North Carolina and the Non-Resistant Sects During the American War of Independence

NORTH CAROLINA AND THE NON-RESISTANT SECTS DURING THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE By Roger E. Sappington* In a day and age in which various forms of opposition to war are acceptable in American society, the treatment of the non-resistant religious sects during the period of the American War of Independence is of interest. Most of these sectarians lived in Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century, but enough of them had migrated into the southern states of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina to create problems for the governments of those states. How the state of North Carolina dealt with these problems is the subject of this article. In order to understand clearly what groups are included in this study, it is necessary first to define the term "non-resistant sects." In a very helpful discussion John Joseph Stoudt distinguished correctly between the sects and the church people among the colonial Germans in America. The sect groups "held that conversion was a personal experience, that legal procedure was wrong, that higher education was unnecessary, that an educated clergy was obsolete, that forms and rituals were worldly, and that the only reasonable attitude towards war was non-resistance." He included among the sects the Amish, the Dunkards, the Mennonites, and the Schwenkfeldians. Of these four groups, only the Dunkards and the Mennonites had appeared in sufficient numbers in North Carolina to be recognized by the state government. In contrast to the sects the church people "believed in higher education, in a simple ritual, in the moral obligation to hold office, in an educated clergy, in organized charity, in formal legal procedure, and in military service when necessary." In this group were the Lutherans and the Reformeds, both of which groups had entered North Carolina in considerable numbers during the colonial period. Finally, according to Stoudt, "the Moravians were betwixt and between—on the side of the sects with certain issues and on the side of the church people with others."1 G. Elmore * Professor of History, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia. 1 John Joseph Stoudt, "The German Press in Pennsylvania and the American Revolution," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LIX (1935), 74-76. 29 30Quaker History Reaman correctly placed the Moravians among the non-resisters when he included the following groups in this category: "Moravians, Mennonites, Amish, Dunkards, and Quakers."2 Of these five sect groups, all except the Amish were recognized by the state government of North Carolina. If there were Amish in North Carolina, they were probably grouped with the Mennonites, because of their common background. With tins brief definition in mind as a background, it is now necessary to turn to a somewhat more detailed consideration of the tenets of each of these four groups, because there were some differences among the four which undoubtedly perplexed the legislators of North Carolina as they attempted to deal with these non-conformists. The Moravians on one occasion stated their dissatisfaction with being "classed with the Quakers, Menonists and Dunkards, but at this time there is nothing else to do."3 Because of these differences between the Moravians and the other three groups, the Moravian position needs to be made clear. The Moravians had come to North Carolina in the first place under the protection of an act of the British Parliament in 1749 entitled: "An Act for Encouraging the People Known by the Name of Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren, to settle in His Majesty's Colonies in America." Since "several of the said Brethren do conscientiously scruple the taking of an Oath, and likewise do conscientiously scruple bearing Arms, or personally serving in any military Capacity," the British Parliament agreed that all members of this group would be permitted to take a "solemn Affirmation or Declaration in these Words following: I A. B. do declare in tL· Presence of Almighty God, the Witness of the Truth of what I say—," and to "be discharged" from all military service.4 Actually, the Moravians had not always held such an objection to military service and even during this period they did not maintain this position consistently. Ruth Blackwelder explained that "the attitude of the Moravians toward war was the result of long...