‘Come Out of Babylon, My People’: John Woolman's (1720–72) Anti-Slavery Theology and the Transatlantic Economy

This chapter examines how Quaker minister John Woolman (1720–72) maintained an anti-slavery position that was one part of a comprehensive vision for British society. This vision was grounded in an apocalyptic eschatology that anticipated the immediate, spiritual reign of Christ over human affairs. He believed this vision presented an alternative ordering to that of the social and economic trends of his day, which included a growing transatlantic market-orientation and an increase in the number of slaves in the colonies. ¹