Summary |
The purpose behind the preparation of this thesis w-as to investigate the history of the Quakers of North Carolina in order to determine the reasons for their emigration from the Old North State during the decades prior to the Civil War. More .specifically, it was intended to determine what relationship, if any, might have existed between slavery and the exodus of Friends. Occasional references will be found to Friends who established themselves in South Carolina. They have been included both because of the close tics that existed between the Quakers of the sister states and because of the similarity of the reasons behind their emigrations. Specific details and events were, of course, different In the two states but the general causes would appear to be more similar than dissimilar. With the exception of these brief remarks pertaining to the South Carolina Quakers, this paper is devoted to their fellow Friends to the immediate north. A general history of the Friends in North Carolina is, of course, beyond the scope of this work. However, brief accounts of their early settlements in the state and of the basic conflict between slavery and the tenets of Quakerism were thought to be rather necessary. Otherwise, it would be quite impossible to appreciate fully the precarious position in which the Carolina Friends eventually found themselves. It was for this purpose of setting the scene that the chapter "The Early Days of North Carolina Friends" was prepared and Included in this thesis. In Chapter Two, the question of the conflict between their religious beliefs and the realities of their daily lives is discussed as "The Rise Of The Slavery Problem." In the footnotes of this thesis, several references have been included where appropriate, in order that interested readers might have a variety of material from which they may seek additional information. |