John Woolman's path to the peaceable kingdom : a Quaker in the British Empire / Geoffrey Plank.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Plank, Geoffrey Gilbert, 1960-

Series:

Early American studies.

Early American Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Woolman, John, 1720-1772.

Woolman, John.

Quakers--United States--Biography.

Quakers.

Abolitionists--United States--Biography.

Abolitionists.

Society of Friends--United States--History--18th century.

Society of Friends.

Antislavery movements--United States--History--18th century.

Antislavery movements.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The abolitionist John Woolman (1720-72) has been described as a "Quaker saint," an isolated mystic, singular even among a singular people. But as historian Geoffrey Plank recounts, this tailor, hog producer, shopkeeper, schoolteacher, and prominent Quaker minister was very much enmeshed in his local community in colonial New Jersey and was alert as well to events throughout the British Empire. Responding to the situation as he saw it, Woolman developed a comprehensive critique of his fellow Quakers and of the imperial economy, became one of the most emphatic opponents of slaveholding, and helped develop a new form of protest by striving never to spend money in ways that might encourage slavery or other forms of iniquity. Drawing on the diaries of contemporaries, personal correspondence, the minutes of Quaker meetings, business and probate records, pamphlets, and other sources, John Woolman's Path to the Peaceable Kingdom shows that Woolman and his neighbors were far more engaged with the problems of inequality, trade, and warfare than anyone would know just from reading the Quaker's own writings. Although he is famous as an abolitionist, the end of slavery was only part of Woolman's project. Refusing to believe that the pursuit of self-interest could safely guide economic life, Woolman aimed for a miraculous global transformation: a universal disavowal of greed.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Past Ages: History

Chapter 2. Deserts and Lonely Places: Social Diversion and Solitary Meditation

Chapter 3. More Than Was Required: Quaker Meetings

Chapter 4. The Road to Large Business: Family and Work

Chapter 5. A Dark Gloominess Hanging over the Land: Slavery

Chapter 6. Men in Military Posture: The Seven Years' War

Chapter 7. Not in Words Only: Conspicuous Instructive Behavior

Chapter 8. The Deep: Crossing the Sea

Chapter 9. A Messenger Sent from the Almighty: England and Death

Epilogue

Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781283897051

1283897059

9780812207125

0812207122

OCLC:

823826508