The Journal of John Woolman

The Journal of John Woolman is the 1774 autobiography of North American slavery abolitionist, journalist, and merchant John Woolman. Published after Woolman’s death, and continuously into the present day, it is now one of the longest-published books in the Western world. The journal provides insight into the life and mind of Woolman, whose published works, during his life, left much about him to readers’ imaginations. Woolman believed strongly in holding power to account, relating it to a spiritual argument that the ultimate arbiter of mankind’s actions is a benevolent God who cares deeply and equally about all people. As part of this argument, Woolman distances himself from the ideology of the Puritans, who were the predominant religion in North America during his life. Simple, but not simplistic, the autobiography continues to be lauded as an accessible example of an appeal for equal rights at the advent of North American colonization.

A central concern of Woolman’s journal is a justification for his choice to fight against slavery. He relates how he was once asked to write a receipt for his friend, a Quaker, who had just profited off a slave trade. Though he felt bad about it, Woolman reluctantly filled out the receipt, justifying it as part of his job. Eventually, his complicity weighed on him so much that he decided to publicly denounce slavery. He explains that he had always thought of slavery as fundamentally incompatible with Christian doctrine.

Woolman’s meditations on the injustice of slavery provide important, private context for his previously published works, including Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes. He recalls several instances where he visited people who owned and neglected slaves. Each time he encountered a slave, unable to take the facts of their life as a moral or economic necessity, he became extremely distraught. Even when he saw slaves who were well taken care of, he found the practice unconscionable. This gut feeling was what made John Woolman one of the first outspoken abolitionists.



Woolman also discusses how slavery is predicated on an unfair distribution of power. He laments that men in power have abused it throughout history, justifying this abuse through crude appeals to differences not essential to the self or natural law, such as race and nationality. He recognizes the irony that many came to America escaping persecution, only to join a different system of persecution and learn to enjoy its power. Woolman predicts that power will continue to corrupt the spirits of the colonists even as they distance themselves from England.

Woolman also rallies against some features of the predominant organized religions of his time. He rejects the Puritans’ notion that God is not tolerant, choosing to believe that God cares deeply for all who live on earth. Where the Puritans see God’s wrath, Woolman, a Quaker, sees his mercy and goodness. Perhaps most central to Woolman’s religious belief is the principle of tolerance. He proclaims his belief in a God who accepts people based on their firmness of faith and the sincerity of their efforts to be good. The Puritans, in contrast, were hostile to those unlike them, as evidenced in such atrocities as the Salem Witch Trials.

Lastly, Woolman touches on his rejection of materialism. In this domain, he is more liberal even than the Quakers with whom he identified. Woolman had many roles during life, including preacher, tailor, and tradesman. While he engaged in the trade of goods and services, he came to understand the drive for wealth as inimical to the drive towards God. As one accumulates wealth, one only amasses an increasingly heavier burden. Eventually, Woolman discarded his worldly possessions and no longer desired anything that was not essential for survival.



Woolman’s anti-materialist attitude is often understood to resonate with the transcendentalist philosophies of nineteenth-century thinkers Walt Whitman and Henry Thoreau. His journal has established him as a preeminent public advocate of racial justice in American history.