The Quakers 1656–1723: The Evolution of an Alternative Community by Richard C. Allen, Rosemary Moore (review)

This volume by Richard C. Allen and Rosemary Moore, with seven contributors, provides a much needed and welcome expansion on previous scholarship regarding the evolution of the early Quaker movement throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Whilst previous works, such as William Braithwaite’s Second Period of Quakerism (1919), are not replaced, Allen and Moore’s collection of essays provide a necessary addendum to earlier scholarship in that it addresses nuanced topics in Quaker historiography, including the experience of women, the Quaker’s unique relationship with law and commerce, and the history of slavery. Indeed, even the title, casting the Quakers as an “alternative community,” is new and both reflects the work’s attempt to move past previous scholarship and sets the tone for a comparative approach at times in the historical analysis set forth.

In addition, the volume’s attention to the years 1656–1723 reworks the frequently adopted division of Quaker history into the late 1650s–1660 (the time of the Restoration) and 1660–1720. This choice of dates is unusual and convincingly defended by Moore’s argument that there is “no clear punctuation mark in Quaker history around 1660” (p. 2), suggesting it is essential to give attention to the political climate as well as to Quaker thought and practice previous to 1660 in order to better understand the developments that followed. The book’s timeline is extended to 1723, the year of George Whitefield’s death, “the last survivor of the original Quaker preachers” (p. 2) to whom they also give deserved attention. This particular time period, covered in one volume, is a welcome addition to modern Quaker scholarship.

The book contains 13 topical chapters moving in a generally chronological order, beginning with an overview of the history of early Quakerism by Moore, a helpful first chapter particularly for those new to Quaker history and in need of orientation in the broader historical context. In Chapter 2, Allen addresses an important transitional period for Quakerism that saw the expansion of an international Quaker community throughout the British Isles and the Americas before 1666. Allen argues through the utilization of print culture and the establishment of Quaker meetings, Quakers successfully established an international community, while early missionaries engaged in provocative dissenting activity that evinced a “clash between state religious authority orthodoxy and dissent” (p. 29). In Chapter 3, Moore picks up in 1666 and turns back to England, with the early Quakers’ need and desire for internal organization and unification after some years of disarray. An outline of the development of Quaker organization and the establishment of orderly meetings is presented. Moore argues the meeting system was largely inspired by Fox and rooted in his “gospel order” framework, and it remains in variation in the worldwide Quaker community.

Chapters 4 and 5, both written by Allen, provide an enjoyable read, demonstrating the living out of the organizational code of conduct amongst its followers, followed by a consideration of the Quakers’ life in the Americas and on the continent. These are useful chapters in their demonstration of the cultural and geographic impact of the Quakers’ organization and polity. The latter chapter includes an important inclusion of Fox’s correspondence with the Quakers in the Caribbean, pausing particularly on his visit to Barbados and Jamaica. This section gives attention to Fox’s perception of slavery, as well as the Quakers’ relationship with local authorities as they attempted to provide religious instruction to the enslaved, resulting frequently in confrontation and conflict.

Continuing in the vein of considering the Quakers as an alternative community, often at odds with the established state or church order, Chapter 6 provides an insightful discussion of the Quakers’ dispute with other dissenters. It is the first chapter of the volume written by its contributors, and shines in its reminder that there was a heated polemic between the early dissenters which appeared to run out...