Quakers Against Slavery
The Quakers, also known as the Friends of Society, were direct advocates in the fight for abolishment of slavery. Their direct persistence and hard work laid out the foundation for the later abolitionist.  In fact, many situations and actions took place in Colonial America that were led by the Quakers that helped them on their road to freedom.
 
 

A Look Back

In a fight to gain their own religious freedom the Quakers also waged a war on slavery.   The Quakers felt that slavery was not God oriented and that God did not approve of this type of treatment for any man. Though they too were being persecuted for fighting for such an "unworthy cause" they endeavored on in an effort to free the slaves.

By the mid 1700s millions of men, women, and children were transported to America to be used as slaves.  Immediately, leaders of the Quaker religion began to discredit the owning of slaves.  George Fox, the founder of English Quakerism, reminded slave owning Friends that everyone was equal in the eyesight of God.  Jean Soderlund notes in her book, Quakers and Slavery, the most distinguished Quaker to denounce slavery was William Edmunson, who in 1676 announced his own detention of slavery from Newport, Rhode Island(3).

Several events took place in 1754 that would effect the way that Quakers would view slavery throughout history.  The first event that took place was the Philadelphia Annual Meeting published their first statement against slavery that would end the ownership of slaves among its members.  this statement called for the abolishment of slavery among the Friends society.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The second event to take place was the publishing of John Woolman’s book, Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes... .  In his book ,The Crusade Against Slavery, Louis Filler noted that after the publishing of his book, Woolman gained notoriety in England as well as in America for compelling so many people to conform to his ways in which many of his predecessors had failed to do (14).  After these events the Quakers began their advocacy against slavery in American society as a whole.

In the 1760s, as noted by Filler, the Quakers began the slow process of freeing slaves as an equal person(14).
 

On the battlefield

John Woolman's words as an abolitionists for slavery and his expertise as a writer was expressed in his book, Some Considerations for Keeping of Negroes..., when he wrote
 
But the general disadvantage which these poor africans lie under an enlightened Christian country having often filled me with real sadness, and been like undigested matter on my mind, I now think it my duty, through divine aid, to offer some thoughts thereon to the considerations of others.(qtd. in Lauter 617)
Woolman knew firsthand how these slaves felt.  He too had worked in the South and knew how the slaveholder would treat the slaves.  In an effort to show his dislikeness of slavery he refused to buy products that in which the manufacture of it would require the use of slave labor.  This way his way of drawing attention to his conviction against slavery.

Another well known abolitionists during this time, George Fox, agreed with Woolman and he also had views on the use of slaves. Soderlund notes that Fox was consider to be the founder of Quakerism(3). A very religious man, Fox, reminded his friends that in the eyesight of God everyone was equal.  During his visit to Barbados in 1671, Soderlund adds, he "urged his Quaker masters to limit their slaves' terms and to educate(3).

These two abolitionists along with several other followers believed that "slaveholding was inconsistent with Christianity and urged the Society to ban members from holding slaves(4)", says Soderlund.  This end can in 1776 after the statement of the Philadelphia Annual Meeting was ratified by the Friends.  After this event many of the Friends joined in on the effort to abolition slavery in America.
 
 

The Chester Annual Meeting

This meeting was targeted against the buying of slaves by Friends that were imported into Philadelphia.  Taking place in 1711 this petition was significant because it didn't just come from one or two people, but it actually came from an entire meeting (Soderlund, 20).  Soderlund acknowledges that, "For the first time in America, an organized body decided with unanimity or near unanimity that the slave trade was wrong and that it should be eliminated by disciplinary action(20)."  The attendants of this meeting felt that the policy that only discouraged slavery was inadequate and too weak.  The noticed that their Friends were still buying slaves and that slavery would continue to grow as long as they bought the slaves that were imported into the Delaware Valley.  The members acknowledged that they did not have the power to forbid slavery so in 1713 the London Meeting admitted that participation in the slave trade was against the Golden Rule but refused to ban members from participating.

After this the Chesters took no part in the slavery issue and were no heard from again until the 1760s.  At this time they took a stand on slavery that all Friends were to stop buying, selling, and owning slaves they would be disowned by the Quaker church.  A committee was formed to enforce this policy and during the years of 1776-1780, according to Soderlund, ten slave owners were convinced to give up the ownership of their slaves(148).  During this period two men, as noted by Soderlund, were disowned;  they were Samuel Levis and James Maris(148).
 

 1731-1740                                              1771-1780
No. Slave Owners No.  Slave Owners
Quakers 37 21.6% 38 7.9%
Disowned Quakers 1 0.0 8 37.5
          Source: Quakers and Slavery:  Jean Soderlund
 

As the chart shows the percentage of Quakers that owned slaves decreased as committee members joined in on the effort of delinquishing slavery.
 

Finally Freedom

As more and more slaves were released another society was being built. A society of blacks was arising in areas where the slaves had been set free.  These "people" were not rejected by the Quakers but were welcomed in by them.  According to Soderlund, "They went to Friends meetings and Christ Church, were married by the Anglican and Lutheran ministers, and attended Benezet's school(176)."  The movement that got its start in Philadelphia soon spread to other Quaker communities.  Places like Chester and Chesterfield joined in the fight and began to take action against those who owned slaves.

Several actions were taken to help the freed slaves.  One action was to educate them so that they would not allow the whites to corrupt them and reclaim them as a slave.  Another action was to help the freed slaves financially.  Former slave owners would pay their ex-slaves restitution for the years they served as a slave.  Others decided to give older freed slaves enough money to support them for the rest of their life.  This, however, was not enough.  Abolitionists were sometimes unable to convince former slave owners to pay restitution to their former slaves.

Slaves took it upon themselves to take action and began to form Committee that would help out other freed slaves.  For example, in 1779 the Committee of Free Negroes of Concord Monthly Meeting provided assistance to two needy black families.  It was committees like this that formed the backbone of the black American society.
 
 

In the end

Quakers led a series of events in Colonial America that laid out the foundation for future abolitionists to follow.  Their hard work and determination that was so widely disregarded during this time was later rewarded as the blacks eventually gained their freedom.  So who are we to credit for this new found freedom: the Quakers or the abolitionists who were to come later in history.

Abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison commented after the first speech given by Frederick Garrison saying, "Have we been listening to a thing, a piece of property, or to a man(qtd. in Dick, 231)?"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Works Cited


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
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