141-694: John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States . Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets , he was influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns . Whittier is remembered particularly for his anti-slavery writings, as well as his 1866 book Snow-Bound . Whittier was born to John and Abigail ( née Hussey) Whittier at their rural homestead in Haverhill, Massachusetts , on December 17, 1807. His middle name
282-582: A Recorded Minister in Manchester . His 1835 book A Beacon to the Society of Friends insisted that the inner light was at odds with a religious belief in salvation by the atonement of Christ. This Christian controversy led to Crewdson's resignation from the Religious Society of Friends, along with 48 fellow members of Manchester Meeting and about 250 other British Quakers in 1836–1837. Some of these joined
423-628: A National Anti-Slavery Convention in Philadelphia . Beriah Green presided over the Convention — no one else was willing to —, with Lewis Tappan and John Greenleaf Whittier serving as secretaries. One Convention committee drafted an American Anti-Slavery Society Constitution and Declaration of Sentiments . The principal author of both was the publisher of the fledgling Boston-based Liberator , William Lloyd Garrison . The new American Anti-Slavery Society charged William Lloyd Garrison with writing
564-410: A bath in holy water." Later scholars and critics questioned the depth of Whittier's poetry. One was Karl Keller, who noted, "Whittier has been a writer to love, not to belabor." Whittier was particularly supportive of women writers, including Alice Cary , Phoebe Cary , Sarah Orne Jewett , Lucy Larcom , and Celia Thaxter . He was especially influential on prose writings by Jewett, with whom he shared
705-642: A belief in the moral quality of literature and an interest in New England folklore. Jewett dedicated one of her books to him and modeled several of her characters after people in Whittier's life. Whittier's family farm, known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead or simply "Whittier's Birthplace", is now a historic site open to the public. His later residence in Amesbury, where he lived for 56 years,
846-541: A cause that he deemed morally correct and socially necessary. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society and signed the Anti-Slavery Declaration of 1833, which he often considered the most significant action of his life. Whittier's political skill made him useful as a lobbyist, and his willingness to badger anti-slavery congressional leaders into joining the abolitionist cause
987-503: A charge of religious blasphemy . According to Fox's autobiography, Bennet "was the first that called us Quakers, because I bade them tremble at the word of the Lord". It is thought that Fox was referring to Isaiah 66:2 or Ezra 9:4 . Thus the name Quaker began as a way of ridiculing Fox's admonition, but became widely accepted and used by some Quakers. Quakers also described themselves using terms such as true Christianity, Saints, Children of
1128-650: A freedman, also often spoke at meetings. By 1838, AASS had 1,346 local chapters. In 1840, AASS claimed about 200,000 members. Prominent members included Susan B. Anthony , Elizabeth Cady Stanton , Theodore Dwight Weld , Lewis Tappan , James G. Birney , Lydia Maria Child , Maria Weston Chapman , Nathan Lord , Augustine Clarke , Samuel Cornish , George T. Downing , James Forten , Abby Kelley Foster , Stephen Symonds Foster , Henry Highland Garnet , Beriah Green , Lucretia Mott , Wendell Phillips , Robert Purvis , Charles Lenox Remond , Sarah Parker Remond , Lucy Stone , and John Greenleaf Whittier , among others. By
1269-504: A great people to be gathered". Following this he travelled around England, the Netherlands, and Barbados preaching and teaching with the aim of converting new adherents to his faith. The central theme of his Gospel message was that Christ has come to teach his people himself. Fox considered himself to be restoring a true, "pure" Christian church. In 1650, Fox was brought before the magistrates Gervase Bennet and Nathaniel Barton, on
1410-440: A group for women's rights, though it garnered little success initially. Garrison arrived to the convention late and, upon hearing of the decision not to allow women to participate, he chose not to enter the Convention. He viewed the proceedings with the women in the gallery. This became the genesis for the women's suffrage movement. From the beginning, women held a marginal role in the organization. Only white women were invited to
1551-487: A meeting house in 1672 that was visited by George Fox in the same year. They were able to establish thriving communities in the Delaware Valley , although they continued to experience persecution in some areas, such as New England . The three colonies that tolerated Quakers at this time were West Jersey , Rhode Island , and Pennsylvania , where Quakers established themselves politically. In Rhode Island, 36 governors in
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#17328523957941692-568: A more structured organisation, which led to separate women's meetings. Through the women's meetings, women oversaw domestic and community life, including marriage. From the beginning, Quaker women, notably Margaret Fell , played an important role in defining Quakerism. They were involved in missionary work in various ways and places. Early Quaker women missionaries included Sarah Cheevers and Katharine Evans. Others active in proselytising included Mary Penington , Mary Mollineux and Barbara Blaugdone . Quaker women published at least 220 texts during
1833-401: A motion made by John Quincy Adams . By the end of the 1830s, the unity of the abolitionist movement had begun to fracture. Whittier stuck to his belief that moral action apart from political effort was futile. He knew that success required legislative change, not merely moral suasion. That opinion alone engendered a bitter split from Garrison, and Whittier went on to become a founding member of
1974-558: A national Famine Relief Committee in May 1942, encouraging a network of local famine relief committees, among the most energetic of which was the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, Oxfam . Irving and Dorothy Stowe co-founded Greenpeace with many other environmental activists in 1971, shortly after becoming Quakers. Some Quakers in America and Britain became known for their involvement in
2115-461: A new resolution that barred Congress from discussing petitions that mentioned bringing slavery to an end. Congress approved them on December 12, 1838, which became known as the "Atherton Gag"; Whittier referred to Atherton in one of his many abolition poems as "vile" by having allied himself so closely with his fellow Democrats from pro-slavery South. It was not until 1844 the House rescinded that gag rule on
2256-610: A new world rather than fighting to destroy the old", as did the American Friends Service Committee . Birmingham in England had a strong Quaker community during the war. Many British Quakers were conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps during both world wars. After the two world wars had brought the different Quaker strands closer together, Friends from different yearly meetings – many having served together in
2397-653: A peak of 60,000 in England and Wales by 1680 (1.15% of the population of England and Wales). But the dominant discourse of Protestantism viewed the Quakers as a blasphemous challenge to social and political order, leading to official persecution in England and Wales under the Quaker Act 1662 and the Conventicle Act 1664 . This persecution of Dissenters was relaxed after the Declaration of Indulgence (1687–1688) and stopped under
2538-424: A practical approach to slavery, saying economically it did not make sense. Wright used the rhetoric of religion to elicit empathy toward African Americans, and presented slavery as a moral sin. Frederick Douglass had seen the frustration that Garrison felt toward those who disagreed with him, but wrote many letters to Garrison describing to him the details of the prejudices that slavery had caused. One in particular
2679-655: A prepared Bible message coordinated by a pastor (with the largest Quaker group being the Evangelical Friends Church International ). Some 11% practice waiting worship or unprogrammed worship (commonly Meeting for Worship ), where the unplanned order of service is mainly silent and may include unprepared vocal ministry from those present. Some meetings of both types have Recorded Ministers present, Friends recognised for their gift of vocal ministry. The proto- evangelical Christian movement dubbed Quakerism arose in mid-17th-century England from
2820-637: A statement of faith known as the Richmond Declaration . Supported by many of the older, longstanding members in the London Yearly Meeting, Braithwaite saw the Richmond Declaration of Faith as being a bulwark against "unsound and dangerous doctrine" in times when Friends were "in a state of discipline and warfare". This statement of faith was agreed to by 95 of the representatives at a meeting of Five Years Meeting Friends, but unexpectedly
2961-493: A time, and a deal was made to pay part of his tuition with food from the family farm. Before his second term, he earned money to cover tuition by serving as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in what is now Merrimac, Massachusetts . He attended Haverhill Academy from 1827 to 1828 and completed a high school education in only two terms. Whittier received the first substantial public praise for his work from critic John Neal via Neal's magazine The Yankee in 1828. Whittier valued
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#17328523957943102-837: A variety of industries. Two notable examples were Abraham Darby I and Edward Pease . Darby and his family played an important role in the British Industrial Revolution with their innovations in ironmaking. Pease, a Darlington manufacturer, was the main promoter of the Stockton and Darlington Railway , which was the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives. Other industries with prominent Quaker businesses included banking ( Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays PLC ), pharmaceuticals ( Allen & Hanburys ), chocolate ( Cadbury and Fry's ), confectionery (Rowntree ), shoe manufacturing ( Clarks ), and biscuit manufacturing ( Huntley & Palmers ). Voltaire 's Letters on
3243-481: Is also open to the public, and is now known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Home . Whittier's hometown of Haverhill has named many buildings and landmarks in his honor including J.G. Whittier Middle School, Greenleaf Elementary, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School . Numerous other schools around the country also bear his name. The John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge , built in the style of
3384-559: Is now the Mid-India Yearly Meeting. Later it spread to Madagascar from 1867, China from 1896, Sri Lanka from 1896, and Pemba Island from 1897. After the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus between Christians and Druze, many missionaries flocked to Ottoman Syria . These missionaries included Friends from several nations. The Friends Syrian Mission was established in 1874, which among other institutions ran
3525-557: Is poor stuff! I like the man, but have no high opinion either of his poetry or his prose." Editor George Ripley , however, found Whittier's poetry refreshing and said it had a "stately movement of versification, grandeur of imagery, a vein of tender and solemn pathos, cheerful trust" and a "pure and ennobling character". Boston critic Edwin Percy Whipple noted Whittier's moral and ethical tone mingled with sincere emotion. He wrote, "In reading this last volume, I feel as if my soul had taken
3666-429: Is the dismissal of additional intentions and considerations, including finalization of Second Amendment semantics by federal Senators, not Madison in the House of Representatives. As of September 2024, according to one historian of the politics of chattel slavery and gun control, a "comprehensive treatment that can handle slavery, arms, constitutionalism, and the rest of political culture is still needed." In perusing
3807-431: Is thought to mean feuillevert , after his Huguenot forebears. He grew up on the farm in a household with his parents, a brother and two sisters, a maternal aunt and paternal uncle, and a constant flow of visitors and hired hands for the farm. As a boy, it was discovered that Whittier was color-blind when he was unable to see a difference between ripe and unripe strawberries . The farm was not very profitable, and there
3948-556: The North American Review responded to Whittier's collection In War Time, and Other Poems , by calling him "on the whole, the most American of all our poets, and there is a fire of warlike patriotism in him that burns all the more intensely that is smothered by his [Quaker] creed". The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 ended both slavery and his public cause, and so Whittier turned to other forms of poetry for
4089-656: The Act of Toleration 1689 . One modern view of Quakerism at this time was that the direct relationship with Christ was encouraged through spiritualisation of human relations, and "the redefinition of the Quakers as a holy tribe, 'the family and household of God ' ". Together with Margaret Fell , the wife of Thomas Fell , who was the vice-chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and an eminent judge, Fox developed new conceptions of family and community that emphasised "holy conversation": speech and behaviour that reflected piety, faith, and love. With
4230-698: The American Colonization Society became the early antebellum locus of anti-slavery activity, presided over by James Madison in his last three years of life (until 1836). In 1789, Madison had expressed his belief that blacks and whites could not integrate into society together, and proposed a policy of separation. Madison argued that integration (at the time called "amalgamation") was impossible, because there would always be oppression, hatred, and hostility between former slaves and former slave holders. He also claimed, in his so-called "Memorandum on an African Colony for Freed Slaves", that " freedmen retained
4371-473: The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution from Rhode Island Quakers, trial by jury, equal rights for men and women, and public education. The Liberty Bell was cast by Quakers in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. Early Quakerism tolerated boisterous behaviour that challenged conventional etiquette, but by 1700, its adherents no longer supported disruptive and unruly behaviour. During the 18th century, Quakers entered
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4512-609: The Essex Transcript in Amesbury until 1844. While in Lowell, he met Lucy Larcom , who became a lifelong friend. In 1845, he began writing his essay "The Black Man" which included an anecdote about John Fountain, a free black who was jailed in Virginia for helping slaves to escape. After his release, Fountain went on a speaking tour and thanked Whittier for writing his story. Around then,
4653-619: The Great Separation of 1827, which resulted in a parallel system of Yearly Meetings in America, joined by Friends from Philadelphia, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Baltimore. They were referred to by opponents as Hicksites and by others and sometimes themselves as Orthodox. Quakers in Britain recognised only the Orthodox Quakers and refused to correspond with the Hicksites. Isaac Crewdson was
4794-693: The Inward light . They were imprisoned in harsh conditions for five weeks and banished by the Massachusetts Bay Colony . Their books were burned, and most of their property confiscated. In 1660, English Quaker Mary Dyer was hanged near Boston Common for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony. She was one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs . In 1661, King Charles II forbade Massachusetts from executing anyone for professing Quakerism. In 1684, England revoked
4935-615: The Legatine-Arians and other dissenting Protestant groups breaking with the established Church of England . The Quakers, especially the Valiant Sixty , sought to convert others by travelling through Britain and overseas preaching the Gospel. Some early Quaker ministers were women. They based their message on a belief that "Christ has come to teach his people himself", stressing direct relations with God through Jesus Christ and belief in
5076-736: The Liberty Party in 1839. In 1840, he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. By 1843, he was announcing the triumph of the fledgling party: "Liberty party is no longer an experiment. It is vigorous reality, exerting... a powerful influence." Whittier unsuccessfully encouraged Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to join the party. He took editing jobs with the Middlesex Standard in Lowell, Massachusetts , and
5217-561: The London Yearly Meeting for the same reason in 1865. They formed a separate body of Friends called Fritchley General Meeting , which remained distinct and separate from London Yearly Meeting until 1968. Similar splits took place in Canada. The Yearly Meetings that supported John Wilbur's religious beliefs became known as Conservative Friends . In 1887, a Gurneyite Quaker of British descent, Joseph Bevan Braithwaite , proposed to Friends
5358-727: The Nobel Peace Prize . Religious strife in the Kingdom of England had existed for centuries, with proto-Protestant groups (mainly the Lollards ) popping up before the English Reformation brought radical ideas to the mainstream. During and after the English Civil War (1642–1651) many dissenting Christian groups emerged, including the Seekers and others. A young man, George Fox ,
5499-743: The Penn's Creek Massacre of 1755. Early colonial Quakers also established communities and meeting houses in North Carolina and Maryland, after fleeing persecution by the Anglican Church in Virginia. In a 2007 interview, author David Yount ( How the Quakers Invented America ) said that Quakers first introduced many ideas that later became mainstream, such as democracy in the Pennsylvania legislature,
5640-583: The Plymouth Brethren . Orthodox Friends became more evangelical during the 19th century and were influenced by the Second Great Awakening . This movement was led by British Quaker Joseph John Gurney . Christian Friends held Revival meetings in America and became involved in the Holiness movement of churches. Quakers such as Hannah Whitall Smith and Robert Pearsall Smith became speakers in
5781-469: The Quietist period in the history of their church, becoming more inward-looking spiritually and less active in converting others. Marrying outside the Society was cause for having one's membership revoked. Numbers dwindled, dropping to 19,800 in England and Wales by 1800 (0.21% of the population), and 13,859 by 1860 (0.07% of population). The formal name "Religious Society of Friends" dates from this period and
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5922-670: The Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank, which still exist today and is affiliated with the Friends United Meeting . The Swiss missionary Theophilus Waldmeier founded Brummana High School in Lebanon in 1873. Evangelical Friends Churches from Ohio Yearly Meeting sent missionaries to India in 1896, forming what is now Bundelkhand Yearly Meeting . Cleveland Friends went to Mombasa , Kenya , and started what became
6063-517: The Religious Society of Friends , a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations . Members refer to each other as Friends after John 15:14 in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers because the founder of the movement, George Fox , told a judge to quake "before the authority of God". The Friends are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to be guided by
6204-687: The Sagamore and Bourne bridges, carries Interstate 95 from Amesbury to Newburyport over the Merrimack River . A covered bridge spanning the Bearcamp River in Ossipee, New Hampshire , is also named for Whittier. The city of Whittier, California , is named after the poet, as are the communities of Whittier, Alaska , Greenleaf, Idaho , and Whittier, Iowa ; the Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier ;
6345-509: The Second Amendment . The scope of the Amendment potentially included slave patrols , stemming from Madison's attempts to ameliorate Antifederal proponents of state police powers in the Virginia ratification convention. Scholarly attempts to establish such a Second Amendment "original intent" have been roundly criticized because of, at best, "circumstantial" evidence. Another principal concern
6486-692: The Seneca Falls Convention as well. During Reconstruction, Douglass retracted support for the inclusion of women in the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , fearing that a female suffrage clause would preclude ratification in several states. Francis Jackson , grandfather of John Brown's raider Francis Jackson Meriam , was a president of the Society. According to the Encyclopedia of Slavery and Abolition in
6627-560: The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade , or The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, were Quakers: John Barton (1755–1789); William Dillwyn (1743–1824); George Harrison (1747–1827); Samuel Hoare Jr (1751–1825); Joseph Hooper (1732–1789); John Lloyd; Joseph Woods Sr (1738–1812); James Phillips (1745–1799); and Richard Phillips. Five of the Quakers had been amongst
6768-452: The United States . AASS formed in 1833 in response to the nullification crisis and the failures of existing anti-slavery organizations, such as the American Colonization Society . AASS formally dissolved in 1870. AASS was founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan . Frederick Douglass , an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader in AASS, who often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown , also
6909-648: The inward light to "make the witness of God" known to everyone. Quakers have traditionally professed a priesthood of all believers inspired by the First Epistle of Peter . They include those with evangelical , holiness , liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity, as well as Nontheist Quakers . To differing extents, the Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures . In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in Africa followed by 22% in North America . Some 89% of Quakers worldwide belong to evangelical and programmed branches that hold services with singing and
7050-404: The 1650s, individual Quaker women prophesied and preached publicly, developing charismatic personae and spreading the sect. This practice was bolstered by the movement's firm concept of spiritual equality for men and women. Moreover, Quakerism initially was propelled by the nonconformist behaviours of its followers, especially women who broke from social norms. By the 1660s, the movement had gained
7191-412: The 17th century. However, some Quakers resented the power of women in the community. In the early years of Quakerism, George Fox faced resistance in developing and establishing women's meetings. As controversy increased, Fox did not fully adhere to his agenda. For example, he established the London Six Weeks Meeting in 1671 as a regulatory body, led by 35 women and 49 men. Even so, conflict culminated in
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#17328523957947332-415: The 1820s, the controversy surrounding the Missouri Compromise had quieted considerably but was revived by a series of events near the end of the decade. Serious debates over abolition took place in the Virginia legislature in 1829 and 1831. (See Thomas Roderick Dew#Dew and slavery .) In the North, discussion began about the possibility of freeing slaves and "resettling" them in Africa (a proposal that, under
7473-433: The 1840s and 1850s was carried on by state and local societies. The antislavery issue entered the mainstream of American politics through the Free Soil Party (1848–1854) and subsequently the Republican Party (founded in 1854). In 1870, the American Anti-Slavery Society was formally dissolved, after the Civil War , Emancipation and the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . The inaugural Executive Committee of
7614-460: The AFASS. Their rejoinders, rebuttals, and dialectics, proffered within AASS meetings and in the pages of The Liberator , framed arguments and ideas later appropriated by male and female anti-suffragists , the Liberal Republicans , and northeastern supporters for the Compromise of 1877 . The progenitors of such ideas frequently shifted positions and retracted statements in the postbellum era, often to no avail. Along with differing opinions about
7755-400: The American Anti-Slavery Society included Arthur Tappan (President), Abraham L. Cox (Recording Secretary), William Greene (Treasurer), Elizur Wright (Secretary of Domestic Correspondence), and William Lloyd Garrison (Secretary of the Foreign Correspondence). William Lloyd Garrison was one of the original founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Two years before founding
7896-486: The American Anti-Slavery Society was invited to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London , England, to meet and network with other abolitionists of the time. Additionally, it served to strengthen each group's commitment to racial equality. At this convention, female delegates were not allowed to participate in the event, but rather observe only, from a gallery. The ruling to exclude female abolitionists caused feminists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to form
8037-465: The American Anti-Slavery Society. The formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association and ethno-racial "lower orders" arguments by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her weekly The Revolution substantiated these fears, to a certain degree, for a number of these men. Frederick Douglass was one of the black activists who joined the American Anti-Slavery Society shortly after the internal schism and appointment of Garrison as Society President. Douglass
8178-461: The American Anti-slavery Society. Attitudes of equalitarianism were more widely accepted and women were viewed as "coworkers, not subordinates". Women not only held leadership positions, but also attended various societies and conventions. In contrast, women's participation in the American Anti-slavery Society became a quite contentious issue in the eastern United States. Women who were publicly passionate about abolition were seen as fanatics. In 1839,
8319-661: The Bible as secondary to the individual cultivation of God's light within. With Gurneyite Quakers' shift toward Protestant principles and away from the spiritualisation of human relations, women's role as promoters of "holy conversation" started to decrease. Conversely, within the Hicksite movement the rejection of the market economy and the continuing focus on community and family bonds tended to encourage women to retain their role as powerful arbiters. Elias Hicks 's religious views were claimed to be universalist and to contradict Quakers' historical orthodox Christian beliefs and practices. Hicks' Gospel preaching and teaching precipitated
8460-771: The Church shall heal. Whittier's "At Port Royal 1861" describes the experience of Northern abolitionists arriving at Port Royal, South Carolina , as teachers and missionaries for the slaves who had been left behind when their owners fled because the Union Navy would arrive to blockade the coast. The poem includes the "Song of the Negro Boatmen," written in dialect: Oh, praise an' tanks! De Lord he come To set de people free; An' massa tink it day ob doom, An' we ob jubilee. De Lord dat heap de Red Sea waves He jus' as 'trong as den; He say de word: we las' night slaves; To-day, de Lord's freemen. De yam will grow, de cotton blow, We'll hab de rice an' corn: Oh, nebber you fear, if nebber you hear De driver blow his horn! Of all
8601-456: The Constitution, they were drawn to supporting the Liberty Party. The disruption of the American Anti-Slavery Society, however, caused little damage to abolitionism. At the annual Society meeting in New York, on May 12, 1840, the first item of business was the appointment of a Committee of Business. Eleven people were chosen, with William Garrison the chairman. One of them was a woman, Abby Kelley . "The vote appointing Miss Kelley being doubted,
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#17328523957948742-438: The English (1733) included the spirit of commerce and religious diversity in Great Britain, with the first four letters based on the Quakers. Quakers have a long history of establishing educational institutions. Initially, Quakers had no ordained clergy , and therefore needed no seminaries for theological training. In England, Quaker schools sprang up soon after the movement emerged, with Friends School Saffron Walden being
8883-506: The Five Years Meeting due to a concern of what they saw as the allowance of modernism in the FYM. Some Orthodox Quakers in America disliked the move towards evangelical Christianity and saw it as a dilution of Friends' traditional orthodox Christian belief in being inwardly led by the Holy Spirit . These Friends were headed by John Wilbur , who was expelled from his yearly meeting in 1842. He and his supporters formed their own Conservative Friends Yearly Meeting. Some UK Friends broke away from
9024-425: The Friends Ambulance Unit or the American Friends Service Committee, or in other relief work – later held several Quaker World Conferences. This brought about a standing body of Friends: the Friends World Committee for Consultation . A growing desire for a more fundamentalist approach among some Friends after the First World War began a split among Five Years Meetings . In 1924, the Central Yearly Meeting of Friends
9165-455: The Light, and Friends of the Truth, reflecting terms used in the New Testament by members of the early Christian church. Quakerism gained a considerable following in England and Wales, not least among women. An address "To the Reader" by Mary Forster accompanied a Petition to the Parliament of England presented on 20 May 1659, expressing the opposition of over 7000 women to "the oppression of Tithes". The overall number of Quakers increased to
9306-449: The Manchester Conference in England in 1895, one thousand British Friends met to consider the future of British Quakerism, and as a result, Liberal Quaker thought gradually increased within the London Yearly Meeting. During World War I and World War II , Friends' opposition to war was put to the test. Many Friends became conscientious objectors and some formed the Friends Ambulance Unit , aiming at "co-operating with others to build up
9447-452: The Massachusetts charter , sent over a royal governor to enforce English laws in 1686 and, in 1689, passed a broad Toleration Act. Some Friends migrated to what is now the north-eastern region of the United States in the 1660s in search of economic opportunities and a more tolerant environment in which to build communities of "holy conversation". In 1665 Quakers established a meeting in Shrewsbury, New Jersey (now Monmouth County), and built
9588-558: The Midwest. Acceptance of the theory of evolution became more widespread in Yearly Meetings who moved toward liberal Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, creationism predominates within evangelical Friends Churches, particularly in East Africa and parts of the United States. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the so-called Quaker Renaissance movement began within London Yearly Meeting. Young Friends in London Yearly Meeting at this time moved away from evangelicalism and towards liberal Christianity. This movement
9729-429: The North, formerly known as the National Enquirer . In May 1838, the publication moved its offices to the newly opened Pennsylvania Hall on North Sixth Street, which was shortly after burned by a pro-slavery mob. Whittier continued to write poetry, and nearly all of his poems then dealt with the problem of slavery. In 1838, Charles G. Atherton of New Hampshire presented five resolutions that were adopted and created
9870-542: The North. For the next ten years, it featured the best of his writing, both as prose and poetry. Being confined to his home and away from the action offered Whittier a chance to write better abolitionist poetry, and he was even poet laureate for his party. Whittier's poems often used slavery to represent all kinds of oppression (physical, spiritual, economic), and his poems stirred up popular response because they appealed to feelings, rather than logic. Whittier produced two collections of antislavery poetry: Poems Written during
10011-501: The Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States, between 1830 and 1838 and Voices of Freedom (1846). He was an elector in the presidential election of 1860 and of 1864 for Abraham Lincoln both times. In the months leading up to the American Civil War , Whittier built a strong national audience. In January 1861, The Atlantic Monthly , which had previous spurned his poetry, praised him for his "keen and discriminating love of right" and his "love of freedom". In 1864,
10152-624: The Richmond Declaration was not adopted by London Yearly Meeting because a vocal minority, including Edward Grubb , opposed it. Following the Christian revivals in the mid-19th century, Friends in Great Britain sought also to start missionary activity overseas. The first missionaries were sent to Benares ( Varanasi ), in India, in 1866. The Friends Foreign Mission Association was formed in 1868 and sent missionaries to Madhya Pradesh , India, forming what
10293-563: The Second Federal Congress, Madison corresponded with manumitter Robert Pleasants , confirming their mutual support for conscientious religious objection to a Virginia state militia, premised on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution . The correspondence belied arguments that Madison completely capitulated to Virginia Antifederalist demands for an individual and state "right" to organize militias, in what would become
10434-418: The Society, Garrison began publishing The Liberator. This abolitionist paper argued for the immediate freedom of all slaves and operated under the motto of "Our country is the world – our countrymen are mankind." Within two years of the 1840 Society schism over the appointment of Abby Kelley to the Society business committee and efforts to wed abolition with first-wave feminism (and, to a lesser extent, over
10575-645: The Union, or to violate the constitution and laws of the country, or to ask of Congress any act transcending their constitutional powers, which the abolition of slavery by Congress in any state would plainly do. July 12, 1834. ARTHUR TAPPAN. JOHN RANKIN The black clergyman Theodore S. Wright was a significant founding member and served on the executive committee until 1840. A Presbyterian minister, Wright, together with well-known spokesmen such as Tappan and Garrison, agitated for temperance, education, black suffrage, and land reform. According to Wright: I will say nothing about
10716-580: The Vermonters, 1779 " anonymously in The New-England Magazine in 1838. The poem was mistakenly attributed to Ethan Allen for nearly sixty years. Whittier acknowledged his authorship in 1858. During the 1830s, Whittier became interested in politics, but after losing a congressional election at age 25, he suffered a nervous breakdown and returned home. The year 1833 was a turning point for Whittier; he resurrected his correspondence with Garrison, and
10857-873: The Vermonters, 1779 , which he had anonymously inserted in The New England Magazine. The poem was erroneously attributed to Ethan Allen for nearly sixty years. This use of poetry in the service of his political beliefs is illustrated by his book Poems Written during the Progress of the Abolition Question . Highly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, he is now largely remembered for his anti-slavery writings and his poems Barbara Frietchie , " The Barefoot Boy ", " Maud Muller " and Snow-Bound . A number of his poems have been turned into hymns , including Dear Lord and Father of Mankind , taken from his poem " The Brewing of Soma ". The latter part of
10998-879: The Whittier neighborhoods of Denver and Boulder , Colorado, as well as a school and a park there. Both Whittier College and Whittier Law School are named after him. A park in the Saint Boniface area of Winnipeg is named after the poet in recognition of his poem "The Red River Voyageur". Whittier Education Campus in Washington, DC , is named in his honor. SS Whittier Victory a World War II ship named after Whittier College. Whittier Peak and Mount Whittier in Washington and Mount Whittier in New Hampshire are mountains named after him. The alternate history story P.'s Correspondence (1846) by Nathaniel Hawthorne , considered
11139-508: The Wilkinson–Story split, in which a portion of the Quaker community left to worship independently in protest at women's meetings. After several years, this schism became largely resolved, testifying to the resistance of some within the Quaker community and to the spiritual role of women that Fox and Margaret Fell had encouraged. Particularly within the relatively prosperous Quaker communities of
11280-600: The abolitionist and resettlement movement in the early part of that century. Quaker Laura Smith Haviland , with her husband, established the first station on the Underground Railroad in Michigan. Later, Haviland befriended Sojourner Truth , who called her the Superintendent of the Underground Railroad. American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society ( AASS ) was an abolitionist society in
11421-461: The abolitionist movement. In the early history of Colonial America , it was fairly common for Friends to own slaves, e.g. in Pennsylvania . During the early to mid-1700s, disquiet about this practice arose among Friends, best exemplified by the testimonies of Benjamin Lay , Anthony Benezet and John Woolman , and this resulted in an abolition movement among Friends. Nine of the twelve founding members of
11562-579: The addition of other issues to its platform. He eventually participated in the evolution of the Liberty Party into the Free Soil Party , and some say his greatest political feat was convincing Charles Sumner to run on the Free-Soil ticket for the U.S. Senate in 1850. Beginning in 1847, Whittier was the editor of Gamaliel Bailey 's The National Era , one of the most influential abolitionist newspapers in
11703-572: The aims of the society appear to have been misrepresented in the prelude to the Farren Riots in New York, which resulted in attacks on the homes and properties of abolitionists. After the riots were quelled, the society issued a public disclaimer: The undersigned, in behalf of the Executive Committee of the 'American Anti-Slavery Society' and of other leading friends of the cause, now absent from
11844-556: The auspices of the American Colonization Society , led to the founding of Liberia ). Agitation increased with the publication of David Walker 's Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World in 1829, Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, and Andrew Jackson 's handling of the nullification crisis that same year. According to Louis Ruchame, The Turner rebellion was only one of about 200 slave uprisings between 1776 and 1860, but it
11985-548: The city, beg the attention of their fellow-citizens to the following disclaimer:— 1. We entirely disclaim any desire to promote or encourage intermarriages between white and coloured persons. 2. We disclaim and entirely disapprove the language of a handbill recently circulated in this city, the tendency of which is thought to be to excite resistance to the laws. Our principle is, that even hard laws are to be submitted to by all men, until they can by peaceable means be altered. We disclaim, as we have already done, any intention to dissolve
12126-410: The community from religious privileges men are made infidels. What, they demand, is your Christianity? How do you regard your brethren? How do you treat them at the Lord's table? Where is your consistency in talking about the heathen, traversing the ocean to circulate the Bible everywhere, while you frown upon them at the door? These things meet us and weigh down our spirits.... Many founding members used
12267-418: The correspondence with Pleasants, later ACS members heeded Madison's warning that immediate abolition proposals could lead to protracted Congressional debates. Lengthy deliberations and Congressional sessions, in turn, allowed proslavery delegates sufficient time to propose the repeal of individual manumission codes in the several states, ostensibly in anticipation of federal abolition. A corollary to this concern
12408-704: The dissolution of the organization. Another issue was whether abolitionists should enter politics as a distinct party. One of the more irreconcilable differences between the two internal AASS factions resulted in an external rivalry between dual anti-slavery societies. A minority of anti-feminist delegates left the AASS, forming the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . Wright was among them. They were more conservative, supporting organized religion and traditional forms of governance, and excluding women from leadership. Recent studies examine remaining AAAS members who sympathized with
12549-507: The eastern United States, the focus on the child and "holy conversation" gave women unusual community power, although they were largely excluded from the market economy. With the Hicksite–Orthodox split of 1827–1828, Orthodox women found their spiritual role decreased, while Hicksite women retained greater influence. Described as "natural capitalists" by the BBC , many Quakers were successful in
12690-462: The first 100 years were Quakers. West Jersey and Pennsylvania were established by affluent Quaker William Penn in 1676 and 1682 respectively, with Pennsylvania as an American commonwealth run under Quaker principles. William Penn signed a peace treaty with Tammany , leader of the Delaware tribe, and other treaties followed between Quakers and Native Americans. This peace endured almost a century, until
12831-452: The first half of the 20th century before the country's independence in 1963. International volunteering organisations such as Service Civil International and International Voluntary Service were founded by leading Quakers. Eric Baker , a prominent Quaker, was one of the founders of Amnesty International and of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament . The Quaker Edith Pye established
12972-653: The first such story ever published in English, includes the notice "Whittier, a fiery Quaker youth, to whom the muse had perversely assigned a battle-trumpet, got himself lynched, in South Carolina". The date of that event in Hawthorne's invented timeline was 1835. Whittier was one of thirteen writers in the 1897 card game Authors , which referenced his writings "Laus Deo", "Among the Hills", Snow-bound , and "The Eternal Goodness". He
13113-488: The footwear firm of C. & J. Clark and the big three British confectionery makers Cadbury , Rowntree and Fry ; and philanthropic efforts, including abolition of slavery, prison reform , and social justice . In 1947, in recognition of their dedication to peace and the common good, Quakers represented by the British Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee were awarded
13254-399: The house was divided, and on a count there appeared 557 in favor and 451 against her election. Lewis Tappan, Amos A. Phelps , and Charles W. Denison successively asked to be excused from serving on the committee, for reasons assigned; having reference to the appointment of Miss Kelly as a member. They were excused." After the AASS schism in national leadership, the bulk of AASS activity in
13395-406: The inconvenience which I have experienced myself, and which every man of color experiences, though made in the image of God. I will say nothing about the inconvenience of traveling; how we are frowned upon and despised. No matter how we may demean ourselves, we find embarrassments everywhere. But, this prejudice goes farther. It debars men from heaven. While sir, slavery cuts off the colored portion of
13536-477: The informal group of six Quakers who had pioneered the movement in 1783, when the first petition against the slave trade was presented to Parliament. As Quakers could not serve as Members of Parliament, they relied on the help of Anglican men who could, such as William Wilberforce and his brother-in-law James Stephen . By the beginning of the American Revolutionary War , few Friends owned slaves. At
13677-554: The intensity of my gazing. I do not think his voice naturally particularly fine, but he uses it with great effect. He has wonderful dramatic power ... I like him better than any public reader I have ever before heard. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1870. Whittier spent the last winters of his life, from 1876 to 1892, at Oak Knoll, the home of his cousins in Danvers, Massachusetts . Whittier spent
13818-669: The job of editor of the National Philanthropist , a Boston-based temperance weekly. Shortly after a change in management, Garrison reassigned him as editor of the weekly American Manufacturer in Boston. Whittier became an outspoken critic of President Andrew Jackson , and by 1830 was editor of the prominent New England Weekly Review in Hartford, Connecticut , the most influential Whig journal in New England . He published " The Song of
13959-455: The more urban, wealthier, Orthodox Quakers. With increasing financial success, Orthodox Quakers wanted to "make the Society a more respectable body – to transform their sect into a church – by adopting mainstream Protestant orthodoxy". Hicksites, though they held a variety of views, generally saw the market economy as corrupting, and believed Orthodox Quakers had sacrificed their orthodox Christian spirituality for material success. Hicksites viewed
14100-454: The most prominent. Quaker schools in the UK and Ireland are supported by The Friends' Schools' Council. In Australia, Friends' School, Hobart , founded in 1887, has grown into the largest Quaker school in the world. In Britain and the United States, friends have established a variety of institutions at a variety of educational levels . In Kenya, Quakers founded several primary and secondary schools in
14241-726: The most successful Friends' mission. Their Quakerism spread within Kenya and to Uganda , Tanzania , Burundi , and Rwanda . The theory of evolution as described in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) was opposed by many Quakers in the 19th century, particularly by older evangelical Quakers who dominated the Religious Society of Friends in Great Britain. These older Quakers were suspicious of Darwin's theory and believed that natural selection could not explain life on its own. The influential Quaker scientist Edward Newman said that
14382-409: The national organization split over basic differences of approach: Garrison and his followers were more radical than other members. They denounced the U.S. Constitution as supportive of slavery, were against established religion, and insisted on sharing organizational responsibility with women. Disagreement regarding the formal involvement of women became one of the principal factors which contributed to
14523-469: The opinion of the older and more established writer, pledging that if Neal did not like his writing, " I will quit poetry, and everything also of a literary nature , for I am sick at heart of the business." In an 1829 letter, Neal told Whittier to "Persevere, and I am sure you will have your reward in every way." Reading Neal's 1828 novel Rachel Dyer inspired Whittier to weave New England witchcraft lore into his own stories and poems. Garrison gave Whittier
14664-559: The organization's new declaration. The document condemns the institution of slavery and accuses slave owners of the sin of being a "man-stealer". It calls for the immediate abolition of slavery without conditions, and is critical of the efforts of the American Colonization Society . At the same time, it declares the group to be pacifist , and the signers agree, if necessary, to die as martyrs . Beginning in January 1834 and ending in August of
14805-496: The original 1833 gathering of the organization, and even they were not allowed to participate in an active role. Lucretia Mott , Lydia White, Esther Moore, and Sidney Ann Lewis attended on December 4, 1833, but none were able to sign the Constitution that day. Their exclusion from this convention contributed to female-led organizations that formed shortly thereafter. In the western United States, women held more important roles in
14946-455: The passionate abolitionist began to encourage the young Quaker to join his cause. In 1833, Whittier published the antislavery pamphlet Justice and Expediency , and from there dedicated the next twenty years of his life to the abolitionist cause. The controversial pamphlet destroyed all of his political hopes, as his demand for immediate emancipation alienated both Northern businessmen and Southern slaveholders, but it also sealed his commitment to
15087-612: The peace of God is there; To worship rightly is to love each other, Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer. His sometimes contrasting sense of the need for strong action against injustice can be seen in his poem "To Rönge" in honor of Johannes Ronge , the German religious figure and rebel leader of the 1848 rebellion in Germany: Thy work is to hew down. In God's name then: Put nerve into thy task. Let other men; Plant, as they may, that better tree whose fruit, The wounded bosom of
15228-426: The poem was set in 1924 by Dr. George Gilbert Stocks to the tune of Repton by English composer Hubert Parry from the 1888 oratorio Judith . It is also sung as the hymn Rest by Frederick Maker, and Charles Ives also set a part of it to music in his song "Serenity". Whittier's Quakerism is better illustrated, however, by the hymn that begins: O Brother Man, fold to thy heart thy brother: Where pity dwells,
15369-561: The poetry inspired by the Civil War , the "Song of the Negro Boatmen" was one of the most widely printed, and, although Whittier never actually visited Port Royal, an abolitionist working there described his "Song of the Negro Boatmen" as "wonderfully applicable as we were being rowed across Hilton Head Harbor among United States gunboats." Nathaniel Hawthorne dismissed Whittier's Literary Recreations and Miscellanies (1854): "Whittier's book
15510-433: The rebellion, and 60 whites lay dead. While the uprising led some Southerners to consider abolition, the reaction in all Southern states was to tighten the laws governing slave behavior. That same year, South Carolina's opposition to the federal tariff led the legislature to declare that the law was null and void in the state , and the state's leaders spoke of using the militia to prevent federal customs agents from collecting
15651-549: The religious beliefs of Joseph John Gurney were known as Gurneyite yearly meetings. Many eventually collectively became the Five Years Meeting (FYM) and then the Friends United Meeting , although London Yearly Meeting , which had been strongly Gurneyite in the 19th century, did not join either of these. In 1924, the Central Yearly Meeting of Friends , a Gurneyite yearly meeting, was started by some Friends who left
15792-636: The religious movement and introduced Quaker phrases and practices to it. British Friends became involved with the Higher Life movement , with Robert Wilson from the Cockermouth meeting founding the Keswick Convention . From the 1870s it became common in Britain to have "home mission meetings" on Sunday evening with Christian hymns and a Bible-based sermon, alongside the silent meetings for worship on Sunday morning. The Quaker Yearly Meetings supporting
15933-500: The remainder of his life. One of his most enduring works, Snow-Bound , was first published in 1866. Whittier was surprised by its financial success; he earned $ 10,000 from the first edition. In 1867, Whittier asked James T. Fields to get him a ticket to a reading by Charles Dickens during the British author's visit to the United States. After the event, Whittier wrote a letter describing his experience: My eyes ached all next day from
16074-691: The restructuring of the family and household came new roles for women; Fox and Fell viewed the Quaker mother as essential to developing "holy conversation" in her children and husband. Quaker women were also responsible for the spirituality of the larger community, coming together in "meetings" that regulated marriage and domestic behaviour. The persecution of Quakers in North America began in July 1656 when English Quaker missionaries Mary Fisher and Ann Austin began preaching in Boston. They were considered heretics because of their insistence on individual obedience to
16215-578: The role of women, the Liberty Party emerged as a separate anti-slavery organization that broke away from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1839 in order to pursue an abolitionist agenda through the political process. As a radical, Garrison did not believe it prudent to fight the system from the inside. Because women in the West had a more fluid approach to their political involvement, particularly when it came to Garrison's staunch disagreement with
16356-403: The roles of African-American leaders), the former Society President, his brother, and their adherents had seceded from the American Anti-Slavery Society. These men subsequently established the rival American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . Six African-American men also apostatized to the oppositional Society, principally due to a potential conflation of female leadership with white feminism in
16497-611: The same year, the society published the American Anti-Slavery Reporter , a monthly periodical containing professional essays regarding the subject of slavery. The society was considered controversial and its activities were sometimes met with violence. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica , "The society's antislavery activities frequently met with violent public opposition, with mobs invading meetings, attacking speakers, and burning presses." In July 1834
16638-410: The stresses of editorial duties, worsening health, and dangerous mob violence caused Whittier to have a physical breakdown. He went home to Amesbury and remained there for the rest of his life, ending his active participation in abolition. Even so, he continued to believe that the best way to gain abolitionist support was to broaden the Liberty Party's political appeal, and Whittier persisted in advocating
16779-490: The summer of 1892 at the home of a cousin in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire , where he wrote his last poem (a tribute to Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ) and where he was captured in a final photograph. He died at this home on September 7, 1892, and was buried in Amesbury, Massachusetts . Whittier's first two published books were Legends of New England (1831) and the poem Moll Pitcher (1832). In 1833 he published The Song of
16920-557: The tax. President Andrew Jackson swept aside the states' rights arguments and threatened to use the army to enforce federal laws. In the face of Jackson's determination, the state backed down, but the episode raised fears throughout the South that it was only a matter of time before Congress would begin to tamper with slavery. Southern anxiety increased in 1833 with the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Louisiana . Beginning in 1816,
17061-493: The theory was "not compatible with our notions of creation as delivered from the hands of a Creator". However, some young Friends such as John Wilhelm Rowntree and Edward Grubb supported Darwin's theories, using the doctrine of progressive revelation. In the United States, Joseph Moore taught the theory of evolution at the Quaker Earlham College as early as 1861. This made him one of the first teachers to do so in
17202-462: The tragic and fateful voyage of the slave ship Sally . Brown broke away from his three brothers, became an abolitionist, and converted to Christian Quakerism. During the 19th century, Quakers such as Levi Coffin and Isaac Hopper played a major role in helping enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad . Black Quaker Paul Cuffe , a sea captain and businessman, was active in
17343-568: The universal priesthood of all believers. This personal religious experience of Christ was acquired by direct experience and by reading and studying the Bible . Friends focused their private lives on behaviour and speech reflecting emotional purity and the light of God, with a goal of Christian perfection . A prominent theological text of the Religious Society of Friends is A Catechism and Confession of Faith (1673), published by Quaker divine Robert Barclay . The Richmond Declaration of Faith (1887)
17484-478: The vices and habits of slaves." He advocated "resettlement" of former slaves to the west coast of Africa, where the Society acquired land and founded what became Liberia . The ACS idea of colonization aligned with Madisonian perspectives on immediate abolition bills proposed to the Federal Congress. In 1791, Madison had observed that, in his experience, such proposals resulted in "harm rather than good." During
17625-565: The war's end in 1783, Yarnall family members along with fellow Meeting House Friends made a failed petition to the Continental Congress to abolish slavery in the United States . In 1790, the Society of Friends petitioned the United States Congress to abolish slavery. One example of a reversal in sentiment about slavery took place in the life of Moses Brown , one of four Rhode Island brothers who, in 1764, organized and funded
17766-532: The war, forming groups such as the Free Quakers and the Universal Friends . Later, in the 19th century, there was a diversification of theological beliefs in the Religious Society of Friends, and this led to several larger splits within the movement. The Hicksite–Orthodox split arose out of both ideological and socioeconomic tensions. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Hicksites tended to be agrarian and poorer than
17907-409: The white members had been served. Then he drew a long breath, and looking out towards the door, exclaimed, "Come up, colored friends, come up! for you know God is no respecter of persons!" I haven't been there to see the sacraments taken since. Douglass hoped his letters would remind Garrison why slavery should be abolished. Douglass's reminder did not ease the minds of those against Garrison. In 1840,
18048-512: Was active within the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society between 1841 and 1842. He engaged with the American Anti-Slavery Society lecture circuit beginning 1843. Born into chattel slavery, Douglass escaped and made his way to New Bedford, Boston, and New York. He developed written and verbal skills that resulted in his becoming a prominent spokesman of the abolitionist movement. He endorsed a federal women's suffrage resolution at
18189-434: Was adopted by many Orthodox Friends and continues to serve as a doctrinal statement of many yearly meetings. Quakers were known to use thee as an ordinary pronoun, refuse to participate in war , wear plain dress , refuse to swear oaths , oppose slavery , and practice teetotalism . Some Quakers founded banks and financial institutions, including Barclays , Lloyds , and Friends Provident ; manufacturers including
18330-531: Was called for December 4, 1833, at the Adelphi Building in Philadelphia. The convention had 62 delegates, of which 21 were Quakers . At this point, the American Anti-Slavery Society formed to appeal to the moral and practical circumstances that, at this point, propped up a pro-slavery society. Between December 4–6, 1833, sixty delegates from New England , Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and New Jersey convened
18471-558: Was directed toward the church. According to Douglass: In the South I was a member of the Methodist Church . When I came north, I thought one Sunday I would attend communion, at one of the churches of my denomination, in the town I was staying. The white people gathered round the altar, the blacks clustered by the door. After the good minister had served out the bread and wine to one portion of those near him, he said, "These may withdraw, and others come forward"; thus he proceeded till all
18612-551: Was dissatisfied with the teachings of the Church of England and nonconformists . He claimed to have received a revelation that "there is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition", and became convinced that it was possible to have a direct experience of Christ without the aid of ordained clergy. In 1652 he had a vision on Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England, in which he believed that "the Lord let me see in what places he had
18753-478: Was first introduced to poetry by a teacher. His sister Mary Whittier sent his first poem, "The Deity", to the Newburyport Free Press without his permission, and its editor, William Lloyd Garrison , published it on June 8, 1826. Garrison, as well as another local editor, encouraged Whittier to attend the recently opened Haverhill Academy. To raise money to attend the school, Whittier became a shoemaker for
18894-518: Was invaluable. From 1835 to 1838, he traveled widely in the North, attending conventions, securing votes, speaking to the public, and lobbying politicians. As he did so, Whittier received his fair share of violent responses, being several times mobbed, stoned, and run out of town. From 1838 to 1840, he was editor of the Pennsylvania Freeman in Philadelphia , one of the leading antislavery papers in
19035-478: Was one of the bloodiest, and thus struck fear in the hearts of many white southerners. Nat Turner and more than 70 enslaved and free blacks spontaneously launched a rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia , in August 1831. They moved from farm to farm, indiscriminately killing whites along the way and picking up additional slaves. By the time the militia put down the insurrection, more than 80 slaves had joined
19176-488: Was only enough money to get by. Whittier himself was not cut out for hard farm labor and suffered from bad health and physical frailty his whole life. Although he received little formal education, he was an avid reader who studied his father's six books on Quakerism until their teachings became the foundation of his ideology. Whittier was heavily influenced by the doctrines of his religion, particularly its stress on humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility. Whittier
19317-506: Was particularly influenced by Rowntree, Grubb, and Rufus Jones . Such Liberal Friends promoted the theory of evolution, modern biblical criticism , and the social meaning of Christ's teaching – encouraging Friends to follow the New Testament example of Christ by performing good works. These men downplayed the evangelical Quaker belief in the atonement of Christ on the Cross at Calvary . After
19458-553: Was probably derived from the appellations "Friends of the Light" and "Friends of the Truth". Conservative Friends (US 2K) Friends United Meeting (US 25K, world 170K) Evangelical Friends Church International (US 34K, world 200K) Beaconite Friends General Conference (US 22K, world 32K) Around the time of the American Revolutionary War , some American Quakers split from the main Society of Friends over issues such as support for
19599-499: Was removed from the card game when it was reissued in 1987. Whitter's poem "Twilight" was set to music in 1932 by Edwin Fowles . In 2020, a statue previously erected in his honor in Whittier, California , was defaced with antislavery and Black Lives Matter slogans by vandals. He had never owned slaves. Poetry collections Prose Quakers Quakers are people who belong to
19740-630: Was started by some Friends who left the Five Years Meeting. In 1926, Oregon Yearly Meeting seceded from the Five Years Meeting , bringing together several other yearly meetings and scattered monthly meetings. In 1947, the Association of Evangelical Friends was formed, with triennial meetings until 1970. In 1965, this was replaced by the Evangelical Friends Alliance, which in 1989 became Evangelical Friends Church International . In
19881-470: Was that proslavery delegates, in the context of individual manumission codes, had hitherto demanded "a condition that the persons freed should be removed from the Country." For Madison, federal colonization legislation proved more prudent, practical, and feasible because proslavery representatives were already amenable to it. Madisonian colonization would ultimately be compulsory, not voluntary, which again aligned with ACS goals. A convention of abolitionists
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