“Politics and religion are a volatile combination—whether in 2023 or in 1777” (2). No other statement by author Norman Donoghue II in his book Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777–1778, may better encapsulate its topic. When one considers this volatile combination, especially in the American context, what likely comes to mind are the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment, commonly paraphrased as “separation of church and state.” Such a notion, though not too far off from reality at the time of the American War of Independence, would have been novel to those living in the context of European empire. In Pennsylvania no religious sect was more woven into the political fabric of the colony than the Quakers, at least until the time of the revolution. Rebellion and war did not appeal to a Christian community with neutrality and pacifism at its heart. The friction...
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