David Low Dodge

Born in Connecticut in 1774, David Low Dodge became a merchant in New York and later gained notice as a religious writer and reformer. He lived through the early years of the United States and is especially remembered for arguing that war was incompatible with Christian principles.

In 1809 he published The Mediator's Kingdom Not of This World, but Spiritual, Heavenly, and Divine, a work often noted as an early American statement of Christian pacifism. He also helped found the New York Peace Society, one of the first peace organizations in the country, and spent years promoting nonviolence through essays, pamphlets, and public advocacy.

Dodge died in 1852, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. Today he is often recognized as an important early voice in American peace history and in the religious case against war.