Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777–1778
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: “Politics and religion are a volatile combination—whether in 2023 or in 1777” (2). No other statement by author Norman Donoghue II in his book Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777–1778, may better encapsulate its topic. When one considers this volatile combination, especially in the American context, what likely comes to mind are the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment, commonly paraphrased as “separation of church and state.” Such a notion, though not too far off from reality at the time of the American War of Independence, would have been novel to those living in the context of European empire. In Pennsylvania no religious sect was more woven into the political fabric of the colony than the Quakers, at least until the time of the revolution. Rebellion and war did not appeal to a Christian community with neutrality and pacifism at its heart. The friction between their peaceable values and the fervor of American patriots would create one of the United States of America’s earliest instances of state-sponsored religious persecution.Despite the extensive study of Pennsylvania’s Quaker history and the history of the American War of Independence, not enough attention has been paid to the experience of Friends during that conflict. Donohue’s book does so by examining the lives of Philadelphia’s Quaker residents, seventeen of whom would be exiled by the revolutionary government for their perceived threat to national security. Donohue notes that now nearly two and a half centuries later no historian has written extensively on the story of these men. Those who have addressed this story are primarily Quakers themselves, with one, Thomas Gilpin Jr., being the son of an exile. His 1848 work “attributes no political motives to them [Quakers] and ignores the broader context and legitimate criticisms Patriots leveled against Quakers” (10). By reconsidering the exile in light of its religious and political implications, Donohue establishes it as an early “cautionary tale” about civil liberties in wartime, connecting it to later events such as the imprisonment of suffragists, Japanese internment, and the Red Scare (11).Donohue makes his case for the importance of the exile by marshalling primary source evidence, such as diaries and personal and official correspondence, from a variety of archives. These sources help him to tell a vivid story of the lives of four families, the Drinkers, the Fishers, the Pembertons, and the Gilpins, as well as numerous other individuals who feature in their stories. His study does not focus on the exile of the family patriarchs exclusively, it also examines in detail the lives and experiences of the families they left behind. This work considers the role of women and highlights their agency within a city caught in the middle of two warring armies.As the caravan of Quaker men were moved from Philadelphia to Winchester, Virginia, the broader Quaker community worked to support them and eventually to secure their freedom. The close social network, supported by annual, quarterly, and monthly meetings, would even lobby Congress for their release (76). Seeing little progress in official efforts to liberate the men, and hearing of their worsening health conditions, four women set out on a daring mission of their own. Donohue records in detail their trek to the American encampment, where they personally presented their plea to General Washington. Despite his frequent critique of how the fledging American government treated its population, Donohue presents a nuanced assessment of Washington’s apparent feelings and involvement with the exiles and their advocates that moves between personal and political. Washington, if not other American higher-ups, is humanized, helping the reader to understand why, after the Quaker women’s visit, he would write in their favor saying, “Humanity pleads strongly on their behalf” (131).While politics and politicians, and military tactics and generals play a central role in the story of the Quakers and their exiled leaders, the story this book tells is ultimately one of human suffering and perseverance. Donohue infuses his writing with details made real by the primary source evidence that make these historical figures relatable to twenty-first-century readers. The Quaker inhabitants of Philadelphia are shown to be people on the front lines of a raging war that wore on their wellbeing. They had property confiscated, troops and their horses stationed in their homes, were forced to ration, and witnessed waves of destruction with each change of the city’s occupiers. In perhaps one of the most relatable stories shared in the book, Elizabeth Drinker records her day-long struggle against surrendering her stable to Hessians and their horses, such an ordeal that she went to bed that night with a headache (98).Donohue’s work is a truly comprehensive study of the experience of Pennsylvanian, particularly Philadelphian, Quakers during the American War of Independence. From the extraordinary and mundane experiences of Quakers in the occupied capital to the emotional and physical hardships of the exiled men in Virginia, Prisoners of Congress gives the reader insight into the experiences of a minority population at war. This work demonstrates a clear knowledge not only of the well-documented military and political developments in the conflict, but also of the specific religious and social conditions that led to the plight of the Quaker men and women whose lives are shared with the reader in a compassionate way. To infuse military, political, and social history with a robust understanding of Quaker theology, represents a holistic and unique contribution to the study of a people and period so foundational to Pennsylvania’s history.Passion flows through the stories shared in this book. In the introduction and the epilogue, Donohue shares with the reader his personal connection to the Friends. Raised in an eighteenth-century Quaker home, neighborhood, and preschool, he “might have absorbed by osmosis . . . a strong inclination leading to a firm and constant lifelong interest in the Quakers (166). With the discovery that his childhood home was a stopping point for the Quaker women’s mission in April 1778 as they traveled to free the exiles, it appears as naturally to the reader as to the author, that Donohue was meant to tell the story of these Friends at the founding of the American nation.
Source: Pennsylvania history
Author: Larry D. Herrold, Jr.
Institution: United Lutheran Seminary
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409574904