American Abolitionist Non-Violence as Seen in the Life of Charles C. Burleigh (1810-1878): Uniting Philosophy, Practice, and Religious Eclecticism

Charles Calistus Burleigh (1810-1878) was a proponent of Immediate Abolition who was also a committed adherent to principles of peace and non-violence. His pacifism and non-resistant ideas were tried in actual struggle, as he was present at some infamous attacks upon the Abolitionists, such as the attempt in Boston to attack William Lloyd Garrison (1835) and the destruction of Pennsylvania Hall (1838). Based primarily on original archival research, this presentation looks at his combination of theory and practice, aided by an eclectic approach to religious resources from groups as disparate as the Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers, that highlight how Burleigh's direct engagement with the struggle helped accelerate the diffusion of non-violent ideas from many sources into a genuine practice that, despite its shortcomings, can speak to issues of social justice that remain cogent today, including race, gender, capital punishment and the violence of war.