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Quakers and Slavery: A Divided Spirit
is book explores the growth of abolitionism among Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from 1688 to 1780, providing a case study of how groups change their moral attitudes. Dr. Soderlund details the long battle fought by reformers like gentle John Woolman and eccentric Benjamin Lay. The eighteenth-century Quaker humanitarians succeeded only after they diluted their goals to attract wider support, establishing a gradualistic, paternalistic, and segregationist model for the later antislavery movement.
Originally published in 1985.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Originally published in 1985.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2018
This book was published some years after the author had completed a PhD dissertation related to the topic. As is the case with books which arise out of this kind of research it is based on a very thorough review of a cross section of a very large and diverse set of primary documents. These include the minutes for Quaker meetings, tax and probate records, and personal correspondence between various individuals living in four different regions of the Delaware Valley. These were Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania, and western and eastern New Jersey. The result was a very well organized comparison of how the views and policies about slavery of four different groups of Quakers evolved over course of about 100 years. Using charts and graphs Solderlund pointed out how and why the four regions articulated the Abolitionist viewpoint in different ways and at different rates before arriving at the larger group's ultimate goal: the end of the practice of slavery by members of the Friends by the mid 1770's.
I agree with the other reviewer of this book that it is not for everyone because of the narrowness of the topic. There are also times when all of the detail and the statistics generated in the large number of charts and graphs get to be a bit tedious for the non-academic reader like myself.
But it is worthwhile for the reader, like me, in many other respects. First, it satisfied my growing interest in those people who were the founders of the Abolitionist movement in the USA. Quakers like Benjamin Lundy in the 1820's who inspired that most famous of Abolitionists Garrison came out of the traditions started by these earlier forefathers of his.
Second, it is instructive for any reader who is interested in how a social movement gets its start as a seemingly very radical effort to change ongoing social practices and then evolves over time in order to appeal to a broader cross section of people.
Third, it is informative because Soderlund points out how the 19th century Abolitionist gradualist, segregationist, paternalistic approach to the emancipation of African American slaves and the support of free Blacks actually got its start back with these people in the early 18th century. They clearly believed both African Americans and European American settlers suffered from the practice of slavery. But almost all of the Quakers also did not really see or treat them equally as their fellow man, so to speak.
Fourth, it is important to note that Soderlund writes in a readable narrative prose rather than the stilted jargon found in many scholarly, academic pieces of work. Even her descriptions of Weber's theories about religion, which she uses to explicate the differences between the four groups of Quakers, are readily comprehensable. That is no small feat!
Finally, she does all of this in less than 200 pages sans the appendices. She provides the latter for those who wish to delve deeper into Quaker society and her methodology. But these are not necessary for one to get the essence of the book.
Before reading this book I would recommend that the reader gain a foundation about Quaker theology and history by reading Thomas E. Drake's book called Quakers and Slavery in America. Although it was published in 1950, it is still quite informative. I have reviewed it as well.
I agree with the other reviewer of this book that it is not for everyone because of the narrowness of the topic. There are also times when all of the detail and the statistics generated in the large number of charts and graphs get to be a bit tedious for the non-academic reader like myself.
But it is worthwhile for the reader, like me, in many other respects. First, it satisfied my growing interest in those people who were the founders of the Abolitionist movement in the USA. Quakers like Benjamin Lundy in the 1820's who inspired that most famous of Abolitionists Garrison came out of the traditions started by these earlier forefathers of his.
Second, it is instructive for any reader who is interested in how a social movement gets its start as a seemingly very radical effort to change ongoing social practices and then evolves over time in order to appeal to a broader cross section of people.
Third, it is informative because Soderlund points out how the 19th century Abolitionist gradualist, segregationist, paternalistic approach to the emancipation of African American slaves and the support of free Blacks actually got its start back with these people in the early 18th century. They clearly believed both African Americans and European American settlers suffered from the practice of slavery. But almost all of the Quakers also did not really see or treat them equally as their fellow man, so to speak.
Fourth, it is important to note that Soderlund writes in a readable narrative prose rather than the stilted jargon found in many scholarly, academic pieces of work. Even her descriptions of Weber's theories about religion, which she uses to explicate the differences between the four groups of Quakers, are readily comprehensable. That is no small feat!
Finally, she does all of this in less than 200 pages sans the appendices. She provides the latter for those who wish to delve deeper into Quaker society and her methodology. But these are not necessary for one to get the essence of the book.
Before reading this book I would recommend that the reader gain a foundation about Quaker theology and history by reading Thomas E. Drake's book called Quakers and Slavery in America. Although it was published in 1950, it is still quite informative. I have reviewed it as well.
May 8, 2018
Well, it's probably not for general readers, since the history of Quakers and slavery is a narrow topic. Soderlund writes in the social history mold that was prevalent in the 1960s–early 1980s. (When she finished this book, the shift toward cultural and linguistic history was gaining momentum in universities, but I digress.) The writing is clear, with effective use of embedded statistics in the text, per the social history approach. I might have liked some more excerpts from Quaker letters and journals, instead of such a heavy focus on quantitative data, but I can't deny that Soderlund explains how Quaker institutions operated and changed over the course of the eighteenth century. This is very much a structural history. Rather than focusing on the imagination and moral arguments of abolitionist John Woolman, Soderlund wants to understand how Woolman navigated the institution of the Quaker regional meeting to advance his reform agenda.
The epilogue takes a cultural history perspective, however, and even advances a moral. Soderlund notes that, even as Quakers moved to end slavery in their communities in the 1760s–70s, many Quakers were reluctant to pursue political solutions that would end slavery unilaterally, especially once the early U.S. republic formed. Soderlund therefore shows the perils and strengths of an institutional approach to reform. On the one hand, moving gradually through an institution like the Quaker meeting allows for consensus-building and the changing of minds. On the other hand, this gradual approach can make the institution leaders mistrust social reformers with bold moral arguments, even if those arguments, such as the need to end slavery universally, seem clear to historians in hindsight.
The epilogue takes a cultural history perspective, however, and even advances a moral. Soderlund notes that, even as Quakers moved to end slavery in their communities in the 1760s–70s, many Quakers were reluctant to pursue political solutions that would end slavery unilaterally, especially once the early U.S. republic formed. Soderlund therefore shows the perils and strengths of an institutional approach to reform. On the one hand, moving gradually through an institution like the Quaker meeting allows for consensus-building and the changing of minds. On the other hand, this gradual approach can make the institution leaders mistrust social reformers with bold moral arguments, even if those arguments, such as the need to end slavery universally, seem clear to historians in hindsight.
January 13, 2023
Quakers and Slavery shows the march to abolition of slavery within the Quaker meeting houses through the 1700’s. It shows which quarterly meeting houses started the groundswells that would eventually reconcile the Christian spirit with the idea that keeping people in bondage was against their belief system. The quarterly meetings fed up into the yearly meetings where the real decision power happened. Soderlund takes you through the structure of Quaker decision making and how attitudes changed over time. This is definitely a niche history book and you have to either be interested in the history of Slavery or colonial history in the Philadelphia area to appreciate the richness and scholarship this book brings. Overall though a very interesting look into how the Quaker’s came about to a decision that defines them in casual American history and a look at how it was not inevitable and may have failed if not for the persistence of a few meeting houses.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews