John Woolman
Who was John Woolman?
American Quaker preacher and writer 1720-1772
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on John Woolman (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
John Woolman was born on October 19, 1720 (Old Style), in Ancocas, Burlington County, New Jersey, into a Quaker family with modest means. He spent most of his adult life in Mount Holly, New Jersey, working as a merchant and tailor and focusing on the spiritual and ethical concerns of the Society of Friends. From a young age, he showed a strong sensitivity to moral issues. In his journal, he recounted how a youthful act of cruelty toward a bird haunted him and strengthened his commitment to living compassionately. This conscience-driven life influenced everything he wrote and every journey he took.
In his twenties, Woolman started preaching at Quaker meetings and soon traveled throughout the American colonies, visiting communities from New England to the Carolinas. During these travels, he always refused the hospitality of slaveholders unless he could pay enslaved workers directly for their labor. He also avoided using goods he believed were made through slave labor, like dyed cloth. His insistence on discussing slavery within Quaker meetings helped lead the Society of Friends to an antislavery stance long before such issues became politically urgent in the American Revolution.
Starting in 1755, during the French and Indian War, Woolman argued that Quakers should refuse to pay taxes funding military operations. He believed that even indirectly supporting war financing went against the Quaker belief in peace. This position was controversial, putting him at odds with colonial authorities and some in his community, but he stuck to it throughout the conflict. He also spoke out against broader economic injustices, like the exploitation of poor workers and the harsh treatment of animals in transport and farming.
In 1772, Woolman traveled to England to attend the Yearly Meeting of British Quakers and encourage stronger action against slavery. Choosing to travel in steerage instead of more comfortable quarters, he was concerned about the excessive luxury and exploitation in the Atlantic trade. After arriving in England and attending meetings in London and the north, he contracted smallpox and died in York on October 7, 1772, at age fifty-one.
Throughout his adult life, Woolman kept a detailed journal, noting his spiritual reflections, travels, and encounters with the ethical complexities of colonial society. Published after his death in 1774 as The Journal of John Woolman, it has been continuously in print and is considered a key spiritual autobiography in American literature. Featured in the first volume of the Harvard Classics in 1909, it received admiration from writers beyond the Quaker tradition, like philosopher John Stuart Mill, poet William Ellery Channing, and essayist Charles Lamb, who urged a friend to memorize Woolman's writings.
Before Fame
John Woolman grew up in a farming area in Burlington County, New Jersey, as one of thirteen children in a devout Quaker family. His formal education was limited, but he spent time reading on his own and was good with language and moral thinking from a young age. As a young man, he worked in a shop, learned tailoring, and eventually started his own small business in Mount Holly. He later wrote that he intentionally kept his business small to avoid getting so caught up in making money that he neglected his spiritual duties.
He started moving toward public ministry by attending Quaker meetings more seriously in his early twenties. He first spoke publicly at a meeting around 1743 and was soon recognized as a minister by the Society of Friends. Unlike many clergymen of his time, who worked within set institutional structures, Woolman's authority came from the Quaker practice of recognizing individuals whose public speaking was considered spiritually sound by the community. This grassroots recognition allowed him to speak on topics like slavery that more institutionally bound clergy might have avoided.
Key Achievements
- Authored The Journal of John Woolman (1774), a foundational text of American spiritual literature included in the Harvard Classics
- Played a significant role in persuading the Society of Friends to adopt an official antislavery position in the years before the American Revolution
- Advocated publicly for tax resistance during the French and Indian War on grounds of Quaker pacifist principles
- Traveled extensively through the American colonies and to England promoting abolition, economic justice, and humane treatment of animals
- Published multiple essays against slavery, contributing to the early American abolitionist movement decades before it became a widespread cause
Did You Know?
- 01.Woolman chose to travel to England in steerage class in 1772, refusing the relative comfort of cabin passage because he believed the luxury trade supporting such accommodations was morally compromised.
- 02.He stopped using silver utensils and dyed clothing in the 1760s because the production processes for both involved labor conditions he considered exploitative.
- 03.Charles Lamb, the English essayist, described The Journal of John Woolman as one of the finest pieces of writing he knew and told a friend to get Woolman's writings 'by heart.'
- 04.Woolman directly paid enslaved people for their labor when lodging with slaveholding Quaker families, a deliberate act of protest intended to make the economic reality of slavery visible to his hosts.
- 05.His journal has been in continuous print since its first publication in 1774, making it one of the longest uninterrupted publication runs of any American literary work.
Family & Personal Life
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Smallpox
The pandemic recorded as John Woolman's cause of death.