Woolman, John

Woolman, John (1720–1772), American Quaker and reformer.Born near Mt. Holly, New Jersey, Woolman traveled as a minister through the colonies and England. Best known for his Journal and for his antislavery efforts, he became involved in peace issues during the French and Indian War, becoming a war tax refuser, and joining others in 1755 in signing An Epistle of Tender Love and Caution. In 1759, he wrote a second letter, sometimes called the Pacifist Epistle. In response to the draft, Woolman emphasized principled objection, decrying objectors who merely “pretend scruple of conscience.” He did not refuse to quarter soldiers, but would not accept pay, explaining that he acted “in passive obedience to authority.” During the frontier violence after the war, he visited the Indians at Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, “to feel and understand the spirit they live in” and to promote peaceful relations. His essay A Plea for the Poor shows unusual insights into the causes of war, urging people to look at their possessions and “try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in them.”
[See also Conscientious Objection; Nonviolence; Pacifism; Quakers.]

Bibliography

Edwin H. Cady , John Woolman, 1965.
Phiilips P. Moulton , The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, 1971.

Sterling P. Olmsted