History of the Quakers

Part of a series on
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 Europe Africa
Other themes Faith and Practice or Book of Discipline Richmond Declaration of Faith Clerk Decision Making Businesses and charities History Inward light Meeting houses First Day of the Week New Birth Perfectionism Query Schools Science Tapestry Wedding Homosexuality Women
Christianity portal
v t e

The Religious Society of Friends began as a proto-evangelical Christian movement in England in the mid-17th century in Ulverston.^[1][2] Members are informally known as Quakers, as they were said "to tremble in the way of the Lord". The movement in its early days faced strong opposition and persecution, but it continued to expand across the British Isles and then in the Americas and Africa.

The Quakers, though few in numbers, have been influential in the history of reform. The colony of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn in 1682, as a safe place for Quakers to live and practice their faith. Quakers have been a significant part of the movements for the abolition of slavery, to promote equal rights for women, and peace. They have also promoted education and the humane treatment of prisoners and the mentally ill, through the founding or reforming of various institutions. Quaker entrepreneurs played a central role in forging the Industrial Revolution, especially in England and Pennsylvania.

During the 19th century, Friends in the United States suffered a number of secessions, which resulted in the formation of different branches of the Religious Society of Friends.

The Quakers have historically believed in equality for men and women. Two Quaker women are part of the history of science, specifically astronomy. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, from Northern Ireland, is credited with being a key part of research that later led to a Nobel Prize Physics. However, she was not a recipient of the prize.^[3] Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was the first internationally known woman to work as both a professional astronomer and a professor of astronomy.^[4]