A Vivifying Spirit
Quaker Practice and Reform in Antebellum America
Janet Moore Lindman
“Lindman’s pairing of textured descriptions of pious practices with accessible accounts of how the Society of Friends changed over time makes her book an excellent introduction to the history of Quakerism in 19th-century America, a study I would recommend students new to the field to consult first.”
- Description
- Reviews
- Bio
- Table of Contents
- Sample Chapters
- Subjects
Examining this increasing complexity and highlighting a vital religiosity driven by deeply held convictions, Janet Moore Lindman focuses on the Friends of the mid-Atlantic and the Delaware Valley to explore how Friends’ piety affected their actions—not only in the evolution of religious practice and belief but also in response to a changing social and political context. Her analysis demonstrates how these Friends’ practical approach to piety embodied spiritual ideals that reformulated their religion and aided their participation in a burgeoning American republic.
Based on extensive archival research, this book sheds new light on both the evolution of Quaker spiritual practice and the history of antebellum reform movements. It will be of interest to scholars and students of early American history, religious studies, and Quaker studies as well as general readers interested in the history of the Society of Friends.
“Lindman’s pairing of textured descriptions of pious practices with accessible accounts of how the Society of Friends changed over time makes her book an excellent introduction to the history of Quakerism in 19th-century America, a study I would recommend students new to the field to consult first.”
“[This] book provides an intimate look at Quaker life during the antebellum period, which should be considered essential reading for scholars of the Religious Society of Friends.”
“Overall a meticulously researched study of American Quakerism spanning the antebellum era, it is a significant contribution to Quaker History, the development of the early Republic, religious studies, and women’s history, with attention to the role of Quaker female leadership in nineteenth-century social reform.”
Janet Moore Lindman is Professor of History at Rowan University. She is the author of Bodies of Belief: Baptist Community in Early America and coeditor of A Centre of Wonders: The Body in Early America.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Author’s Note: Dating System of the Religious Society of Friends
Introduction: Practical Friends
Part 1: Seed Time
1. “Inward and Outward Consolation”: Quaker Piety
2. “To Cultivate Tender Minds”: Educating Children
3. “The Solemn Close”: Rituals of Death
Part 2: Fruitless Exercise and Distress
4. “A Dividing and Separating Spirit”: The Hicksite Schism
5. “Contentions, Divisions, and Subdivisions”: Gurneyites v. Wilburites
6. “Practical Righteousness”: Reforming Friends
Part 3: A Work of Redemption
7. “In the Advancement of Piety”: Quaker Manuscript and Print Culture
8. “Tokens of Remembrance”: Friends, Memory, and History
Conclusion: American Quakerisms
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Download a PDF sample chapter here: Introduction
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