Quakers In North America - Wikipedia

Religious demographic

Quakers (or Friends) are members of a Christian religious movement that started in England as a form of Protestantism in the 17th century.[1] It has spread throughout Africa,[2] North America, Central America, 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.[3]

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.[4] 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, banished and their books were burned.[4][5] 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.[6][7]

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.[8] This was held 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.[9]

In 1681, King Charles II allowed William Penn, a Quaker, a charter for the area that was to become Pennsylvania.[10] 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, which eventually became the Chester Monthly Meeting.[9]

Quakers and abolitionism

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

During their first decades in America, many Quakers owned slaves.[11] However, as time went on Quakers were at the center of the movement to abolish slavery as early as 1688.[12] 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."[13]: 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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[15] 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.[14] 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. ^ "Where Did the Names "Quaker" and "Friends" Come From?". Walnut Creek Friends Church. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
2. ^ "A Mission That Turned Into A Movement: The Spread Of Quakerism In Africa". Religion Unplugged. 15 April 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
3. ^ Mullett, Michael (2004). "Curwen, Thomas (c. 1610–1680)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, UK: OUP) Retrieved 17 November 2015
4. ^ a b Brayshaw, Alfred (1911). "Friends, Society of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 227.
5. ^ Edward Digby Baltzell, Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia (1996) p. 86.
6. ^ "The Quakers - Facts & Summary". History.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
7. ^ "Boston Neck Gallows, Colonial Execution Place for Quakers". www.celebrateboston.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
8. ^ Pierce, Frederic Clifton (2013). Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy, Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiller of England (1898 ed.). New Delhi, India: Isha Books. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9789333137287.
9. ^ a b "History". Old Haverford. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
10. ^ "William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania". Our History. 4 March 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
11. ^ Fischer, David Hackett Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America Oxford University Press (1989) p. 601.
12. ^ Malone, Christopher (2008). Between Freedom and Bondage: Race, Party, and Voting Rights in the Antebellum North. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-95696-3.
13. ^ Tomek, Beverly C. (2014). Pennsylvania Hall a "legal lynching" in the shadow of the Liberty Bell. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199837601.
14. ^ a b "About Quakers". Friends World Committee for Consultation. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
15. ^ a b "Branches of Friends Today". Quaker Information. 26 May 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2025.

External links

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

v t e Quakers in the Americas
Sovereignstates	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
Dependenciesand 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

v t e 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 Catherine Impey 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 Susan G. Smith 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