of the increasing ‘worldliness’ of the male leaders of the Society.Less
Elizabeth Heyrick's 1824 pamphlet Immediate, not Gradual Abolition challenged the policy of amelioration and gradual emancipation adopted by the Anti-Slavery Society in Britain at its foundation in 1823, setting in motion debates that led to a fundamental shift in abolitionist policy in both Britain and the US. This chapter traces the religious wellsprings of Heyrick's outspoken radical abolitionism. It explores the roots in the milieu of late eighteenth-century provincial rational dissent, where religious and political radicalism were interlinked. It then examines the ways in which her radicalism was strengthened and sustained through her subsequent involvement in the Society of Friends at a time when Quaker women were asserting spiritual leadership through searing critiques of the increasing ‘worldliness’ of the male leaders of the Society.
A. Glenn Crothers
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813039732
- eISBN:
- 9780813043142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813039732.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter explains why Pennsylvania Friends' settled in northern Virginia after 1730: to obtain cheap land that they believed necessary to maintain their religious households and ensure the ...
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This chapter explains why Pennsylvania Friends' settled in northern Virginia after 1730: to obtain cheap land that they believed necessary to maintain their religious households and ensure the spiritual safety of their children. Friends in Virginia established their hierarchical system of religious meetings and began enforcing the behavioral rules (the “discipline”) and cultural practices that grew out of their spiritual beliefs. Virginia authorities welcomed these frontier settlers as a defense against Native Americans; but as dissenters from the established Anglican Church and the honor-based culture of Virginia, Friends remained a suspect group. These suspicions grew during the French and Indian War when Quakers refused to serve in the militia and Virginia authorities arrested and fined individual Friends for non-service. Quakers' war experience sparked their efforts to reform the Society and tighten its discipline-including injunctions against slavery-leading to the disownment (or removal) of many members.Less
This chapter explains why Pennsylvania Friends' settled in northern Virginia after 1730: to obtain cheap land that they believed necessary to maintain their religious households and ensure the spiritual safety of their children. Friends in Virginia established their hierarchical system of religious meetings and began enforcing the behavioral rules (the “discipline”) and cultural practices that grew out of their spiritual beliefs. Virginia authorities welcomed these frontier settlers as a defense against Native Americans; but as dissenters from the established Anglican Church and the honor-based culture of Virginia, Friends remained a suspect group. These suspicions grew during the French and Indian War when Quakers refused to serve in the militia and Virginia authorities arrested and fined individual Friends for non-service. Quakers' war experience sparked their efforts to reform the Society and tighten its discipline-including injunctions against slavery-leading to the disownment (or removal) of many members.
Lisa Pace Vetter
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479853342
- eISBN:
- 9781479867752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479853342.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Frances Wright’s early socialist critique exposed the systemic oppression of ordinary American citizens at the hands of the ruling white male elite, and encouraged individuals to scrutinize the ...
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Frances Wright’s early socialist critique exposed the systemic oppression of ordinary American citizens at the hands of the ruling white male elite, and encouraged individuals to scrutinize the mechanisms of political power to ensure their legitimacy. Wright dealt more directly with slavery and the oppression of women than her better known contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville. Harriet Martineau refashioned Adam Smith’s moral theory of sympathy to provide a pathway to abolishing slavery and expanding women’s rights. Angelina Grimké, Sarah Grimké, and Lucretia Mott provided the foundations for a Quaker political theory, a set of ideas framed within their religious worldview on issues of equality, freedom, citizenship, and constitutional reform. Elizabeth Cady Stanton exposed the hypocrisy of women’s oppression and began a process of moral instruction reminiscent of Smith’s moral theory. Using her unique status as a free black woman to destabilize stereotypes and biases, Sojourner Truth encouraged men and women of all races to reexamine their double standards and hypocrisies. These women were limited by the political and cultural norms in which they lived, and yet they expanded the fundamental principles of the American project to address the needs of the disenfranchised, a process that continues today.Less
Frances Wright’s early socialist critique exposed the systemic oppression of ordinary American citizens at the hands of the ruling white male elite, and encouraged individuals to scrutinize the mechanisms of political power to ensure their legitimacy. Wright dealt more directly with slavery and the oppression of women than her better known contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville. Harriet Martineau refashioned Adam Smith’s moral theory of sympathy to provide a pathway to abolishing slavery and expanding women’s rights. Angelina Grimké, Sarah Grimké, and Lucretia Mott provided the foundations for a Quaker political theory, a set of ideas framed within their religious worldview on issues of equality, freedom, citizenship, and constitutional reform. Elizabeth Cady Stanton exposed the hypocrisy of women’s oppression and began a process of moral instruction reminiscent of Smith’s moral theory. Using her unique status as a free black woman to destabilize stereotypes and biases, Sojourner Truth encouraged men and women of all races to reexamine their double standards and hypocrisies. These women were limited by the political and cultural norms in which they lived, and yet they expanded the fundamental principles of the American project to address the needs of the disenfranchised, a process that continues today.
John M. Murrin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195317145
- eISBN:
- 9780199851386
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195317145.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter provides an overview of the striking circumstances that led from America's colonization by religious monopolists to the creation of constitutional freedom of religion in the early United ...
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This chapter provides an overview of the striking circumstances that led from America's colonization by religious monopolists to the creation of constitutional freedom of religion in the early United States. It includes a description of many roads not taken, such as the Puritan effort to restrict religious freedom, the Quaker experiment of government by pacifists in colonial Pennsylvania, and the religious anarchy of early Rhode Island. The discussion also ponders the network of events that led from the writing of the Constitution, with its largely secular intentions shaped by its largely secular authors, to the flourishing of religion in the new nation, where Americans were soon looking back with holy gratitude upon the work of those founders.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the striking circumstances that led from America's colonization by religious monopolists to the creation of constitutional freedom of religion in the early United States. It includes a description of many roads not taken, such as the Puritan effort to restrict religious freedom, the Quaker experiment of government by pacifists in colonial Pennsylvania, and the religious anarchy of early Rhode Island. The discussion also ponders the network of events that led from the writing of the Constitution, with its largely secular intentions shaped by its largely secular authors, to the flourishing of religion in the new nation, where Americans were soon looking back with holy gratitude upon the work of those founders.
ADRIAN DAVIES
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208204
- eISBN:
- 9780191677953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208204.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter discusses the role of Quaker books and pamphlets. These allow Friends to evangelize and let them fortify themselves with the truth ...
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This chapter discusses the role of Quaker books and pamphlets. These allow Friends to evangelize and let them fortify themselves with the truth through reading and contemplation. Quaker schools and teachers acted as barriers between the children of Friends and outsiders. The literacy rates of Quakers showed Quaker separatism, since an incentive to develop literacy in the sect was provided by the need to educate members with the values of faith, which were acquired through reading of the scriptures and Quaker books.Less
This chapter discusses the role of Quaker books and pamphlets. These allow Friends to evangelize and let them fortify themselves with the truth through reading and contemplation. Quaker schools and teachers acted as barriers between the children of Friends and outsiders. The literacy rates of Quakers showed Quaker separatism, since an incentive to develop literacy in the sect was provided by the need to educate members with the values of faith, which were acquired through reading of the scriptures and Quaker books.
ADRIAN DAVIES
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208204
- eISBN:
- 9780191677953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208204.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter answers the questions: To what extent were itinerant ministers like Parnel responsible for the early growth of the movement? ...
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This chapter answers the questions: To what extent were itinerant ministers like Parnel responsible for the early growth of the movement? Should people attribute the success of the early movement to the heroic labours of early Quaker evangelists alone? The influence of itinerant preachers should be acknowledged, but it is possible that the rise of interest in the new faith owed much to its ministers.Less
This chapter answers the questions: To what extent were itinerant ministers like Parnel responsible for the early growth of the movement? Should people attribute the success of the early movement to the heroic labours of early Quaker evangelists alone? The influence of itinerant preachers should be acknowledged, but it is possible that the rise of interest in the new faith owed much to its ministers.
