From Peace to Freedom

“This is a story that has not been told before…a significant accomplishment and contribution to our understanding of Quaker and abolitionist history.”—Laura M. Stevens, University of Tulsa
"Brycchan Carey’s From Peace to Freedom is a significant contribution to the historiography of the early transatlantic antislavery movement. Combining lucid rhetorical and literary textual analysis with archival historical research, Carey makes a compelling case for how and why the evolution of Quaker opposition to slavery from 1657 to 1761 laid the necessary groundwork for the seemingly sudden rise of the transatlantic antislavery movement in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and beyond."—Vincent Carretta, University of Maryland

"Timely and very important, this book demonstrates how over nearly a century Quakers constructed a corporate discourse of anti-slavery and how that discourse became the basis for all later anti-slavery sentiment in America. . . . A model of fine scholarship."—B. P. Dandelion, University of Birmingham


 “This is the book we have been waiting for—a fine-grained exploration of Quaker writings and rhetorical strategies aimed at ending slave trading and slave holding. . . . Carey’s fine book is a ringing endorsement of what Margaret Mead said many years ago: ‘Never underestimate the ability of a few people to change the world; indeed that is the way it always was.’”—Gary B. Nash, University of California, Los Angeles

-- Gary B. Nash
“This is a story that has not been told before…a significant accomplishment and contribution to our understanding of Quaker and abolitionist history.”—Laura M. Stevens, University of Tulsa -- Laura M. Stevens
"Brycchan Carey’s From Peace to Freedom is a significant contribution to the historiography of the early transatlantic antislavery movement. Combining lucid rhetorical and literary textual analysis with archival historical research, Carey makes a compelling case for how and why the evolution of Quaker opposition to slavery from 1657 to 1761 laid the necessary groundwork for the seemingly sudden rise of the transatlantic antislavery movement in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and beyond."—Vincent Carretta, University of Maryland -- Vincent Carretta
"Timely and very important, this book demonstrates how over nearly a century Quakers constructed a corporate discourse of anti-slavery and how that discourse became the basis for all later anti-slavery sentiment in America. . . . A model of fine scholarship."—B. P. Dandelion, University of Birmingham -- B. P. Dandelion
“From Peace to Freedom is a bracing and welcome addition to the literature on Quaker antislavery activism and writing.”—William and Mary Quarterly * William and Mary Quarterly *
“This readable and important book is a welcome addition to the history of antislavery work.”—The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography  * The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography *
“We all are indebted to Carey’s diligent mind and skillful hands.”—Quaker Theology * Quaker Theology *
“From Peace to Freedom is essential to understanding the origins and impact of antislavery thought in the Society of Friends.”—The Historian * The Historian *