Meeting House and Counting House: The Quaker

¶ … Meeting House and Counting House: The Quaker Merchants of Colonial Philadelphia, 1682-1763 by Frederick B. Tolles. (New York, W.W. Norton 1963, c1948), xiv, 292 p., [8] p. Of plates illus., ports, (BX7649.P5 T64 1963).

This book covers quite a specific part of our history, the Quakers of Philadelphia, and their influence on colonial merchant economics. Philadelphia was a commerce capital in early America, and banks and lenders from all over the world centered their American activities in the city. Quakers helped found the city, and were major forces in the business and industry of Philadelphia. Tolles cleverly intertwines the religious constraints of the Friends, and how these constraints consistently affected their ability to do business, and their own view of their dealings in the business world. One merchant, William Edmundson, seemed to be more interested in the spiritual rather than material welfare of his peoples, compared their merchant techniques to those of the Jews, something he clearly found reprehensible. He said, "Such a Spirit came in amongst us, as was amongst the Jews, when they came up out of Egypt, this began to look back into the World, and traded with the Credit which was not of it's own purchasing, striving to be great in the Riches and Possessions of this World" (Tolles 47). Thus, many of the Quakers did not agree with the commerce their merchant brethren were developing. It is interesting to think about the consequences that might of occurred in the New World if the Quakers had not developed commerce as they did, and if their stringent religious beliefs had held them back in monetary ways. Perhaps the commerce of the country might have developed quite differently, and so the success of the country in trade and commerce might have suffered.

This author's thesis is quite clear from the title and first pages of the book. A noted Quaker historian, he offers a detailed look inside not only the Quaker commerce, but also their religious beliefs that factored so heavily in everything they did. The author covers nearly a hundred key years in the development of the nation, and the book's scope is fairly limited to Quaker beliefs and institutions, but the material covered is completely relevant to the book's purpose and the author's thesis. It is quite clear Tolles knows and has studied his subject well, and enlightens his audience with his knowledge and clear grasp of the entire subject. The author draws several conclusions, including his strongest; that the Friends' main goal was to transform the world by actively engaging in world function, but they often found engaging the world compromised their own strict beliefs. After looking at their delving into world activities, and they actively removing themselves from these activities, the author concludes the Quakers and their world relations remained a "perpetual dilemma" (Tolles 243). He clearly shows that groups of Quakers within the Friends could not agree on their purpose or their activities, and that Quaker beliefs were often shaped and reshaped by specific groups and their activities, such as the successful merchants of Philadelphia.

This book is a fascinating look into Philadelphia, Quaker, and merchant society of early America. In addition, Tolles dynamic writing also gives the reader a glimpse into some of the keys to why politics changed during the period, and into the social classes and origins of some of the immigrants who inundated Philadelphia, and of the environment they left behind in England. Obviously, the book centers on the Quakers and their fiscal abilities, but it also covers many other facets of Colonial life in Philadelphia, and would be valuable for anyone studying this period.