Abstract
In Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and the Civil War, William Kashatus explores aspects of the largely unknown relationship between the sixteenth president of the United States and the Religious Society of Friends. The author contends that Lincoln and American Quakers shared similar religious sensibilities and a steadfast belief in the immorality of slavery. Friends and President Lincoln both struggled to reconcile their principles to the ever-increasing harvest of death produced by civil war. The conflict posed serious fundamental problems for pacifi st Friends, who grappled with mandatory military service required by the draft and the use of violence in the name of emancipation. Lincoln, and later Congress, made accommodations for Quaker conscientious objectors, but their moral dilemma remained unresolved. Kashatus explains that the president and Quakers were friends in common affl iction. They both endured great emotional and spiritual challenges throughout the war and found great comfort and guidance in each other.