The advocates of peace in antebellum America

About this book

A revealing study of the worldview of nineteenth-century American peace activists, this book chronicles the political and intellectual development of the two major antebellum peace movements. The American Peace Society, a moderate group, understood peace work in the context of a positive view of the role of the state and social institutions in restraining war. It aimed to work through the institutions of church and state to achieve peace. The Garrisonian nonresistants of the New England Non-Resistant Society constituted a radical group which advocated the individual's complete separation from all institutions and a strict adherence to the example of Christ's life and teachings. As Valarie H. Ziegler shows, the task of establishing peace in a culture where institutionalized forms of violence such as slavery were legally protected proved endlessly frustrating for both groups. As they faced the questions raised by such diverse events as the lynching of abolitionists, the women's rights movement, the Mexican War, the Fugitive Slave Law, and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, the advocates of peace faced the challenge of reformulating their ethical models, in hope of finding some way to reconcile peace, liberty, and social order. Despite their differences in temperament, both groups were initially convinced that the New Testament's admonition to love one's enemies and refuse to return evil for evil was an absolute command. They believed they were called to practice peace without regard for the consequences. As civil unrest raged over slavery, however, the advocates discovered that they did care about consequences. They wanted to abolish slavery and create a just social order. With the coming of the Civil War, the peace activists faced their most difficult task: choosing between a violent struggle to free the slaves and dutiful obedience to the Sermon on the Mount.