Liberty and Conscience
Subtitle: A Documentary History of the Experiences of Conscientious Objectors in America through the Civil War
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: March 11, 2002
Language: eng
Number of pages: 206
ISBN-13: 9780195151220
First sentence: Anno 1658. The beginning of our account of sufferings in this province may appear somewhat abrupt, because we find not, among our papers collected, any exact account of the first settlement of the people called Quakers here, and the earliest sufferings we meet with are without any particular dates.
Description: Although the act of conscientious objection entered modern consciousness most strikingly as a result of the Vietnam War, Americans have long struggled to reconcile their politics, pacifist beliefs, and compulsory military service. While conscientious objection in the twentieth century has been well documented, there has been surprisingly little study of its long history in America's early conflicts, defined as these have been by accounts of patriotism and nation-building. In fact, during the period of conscription from the late 1650s to the end of the Civil War, many North Americans refused military service on grounds of conscience
Table of contents: class: section