Meeting Under Occupation

Newport and Portsmouth Quaker Meeting Houses During British Occupation of Rhode Island

Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Caden

“Rhode Island Quakers in the War of Independence” Quakers almost from their founding refused to participate in military activities, and Rhode Island Colony generally honored that position of conscience. The War of Independence challenged their position and forced hard decisions. This talk will explore how the Quaker community coped with the War of Independence, and with changes to civilian life in the colony due to the British occupations and disruptions to maritime trade.

Elizabeth Cazden is a retired lawyer and Quaker historian based in Providence, RI. She has written and spoken in both academic and public settings on Quaker history, with a special focus on New England Quakers’ participation in the enslavement of Africans and in land expropriation from Indigenous communities. She is also an active Quaker, having served in many capacities for New England Yearly Meeting and national and international Quaker organizations.