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Moses Sleeper

Released
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1700s
State:Maine
Support
Anti-War Conscientious Objection
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Biography

Moses Sleeper was a Quaker attender in Maine (then part of Massachusetts) during the American Revolution who refused to join the militia. He was arrested, imprisoned in a fort, and court-martialed, and was sentenced "to receive forty-five lashes on the naked back." The sentence was never carried out, and he was soon released. His experience was later printed in the Philadelphia Friend (1879).

Case

Charges: Refusing militia service as a Quaker conscientious objector.
Incarcerated: 1777
Sentence: Sentenced to forty-five lashes on the bare back (never carried out); imprisoned in a fort and soon released. Verdict as recorded: Yes — court-martialed by the military. Charges as recorded: Refusing militia service as a Quaker conscientious objector during the American Revolution.
Convicted: Yes