by John M. Chenoweth
English | 2017 | ISBN: 1683400119 | 267 Pages | PDF | 4.65 MB
‘A significant empirical contribution to the transdisciplinary study of eighteenthcentury Atlantic history and the colonial history of the Christian Church.’ �C Dan Hicks, author of The Garden of the World: An Historical Archaeology of Sugar Landscapes in the Eastern Caribbean
Inspired by the Quaker ideals of simplicity, equality, and peace, a group of white planters formed a community in the British Virgin Islands during the eighteenth century. Yet they lived in a slave society, and nearly all their members held enslaved people. In this book, John Chenoweth examines how the community navigated the contradictions of Quakerism and plantation ownership.
Using archaeological and archival information, Chenoweth reveals how a web of connections led to the community’s establishment, how Quaker religious practices intersected with other aspects of daily life in the Caribbean, and how these practices were altered to fit a slavery-based economy and society. He also examines how dissent and schism eventually brought about the end of the community after just one generation. This is a fascinating study of the ways religious ideals can be interpreted in everyday practice to adapt to different local contexts.