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John Woolman
John Woolman (1720–1772) was an American Quaker preacher, abolitionist, and writer whose gentle ministry and tireless advocacy against slavery profoundly influenced 18th-century religious and social thought. Born on October 19, 1720, in Northampton, Burlington County, New Jersey, to Samuel Woolman, a farmer, and Elizabeth Burr, he grew up in a devout Quaker family of 13 children. Educated informally at home, he developed a deep spiritual sensitivity, experiencing a transformative moment at age 20 when he refused to draft a bill of sale for a slave, sparking his lifelong opposition to slavery. Initially a clerk and tailor, he was recorded as a Quaker minister around 1743 by the Burlington Monthly Meeting, dedicating himself to itinerant preaching. In 1741, he married Sarah Ellis, with whom he had two children, though only one daughter, Mary, survived infancy. Woolman’s preaching career unfolded through extensive travels across the American colonies—from New England to the Carolinas—where he spoke at Quaker meetings, urging Friends to abolish slaveholding and embrace simplicity, often funding his journeys by tailoring. His soft-spoken yet resolute sermons, coupled with personal acts like wearing undyed clothing to protest exploitation, embodied his belief in the “Inner Light” guiding ethical living. His Journal (published posthumously in 1774) detailed his spiritual journey and anti-slavery efforts, while works like Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754) influenced Quakers to adopt abolitionist policies by 1776. Woolman died of smallpox on October 7, 1772, in York, England, during a final preaching tour, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose quiet persistence reshaped Quakerism and advanced the moral case against slavery in America.
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John Woolman addresses the distress he feels due to the Society members engaging in impure business practices, particularly the trade of slaves to Africa. He highlights the decline in faithfulness among Friends, leading to the acceptance of superfluities in dress and possessions, causing a dimness of spiritual sight. Woolman urges Friends to dig deep, cast off worldly influences, and listen to the Divine Voice for guidance towards self-denial and simplicity in trade and lifestyle. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining humility and purity of principles to avoid the infiltration of worldly luxuries and uphold true brotherly love.
On Trading in Superfluities
I have felt great Distress of Mind since I came on this Island(2), on Account of the Members of our Society being mixed with the world in various sorts of business and Traffick, carried on in impure Channels. Great is the Trade to Africa for Slaves: and in loading these Ships abundance of People are employ'd in the Manufactories. Friends in early time refused, on religious Principle, to make or trade in Superfluities, of which we have many large Testimonies on Record, but for want of Faithfulness, some gave Way, even Some whose Example were of Note in Society, and from these others took more Liberty; Members of our Society worked in Superfluities, and bought and sold them, and thus Dimness of Sight came over many. At length Friends got into the Use of some Superfluities in Dress, and in the Furniture of their Houses, and this hath spread from less to more, till Superfluity of some Kind is common amongst us. In this declining State many look at the Example of one another, and too much neglect the pure Feeling of Truth. Of late Years a deep Exercise hath attended my Mind, that Friends may dig deep; may carefully cast forth the loose Matter, and get down to the Rock , the sure Foundation, and there hearken to that Divine Voice which gives a clear and certain Sound. And I have felt, in that which doth not deceive, that if Friends who have known the Truth, keep in that Tenderness of Heart, where all views of outward Gain are given up, and their Trust is only on the Lord, he will generously lead some to be Patterns of deep Self-denial, in Things relating to Trade, and handicraft Labour: and that some who have Plenty of Treasure of this World, will example in a plain frugal Life, and pay Wages to such whom they may hire, more liberally than is now customary in some Places.(3) While Friends were kept truly humble, and walked according to the purity of our Principles, the Divine Witness in many Hearts was reached; but, when a world Sprit got Entrance, therewith came in Luxuries and Superfluities, and spread little and little, even amongst the foremost Rank in Society, and from these others took Liberty in that Way more abundantly. In the Continuation of these Things from Parents to Children there were many wants to supply, even Wants unknown to Friends, while they faithfully followed Christ. And, in striving to supply these Wants, amy have exacted on the poor, many have enter'd on Employments, in which they often labour in upholding Pride and Vanity. Many have looked on one another, been strenghten'd in these things, one by the Example of another, and as to the pure Divine Feeling, dimness hath come over many, and the Channels of true Brotherly Love been obstructed. NOTES (1) With may be compared the earlier essay, "Serious Considerations on Trade." (2) England. (3) The next two paragraphs, in the first edition, 1774, from part of the essay "On a Sailors Life," but the York MS. places them here.
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John Woolman (1720–1772) was an American Quaker preacher, abolitionist, and writer whose gentle ministry and tireless advocacy against slavery profoundly influenced 18th-century religious and social thought. Born on October 19, 1720, in Northampton, Burlington County, New Jersey, to Samuel Woolman, a farmer, and Elizabeth Burr, he grew up in a devout Quaker family of 13 children. Educated informally at home, he developed a deep spiritual sensitivity, experiencing a transformative moment at age 20 when he refused to draft a bill of sale for a slave, sparking his lifelong opposition to slavery. Initially a clerk and tailor, he was recorded as a Quaker minister around 1743 by the Burlington Monthly Meeting, dedicating himself to itinerant preaching. In 1741, he married Sarah Ellis, with whom he had two children, though only one daughter, Mary, survived infancy. Woolman’s preaching career unfolded through extensive travels across the American colonies—from New England to the Carolinas—where he spoke at Quaker meetings, urging Friends to abolish slaveholding and embrace simplicity, often funding his journeys by tailoring. His soft-spoken yet resolute sermons, coupled with personal acts like wearing undyed clothing to protest exploitation, embodied his belief in the “Inner Light” guiding ethical living. His Journal (published posthumously in 1774) detailed his spiritual journey and anti-slavery efforts, while works like Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754) influenced Quakers to adopt abolitionist policies by 1776. Woolman died of smallpox on October 7, 1772, in York, England, during a final preaching tour, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose quiet persistence reshaped Quakerism and advanced the moral case against slavery in America.