Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This recording is presented by Princeton Public Library. Historian and author Jeffrey A. Denman presents his new book, "Philadelphia Quakers and the American Revolution."
About the book (from the publisher):
Discover the history of Philadelphia's Quakers as they rose to power and prosperity and fell into peril.
Fleeing political upheavals in England for settlement in the New World, Quakers rose to unprecedented economic and political power in the Pennsylvania colony. However, the failure of the Quaker-dominated government to provide for defense in the wars from the 1730s into the 1760s was the beginning of their downfall. By the Revolution, their fortunes had waned, and they were brutally suppressed by their political foes. Seventeen influential Friends and three others were exiled to Virginia without so much as a hearing, and Quaker farms and businesses were subject to depredations. Labeled dissenters by Loyalist and Patriot alike, they stood their ground, alone and isolated.
Through the words of those who were there, author and historian Jeff Denman vividly describes the precipitous rise of the Philadelphia Quakers and their fall during the American Revolution.
About the author:
Jeff Denman is a graduate of the University of Maine (BS) and the University of Connecticut (MA) and was a U.S. history and world geography teacher in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is the author of several articles on U.S. history and coauthor of "Greene and Cornwallis in the Carolinas: The Pivotal Struggle of the American Revolution, 1780–1781" and "John Quincy Adams, Reluctant Abolitionist."
Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This event was recorded on June 22, 2026.
This recording is presented by Princeton Public Library. Historian and author Jeffrey A. Denman presents his new book, "Philadelphia Quakers and the American Revolution."
About the book (from the publisher):
Discover the history of Philadelphia's Quakers as they rose to power and prosperity and fell into peril.
Fleeing political upheavals in England for settlement in the New World, Quakers rose to unprecedented economic and political power in the Pennsylvania colony. However, the failure of the Quaker-dominated government to provide for defense in the wars from the 1730s into the 1760s was the beginning of their downfall. By the Revolution, their fortunes had waned, and they were brutally suppressed by their political foes. Seventeen influential Friends and three others were exiled to Virginia without so much as a hearing, and Quaker farms and businesses were subject to depredations. Labeled dissenters by Loyalist and Patriot alike, they stood their ground, alone and isolated.
Through the words of those who were there, author and historian Jeff Denman vividly describes the precipitous rise of the Philadelphia Quakers and their fall during the American Revolution.
About the author:
Jeff Denman is a graduate of the University of Maine (BS) and the University of Connecticut (MA) and was a U.S. history and world geography teacher in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is the author of several articles on U.S. history and coauthor of "Greene and Cornwallis in the Carolinas: The Pivotal Struggle of the American Revolution, 1780–1781" and "John Quincy Adams, Reluctant Abolitionist."
Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This event was recorded on June 22, 2026.
