Slavery and the Meetinghouse: The Quakers and the Abolitionist Dilemma, 1820-1865

by Ryan P. Jordan

Overview

Ryan P. Jordan explores the limits of religious dissent in antebellum America, and reminds us of the difficulties facing reformers who tried peacefully to end slavery. In the years before the Civil War, the Society of Friends opposed the abolitionist campaign for an immediate end to slavery and considered abolitionists within the church as heterodox radicals seeking to destroy civil and religious liberty. In response, many Quaker abolitionists began to build "comeouter" institutions where social and legal inequalities could be freely discussed, and where church members could fuse religious worship with social activism. The conflict between the Quakers and the Abolitionists highlights the dilemma of liberal religion within a slaveholding republic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253348609
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	03/28/2007
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ryan P. Jordan is Visiting Assistant Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Quakers, Slavery, and the "Peaceable Kingdom"
1. Quaker Gradualists and the Challenge of Abolitionism
2. Slavery, Religious Liberty, and the "Political" Abolitionism of the Indiana Anti-Slavery Friends
3. Friends and the "Children of Africa": Quaker Abolitionists Confront the Negro Pew
4. "Progressive" Friends and the Government of God
5. Quaker Pacifism and Civil Disobedience in the Antebellum Period
Conclusion: "Fighting Quakers," Abolitionists, and the Civil War

Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Thomas A. Hamm

"Impressive. As someone who has worked with most of the materials Jordan has used, I am struck by his thorough, thoughtful, and incisive use of them. The prose is smooth, even, and readable. I do not agree with all of his conclusions, but he argues his case well and raises questions about Quakers and anti-slavery that are a major contribution to American religious and reform history."--(Thomas A. Hamm, Earlham College)

Earlham College - Thomas A. Hamm

Impressive. As someone who has worked with most of the materials Jordan has used, I am struck by his thorough, thoughtful, and incisive use of them. The prose is smooth, even, and readable. I do not agree with all of his conclusions, but he argues his case well and raises questions about Quakers and anti—slavery that are a major contribution to American religious and reform history.

Editorial Reviews

". . . insightful . . . . essential reading for students of the antislavery movement, the Society of Friends, and American religion.Vol. 29.1 Fall 2009"—Cassandra Pybus, University of Sydney

"Impressive. As someone who has worked with most of the materials Jordan has used, I am struck by his thorough, thoughtful, and incisive use of them. The prose is smooth, even, and readable. I do not agree with all of his conclusions, but he argues his case well and raises questions about Quakers and anti—slavery that are a major contribution to American religious and reform history."—Thomas A. Hamm, Earlham College

From the Publisher

. . . insightful . . . . essential reading for students of the antislavery movement, the Society of Friends, and American religion.Vol. 29.1 Fall 2009

Universityof Sydney - Cassandra Pybus

"Impressive. As someone who has worked with most of the materials Jordan has used, I am struck by his thorough, thoughtful, and incisive use of them. The prose is smooth, even, and readable. I do not agree with all of his conclusions, but he argues his case well and raises questions about Quakers and anti—slavery that are a major contribution to American religious and reform history." —Thomas A. Hamm, Earlham College

Thomas A. Hamm

"... insightful.... essential reading for students of the antislavery movement, the Society of Friends, and American religion." —Cassandra Pybus, University of Sydney, JOURNAL AMERICAN ETHNIC HIST, Vol. 29.1 Fall 2009

— Cassandra Pybus, University of Sydney

Journal American Ethnic History