The Early Quaker Perception of the Indian
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Week 4 - Quakers & Native Americans- First Century Quaker History, v.72 (1983), pp. 103-119. 104Quaker History THE EARLY QUAKER PERCEPTION OF THE INDIAN and settled in Pennsylvania were predisposed toward a favorable view of the Indian as a fellow human being. There were, indeed, Robert Daiutolo, Jr.* three clearly evident themes in Quaker writings concerning the Pennsylvania Indian: one was that the Indian, living pristinely, When Quakers arrived in Pennsylvania, they brought with them was inexplicably purer than the European; another was that the a number of beliefs quite different from those of their countrymen, Indian enjoyed well-being and contentment because his way of life beliefs which predisposed them toward a favorable view of the was idyllic; and another was that the European had corrupted the Indians. Among these beliefs was a basic conviction of the broth- purer Indian and had partially destroyed his pastoral existence. erhood of man. The Inner Light was a fundamental principle of Although Indian civilization had none of the comforts and advan- Quakerism, and equality of man before God was its corollary. tages of a so-called advanced civilization, yet it also had none of Quaker religious ideology, predicated upon the universality of the the complexities and problems. Living in a crude state seemed to Inner Light, maintained that all men were potentially perfectable some Quakers hardly inferior to the moral dangers of "huckster- and emphasized the peaceful coexistence of peoples considered ing" and trade. equal. Anglicans, on the other hand, were latitudinarian toward John Richardson, an English Quaker who lodged at Pennsbury worldly inequities and enjoyments while Puritans asserted that God Manor for two or three days in 1701, well stated the essence of had selected only a small portion of mankind—the elect—for salva- tion. all Quaker perceptions of the Indian when he wrote: "I much desire that all Christians (whether they be such in reality or Pro- Ethnocentric Englishmen, the products of relative geographic fession only) may endeavour to imitate these People in those isolation and the individualistic leanings of the Reformation, sailed Things which are so commendable. ..."2 What were some of about the world with a strong sense of racial superiority. Having these "commendable" things? Most obvious were courtesy, gen- made contact with black Africans and American Indians, seven- erosity, and kindness while another "commendable" thing con- teenth- and eighteenth-century Englishmen generally ranked the cerned standards of morality. The pureness of the Indian was Indians as inferior to themselves but as superior to the black evident in his kindly behavior. Africans whom they considered ape-like at best. Moreover these As early as 1658 Josiah Coale, the famous English traveling Englishmen perceived the Indians to be natural barriers to prog- minister, found himself the lucky recipient of good Indian hospi- ress as the forests, rivers, and mountains were, and the black Afri- cans to be natural laborers who were to be enslaved in the name tality. While traveling from Virginia to Long Island by way of Pennsylvania, Coale and his companions happened upon some of progress.1 "Susquehane's Indians" (Susquehannocks) who "courtiously Re- In a society that entertained such views on human inequality ceived" and "Entertayned" them "with much Respect." After and exploitation the Quakers stood as "peculiar" exceptions. Con- three days the travelers, guided by several Susquehannocks, had sidering their beliefs, it was only natural that Quakers who traveled covered about two hundred miles through the wilderness before their Susquehannock guides bade them good-by. After about three * Robert Daiutolo received his master's degree in history from Villanova hundred additional miles Coale and his companions arrived at University and is a history teacher. another Susquehannock camp where they were again "very kindly 1. For a brief but incisive description of Englishmen's attitudes toward entertayned." Because one of their party had injured his leg the red men and black men see Winthrop D. Jordan, White Over Black: travelers remained for sixteen days. During this time the Susque- American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1979) pp. 239-252; see also Wilber R. Jacobs, "British-Colonial Attitudes hannocks dressed the injured man's festering leg wound and and Policies Toward the Indians in the American Colonies," in Attitudes of "shewed very much Respect" to their guests and gave "freely of Colonial Powers Toward the American Indian, ed. by Howard Peckham and Charles Gibson (Salt Lake City, 1969), p. 84. 2. John Richardson, An Account of the Life of that Ancient Servant of 103 Jesus Christ, John Richardson . (London, 1757), p. 135. Early Quaker Perception of the Indian105 106Quaker History the Best they could get." Some of these Susquehannocks accom- Some Kings have sold, others presented me with parcels of Land; panied the Coale party to a Dutch settlement in New York.3 the Pay or Presents I made them, were not hoarded by the particular Owners, but the neighboring Kings and their Clans being present when Like Coale, George Fox himself journeyed throughout the East the Goods were brought out, the Parties chiefly concerned consulted, Coast of North America having numerous meetings with Indians what and to whom they should give them? To every King then, by the of various tribes. While traveling from Maryland to Long Island hands of the Person for that work appointed, is a proportion sent, so by way of New Jersey in 1672, he, Robert Widders, and George sorted and folded, and with that Gravity, that is admirable. Then that Pattison forded the Delaware River and entered the "Wilderness- King subdivideth in like manner among his Dependents, they hardly leaving themselves an Equal share with one of dieir Subjects . .5 Country" where one night they stumbled upon an Indian village. The three weary Quakers were received "very lovingly" by the In Some Observations on the Situation, Disposition, and Char- chief and his wife, and they stayed at the "King's House." The acter of the Indian Natives of this Continent (1784), Anthony Indians who attended the Quakers were "very respectful" to them. Benezet, who had taught at the Friends' School in Germantown and Later during the journey the Quakers stayed for a time at another the Public School of Friends (the Latin School) in Philadelphia, chief's village in New Jersey, and again the Indians were "very declared that the Indians of Pennsylvania had acted as "nursing loving" to them.4 fathers" to the early settlers of Pennsylvania and West New Jersey. The Indians had granted the settlers "ample room for setdements" William Penn, who resided in Pennsylvania for two short inter- and had "freely" assisted them "with the means of living, at easy ludes (1682-1684 and 1699-1701), admired the Delawares' ca- rates," and since the earliest European-Indian contacts the Indians pacity for generosity, and in A Letter from William Penn, Proprie- had maintained "a strict care and fidelity in observing their trea- tary and Governour of Pennsylvania in America, to the Committee ties, and fulfilling their other engagements."6 of the Free Society of Traders of that Province, Residing in London (1683), he noted, as an example, how the Delaware kings gener- Delawares were especially courteous when they were conversing, ously apportioned goods given them in treaties and in land sales: and they adhered to strict rules of courtesy when they were in council to discuss important matters. In An Historical and Geo- graphical Account of the Province and Country of Pensilvania 3.Josiah Coale, "A Letter of Josiah Coale, 1658 (Journey in America, and West-New-Jersey in America (1698), Gabriel Thomas, a 1658)," Bulletin of Friends Historical Society of Philadelphia, v. 6 (Novem- Welsh Quaker who arrived in Philadelphia shortly after it was ber 1914), pp. 2-5. The Susquehannocks inhabited the Susquehanna River basin. They were accomplished warriors and traders and were politically and militarily superior to the Delawares, who inhabited eastern Pennsyl- vania and western New Jersey. 5.William Penn, A Letter from William Penn, Proprietary and Governour of Pennsylvania in America, to the Committee of the Free Society of 4.George Fox, A Journal or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, Traders of that Province, Residing in London ...To which is Added Sufferings, Christian Experiences and Labour of Love in the Work of the an Account of the City of Philadelphia, Newly Laid Out ... (London, Ministry, of that Ancient, Eminent and Faithful Servant of Jesus Christ, 1683), p. 6. This is the first edition of the letter, which is noteworthy for George Fox ... (London, 1694), pp. 365-366. The Indians with whom its information about the culture and physical features of the seventeenth- Fox stayed were probably the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians. Lenni century Delawares, and which is probably the best primary source concern- Lenape, translated into English, meant "original" or "common" people. ing the early Quaker perception of the Delawares. Over the years Quaker The Delaware Indians belonged to the Algonquin-speaking tribes of the writers often paraphrased Penn without giving him due credit, but the eastern woodlands of North America. Before the founding of Pennsylvania Quaker writers who are quoted in this article did provide original descrip- in 1682 there had been about eight thousand Delawares living in the terri- tions and perceptions. A reprint of Penn's Letter . to . the Free tory from Long Island, New York, to Maryland; this stretch of territory Society of Traders can be found in Albert Cook Meyers, ed., William Penn's included all of New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Pennsylvania. The Dela- Own Account of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians (Sommerset, N.J., ware population along the Delaware River was at least two or three thou- 1970), pp.