Edward Hicks was an artist, a Quaker, a pacifist, and a patriot. This might seem an unlikely combination. While some artists are patriotic, the creative personality is usually opposed to the groupthink that marks patriotic fervor. And can a pacifist be a true patriot? During the American Revolution, you were expected to be either loyal to Britain or a rebel who supported the revolution. The Quakers, who were opposed to war on principle, were considered by many to be unacceptably neutral. In this milieu, Hicks was a perplexing contradiction. How was he able to reconcile his pacifist convictions with his commitment to the foundational American ideals of freedom and liberty, which others had established through revolution and violence?