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MattDavisRatnerProject 4 - 10 Jan 2010 - Main.EbenMoglen
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| | | The Quaker Effect
How the Quakers helped shape the American Legal System.
The Religious Society of Friends, also known as the "Quakers", is a sect of Christianity dating back to the mid 1600's. Their beginnings came from an emphasis on each individual's personal connection with God (the finding of this inner light resulting in the physical embodiment of their Quaker nickname), equality before the Lord, pacifism, and multiple other tenets they felt lost in contemporary Christianity. For all things Quaker. | |
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- This citation style is unnecessarily intrusive. You wind up with these "For" non-sentences strewn about everywhere. Just make a link from the word or phrase that's relevant. This time it's a cinch.
| | | The Quakers are famous for the persecution they faced in England, as well as their eventual establishment of Pennsylvania as a Quaker state under William Penn, the sole proprietor of Pennsylvania. see pg. 10 of Fisher. For a discussion of William Penn the proprietor. However, of more interest to this discussion is the Quaker response and reaction to their persecution, which founds the basis for the shaping of the American Legal System by the Quakers.
One of the main reasons for the Quakers' substantial influence on future legal proceedings was the sheer quantity of times Quakers faced the legal system. In a country with an established church concerned with stemming dissenters, as England was with Anglican church and the Conventicle Acts, any group threatening such an establishment or disobeying the established rules is bound to face some resistance. The Quakers bore a significant brunt of the enforcement because they openly defied the rules, and were easy targets because of their pacifist ways. see Horle pp.126-127.
The Conventicle Act of 1664, was part of a program by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, to discourage participation in any church but that of England. For a free book about Edward Hyde. The Conventicle Act outlawed all religious meetings of more than 5 people outside the Church of England, and some of the corresponding acts within Hyde's program made it illegal to miss Sunday church and forced individuals to swear an oath to the King of England. All of these policies were strictly against the Quakers' belief system, and their devout observance of their beliefs led to their many transgressions of the law. | |
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- Here you might have usefully explained to readers who don't already know the background the nature of English religious persecution in the latter 17th century and its role in politics. You might also want to give them a couple of sentences clarifying the origins of Quakerism, both concerning George Fox and about the developed doctrines of Quakerism.
| | | The Quakers refused to take oaths, refused to pay tithes, refused to take up arms, would not attend church on Sundays or any of the other 26 holy days (and if they did attend church were only there to molest the clergy during their sermons), and continued to hold their meetings for worship in open defiance of English law. see generally Horle pp.45-50. For these offenses, Quakers were thrown in jail, beaten, fined, relieved of their property, and charged with treason. What set Quakers apart from so many of the other dissenting sects was their refusal to yield to the demands of the law. No matter what the punishment enforced or threatened, the Quakers steadfastly honored and practiced their belief system.
Substantial contributions to the American Legal System: | | | More tolerant laws and penal system established in Pennsylvania -- A final contribution to the modern American Legal System by the Quakers was their more tolerant legal code and reformed penal system which they established in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was the first colony to include in its Constitution the complete freedom to practice religion, as well as an explicit guarantee for trials by juries. see Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 31-34. Each of these elements of the Pennsylvania Constitution can be found in the American legal system of today. In addition to these Constitutional guarantees, the penal system was established as a system for reformation of criminals, rather than a system of punishment. see Fischer pp. 14-15. While there are elements of punishment still involved in America's penal system, the institution of reformation policies is a direct succession from the penal system established by the Quakers in their Pennsylvanian colony. | |
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- I think your major efforts in revision should be: (1) to include primary sources in your project to provide starting points for others; and (2) some rewriting effort to smooth your prose.
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