Defending the Lenape homeland -- Seeking peace in Cohanzick County -- Protecting liberty and property : the West New Jersey concessions -- Quaker colonization without violence or remorse -- Women, ethnicity, and freedom in southern Lenapehoking -- Forced separation : enslaved blacks in the Quaker colony -- A different path : defining Swedish and Finnish ethnicity.
Focusing on the evolution of abolitionism among Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from 1688 to 1780, this book examines how moral attitudes shift within groups. Dr. Soderlund highlights the efforts of reformers like John Woolman and Benjamin Lay, detailing their struggles and strategies. The narrative reveals that the Quaker humanitarians ultimately achieved their goals by moderating their aims to gain broader support, setting a gradualistic and paternalistic framework that influenced the future antislavery movement.