The Relation of the Quakers to the American Revolution

THE RELATION OF THE QUAKERS TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION By Arthur J. Mekeel* At its sessions in June 1775, London Yearly Meeting addressed an epistle "To our Friends and Brethren in America" expressing deep sympathy with them and an "earnest desire for your preservation amidst present confusions," exhorting them to "keep near the principle of Truth." And well might the English Friends be concerned for their brethren across the ocean since the American Quakers were on the verge of entering a period of testing and sufferings such as the Friends had not experienced since the years of persecution a century earlier. Since that time they had assumed an important place in the religious life of the colonies, and in Pennsylvania they had seen the blossoming of probably the most flourishing province of His Majesty's dominions beyond the seas. The freedom which characterized Pennsylvania was a lode star for those who framed the political structure of the nascent republic. The Quakers in the colonies were largely agrarian except in Pennsylvania where large numbers were concentrated in Philadelphia , the leading cultural and economic urban center. Many members of the Philadelphia Meetings were prominent merchants and traders and were thus deeply involved in the mercantile life of the British Empire, a system which channeled all colonial trade through the mother country by means, of a commercial code known as the trade and navigation acts. Whereas the Quaker groups in New England, New York and, to a certain extent, in the south, were the result of the great missionary efforts of the mid-seventeenth century, the Friends in Pennsylvania were descendants of those who had migrated directly from Great Britain to establish a Quaker dominated political community in the new world. This produced a particularly close bond between Pennsylvania and British Friends. In addition, the dominant London Friends were leading merchants in the American ""Arthur J. Mekeel formerly served in the Technical Assistance program, U.S. Department of State. He holds the T. Wistar Brown Fellowship at Haverford College during the present year. 4 QUAKER HISTORY colonial trade and controlled much of it and a number of them were members of the London Meeting for Sufferings. Philadelphia and London Quaker merchants had close economic relations and other merchants complained of their clannishness. Another aspect of the colonial Quakers was that during the two decades preceding the revolutionary period they had been undergoing a process of revitalization stressing the inner spiritual life of the Society. This was accompanied by a clearer realization of the significance of their testimonies and the development of disciplinary measures to assure their proper observance. Consequently the Society was better prepared to face the problems of the ensuing years. The British Friends, on the other hand, who were deeply concerned when the revolutionary controversy arose, were much influenced by the political situation prevailing in England at that time. The corrupt and unrepresentative nature of the Parliamentary system, based largely on late medieval practices, deprived the merchants and new industrial classes of their just voice in affairs. This condition had aroused a reform movement whose aims the Quaker merchants of London and other cities naturally supported. American lack of representation in Parliament was looked upon as part and parcel of the British problem. Therefore we find strong support of American grievances in many parts of England and certainly among the Quakers. Dr. John Fothergill, an ardent supporter of the American colonies, once wrote: "If America relaxes , both you and we are undone."1 Also, because of close religious ties, English Friends felt a certain responsibility for the problems of the colonial Quakers vis-a-vis the British government, especially in the case of Pennsylvania. Conversely, they were to a certain extent held responsible in the eyes of the British government for the conduct of affairs in that province. As we all know, the American Revolution was precipitated by the actions of the British government in the course of its attempt to reorganize the empire in America after the acquisition of the French domains there at the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. The government believed that the Americans should share in the heavy expense involved and consequently passed laws...