Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777–1778

In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as “the most Dangerous Enemies America knows” and ordered Pennsylvania and Delaware to apprehend them. In response, Keystone State officials sent twenty men—seventeen of whom were Quakers—into exile, banishing them to Virginia, where they were held for a year. __Prisoners of Congress__ reconstructs this moment in American history through the experiences of four families: the Drinkers, the Fishers, the Pembertons, and the Gilpins. Identifying them as the new nation’s first political prisoners, Norman E. Donoghue II relates how the Quakers, once the preeminent power in Pennsylvania and an integral constituency of the colonies and early republic, came to be reviled by patriots who saw refusal to fight the English as borderline sedition. Surprising, vital, and vividly told, this narrative of political and literal warfare waged by the United States against a pacifist religious group during the Revolutionary War era sheds new light on an essential aspect of American history. It will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the nation’s founding. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Dramatis Personae: Th e Quaker Exiles of 1777–1778, Their Nemeses, and the Women’s Mission Introduction 1 Quaker Rebellion 2 Quaker Refusals 3 Friends as Enemies 4 Quaker Arrests 5 Peaceable Caravan 6 Virginia Exiles 7 Quaker Home Front 8 Quaker Peace Mission 9 Quaker Ordeals 10 Winter Stress 11 Shadow of Death 12 “Entirely an Act of Our Own” 13 “Able Politicians” 14 Release and Return Coda: Reintegration, or Not Epilogue Homage Appendix A: Combined Timeline of the Quaker Exile (September 11, 1777–April 30, 1778) amid the Philadelphia Campaign (August 25, 1777–June 18, 1778), Including Governance of the City Appendix B: Israel Pemberton et al., [Protest] “To the President and Council of Pennsylvania,” September 8, 1777 Appendix C: The Women’s Petition, April 1778 Notes Bibliography Index