2. Antebellum Quaker Boycotts
The Society of Friends, more commonly called Quakers, formed in the aftermath of the English Civil War (1642-1651). Quakers believed that it was their duty to have “holy conversation” and lead lives of piety, faith, and love. King Charles II gave a land grant to William Penn, who encouraged his fellow Quakers to leave England and Ireland and settle in the new British Colonies. These Quakers founded Philadelphia in 1681 where they used slave labor to clear the land, construct buildings, and build urban infrastructure.
A Quaker abolitionist movement began around 1730. As they emancipated their slaves, Quakers began advocating for complete abolition, which became a new tenant of Quaker society. As Philadelphia grew, Quakers began traveling south into the Carolina backcountry to establish new communities that continued to advocate peace, love, and abolition. Meanwhile, as eastern plantation and slave owners sought out new lands, they came in direct contact with the peace-loving Quakers. Many believed the Quakers cowards as they abstained from violence even though they had successfully negotiated trade relations with hostile native tribal leaders without relying upon violent attacks.
Upon American independence, Quakers remained committed to the peace and loving tenants of their religion. As abolitionists in New England held rallies and gave speeches that proclaimed the horrors of slavery in the South, Quakers became entrenched in their own fight for abolition. Largely ignored, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 required all citizens and government officials to assist with the recapturing of any escaped slave when his or her owner came looking. Theoretically, all an escaped slave had to do was cross into a free state where he or she could blend in with the free-black community. Reality was different and escaped slaves required help to make safe passage to a free state or Canada.
Levi Coffin, a prominent Quaker, led a boycott against any shop that sold or transported goods that used slave labor. In antebellum America, cotton was the most profitable crop because it was planted, maintained, harvested, and transported by people who received no wages for their labor. When the cotton arrived at northern textile mills, cheap immigrant labor was used to manufacture cloth and clothing, which was then transported to shops throughout the country. Quakers boycotted plantation-grown cotton, the goods it was manufactured into, and the shops that sold it. They also boycotted rice, sugar, and flour milled by slaves.
In addition to boycotting crops that used slave labor, Quakers became central figures in the Underground Railroad. After the success of the Mexican-American War, southern plantation owners began to press for a strict national fugitive slave law. With the passage of the Compromise of 1850, it became illegal for anyone to assist a runaway slave or to interfere with the return of a slave to its owner. Quakers did not recognize this law as it was against their belief of abolition, peace, love, and the right of anyone to have “holy conversation” with God.
Quakers established safe houses for enslaved men, women, and children who were undertaking the laborious and illegal trek north. In direct defiance of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Quakers provided information for runaway slaves that would lead them to the next safe house. Most that participated in the Underground Railroad knew only of the next safe house instead of all of the safe houses. The secrecy implemented by the Quakers would assist them if they were found out by anyone seeking to find a runaway slave, of which there were many.
In the case of the Quakers, their boycott of crops and goods made with slave labor became a stepping-stone to establishing the Underground Railroad. For Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine, it is estimated that they alone assisted 2,000 escaped slaves to freedom. Perhaps the most famous person with ties to the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman who undoubtedly interacted with Quakers as she escorted escaped slaves to freedom.