Quakers in North America

Religious demographic

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Quakerism

George Fox, founder of the Quakers

Notable individuals

* Susan B. Anthony
* Robert Barclay
* Hannah Jenkins Barnard
* Anthony Benezet
* Kenneth E. Boulding
* Howard Brinton
* John Cadbury
* Carla Denyer
* Levi Coffin
* Anne Conway
* James Dean
* Judi Dench
* William Edmundson
* Margaret Fell
* George Fox
* Elizabeth Fry
* Joseph John Gurney
* Edward Hicks
* Elias Hicks
* Henry Hodgkin
* Herbert Hoover
* Rufus Jones
* Thomas R. Kelly
* Benjamin Lay
* Lucretia Mott
* James Nayler
* Richard Nixon
* Parker Palmer
* Alice Paul
* Isaac Penington
* William Penn
* Robert Pleasants
* Bayard Rustin
* Jessamyn West
* John Greenleaf Whittier
* John Wilbur
* John Woolman

Meetings and other groups

* Yearly Meeting
* Monthly Meeting
* American Friends Service Committee
* A Quaker Action Group
* Britain Yearly Meeting
* Central Yearly Meeting of Friends
* Conservative Friends
* Evangelical Friends Church International
* Friends Committee on National Legislation
* Friends General Conference
* Friends United Meeting
* Friends World Committee for Consultation
* Quaker Council for European Affairs
* Quaker Peace and Social Witness
* Quaker United Nations Office
* Szechwan Yearly Meeting
* World Gathering of Young Friends

Testimonies

* Peace
* Equality
* Integrity ("Truth")
* Simplicity

By region

* North America
* Latin America
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Quakers (or Friends) are members of a Christian religious movement that started in England as a form of Protestantism in the 17th century, and has spread throughout North America, Central America, Africa, and Australia. Some Quakers originally came to North America to spread their beliefs to the British colonists there, while others came to escape the persecution they experienced in Europe. The first known Quakers in North America arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1656 via Barbados, and were soon joined by other Quaker preachers who converted many colonists to Quakerism. Many Quakers settled in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, due to its policy of religious freedom, as well as the British colony of Pennsylvania which was formed by William Penn in 1681 as a haven for persecuted Quakers.

## The arrival of the Quakers

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Mary Fisher and Ann Austin are the first known Quakers to set foot in the New World. They traveled from England to Barbados in 1655 and then went on to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to spread the beliefs of the Friends among the colonists.

In Puritan-run Massachusetts the two women were persecuted, imprisoned, and their books were burned. Only one man, Nicholas Upsall, was kind to them during their imprisonment. Nicholas became a Friend himself and began spreading Friends' beliefs in Massachusetts. Due to the intolerance of the Puritans, the Quakers eventually left the Massachusetts bay colonies and migrated to the more tolerant colonies in Rhode Island.[1]

## The first Monthly Meeting

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Nicholas Upsall was banished from Boston and took refuge in the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts. It was there that he helped to establish the first Monthly Meeting of Friends in the United States, which began meeting in 1657 at the home of William and Priscilla Allen. Besides the Allens and Upsall, those in attendance included Richard Kerley and Elizabeth Newland.

## Quakers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

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The first Friends who settled along the Delaware River were John Fenwick, Edward Wade, John Wade, and Richard Noble. They formed a settlement at Salem, New Jersey, in 1675.

In 1681, King Charles II allowed William Penn, a Quaker, a charter for the area that was to become Pennsylvania. Penn guaranteed the settlers of his colony freedom of religion. He advertised the policy across Europe so that Quakers and other religious dissidents would know that they could live there safely. On November 10, 1681, Robert Wade established the first Monthly Meeting in the colony at his home, which eventually became the Chester Monthly Meeting.

## Quakers and abolitionism

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Main article: Abolitionism in the United States § Calls for abolition

Quakers were at the center of the movement to abolish slavery in the early United States; it is no coincidence that Pennsylvania, center of American Quakerism, was the first state to abolish slavery. In the antebellum period, "Quaker meeting houses [in Philadelphia] ...had sheltered abolitionists for generations."[2]: 1

## Branches of Quakerism in North America

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Quakers in North America are diverse in their beliefs and practices. Friends there have split into various groups because of disagreements throughout the years.

Conservative Friends are a small group that emphasize both the Inward Light and the Bible as sources of inspiration and guidance. They practice unprogrammed worship. Many of them adhere to the traditional standards of "plainness" in speech and dress (see Testimony of Simplicity). Their meetings are not part of any larger groups. They are found primarily in Iowa, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Pastoral Friends emphasize the Bible as a source of inspiration and guidance. They practice programmed (i.e., planned) worship led by ordained clergy. Most pastoral Friends groups are part of the Friends United Meeting. They conduct both service projects and evangelism, and are found primarily in Indiana, North Carolina, Iowa, and Ohio.

Evangelical Friends strongly emphasize the Bible as a source of inspiration and guidance, considering it the ultimate authority for faith and practice. They practice planned worship led by ordained clergy. Their congregations are often called churches instead of meetings, and they are usually part of Evangelical Friends International. They are very active in evangelism and missionary outreach as well as service projects. They are found throughout the United States and Latin America but are concentrated in Guatemala, Panama, Ohio, California, Oregon, and Kansas.

Liberal Friends emphasize the Inner Light as a source of inspiration and guidance. They practice unprogrammed (i.e., spontaneous, Spirit-led) worship, and have no ordained clergy. Among them are both Christians and universalists. Many liberal Friends groups are part of the Friends General Conference. Some of them are part of both the Friends General Conference and the Friends United Meeting; others are independent or not affiliated with any larger group. They are very involved in service projects but not in evangelism. They are widespread throughout Canada and the United States but are concentrated in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

## See also

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* Quakers in Latin America

## References

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1. ^ "The Quakers – Facts & Summary". History.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
2. ^ Tomek, Beverly C. (2014). Pennsylvania Hall a "legal lynching" in the shadow of the Liberty Bell. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199837601.

## External links

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* Statistics from Quaker Information Center
* Distribution Map from Friends World Committee for Consultation

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Quakers in the Americas

Sovereign
states|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Dependencies
and territories|

* Anguilla
* Aruba
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Curaçao
* Falkland Islands
* French Guiana
* Greenland
* Guadeloupe
* Martinique
* Montserrat
* Puerto Rico
* Saba
* Saint Barthélemy
* Saint Martin
* Saint Pierre and Miquelon
* Sint Eustatius
* Sint Maarten
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* U.S. Virgin Islands

* North America
* Central America
* Caribbean
*   * Latin America
*   * South America

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Quakers

Individuals|

* William Allen
* Susan B. Anthony
* Robert Barclay
* Joel Bean
* Anthony Benezet
* Kenneth E. Boulding
* Howard Brinton
* John Cadbury
* Levi Coffin
* Anne Conway
* Susanna Corder
* James Dean
* Judi Dench
* Joshua Evans
* Margaret Fell
* George Fox
* Elizabeth Fry
* Joseph John Gurney
* Ruth Harrison
* Carl Heath
* Edward Hicks
* Elias Hicks
* Henry Hodgkin
* Herbert Hoover
* Rufus Jones
* Thomas R. Kelly
* Zephaniah Kingsley
* Benjamin Lay
* Dave Matthews
* Lucretia Mott
* James Nayler
* Richard Nixon
* Parker Palmer
* Alice Paul
* William Penn
* Robert Pleasants
* Betsy Ross
* Bayard Rustin
* Mary Coffin Starbuck
* Jessamyn West
* John Greenleaf Whittier
* John Wilbur
* Jon Wynne-Tyson
* John Woolman

Groups|

* Yearly Meeting
* Monthly Meeting
* American Friends Service Committee
* A Quaker Action Group
* Britain Yearly Meeting
* Central Yearly Meeting of Friends
* Conservative Friends
* Evangelical Friends Church International
* Friends Committee on National Legislation
* Friends General Conference
* Friends United Meeting
* Friends World Committee for Consultation
* Nontheist Quakers
* Quaker Council for European Affairs
* Quaker Peace and Social Witness
* Quaker United Nations Office
* Szechwan Yearly Meeting
* World Gathering of Young Friends

Testimonies|

* Peace
* Equality
* Integrity ("Truth")
* Simplicity

By region|

* North America
* Latin America
* Europe
* Africa

Other|

* Businesses, organizations and charities
* Science
* Clerk
* Decision Making
* Faith and Practice or Book of Discipline
* History
* Holy Experiment
* Homosexuality
* Inward light
* Meeting houses
* Perfectionism
* Query
* Schools
* Tapestry
* Wedding
* Women
* AFSC Nobel nominees

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