Quaker History

In the religious upheaval of 17th-century England, a young man named George Fox had a vision. Tired of priests, tired of outward forms, he heard a voice: "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition."

The message spread. These seekers refused to take oaths, refused to pay tithes to the Established Church, refused to remove their hats before "superiors." They insisted that God could speak directly to every person—the wealthy judge and the common laborer alike—through an "inner light."

For this they were mocked. A judge in Derby tauntingly called them "Quakers" after Fox told him to "tremble at the word of the Lord." The name stuck, a badge of honor and sometimes of scorn.

But what distinguished Quakers was not merely their refusal of outward ceremony. It was their certainty that they had discovered something real—an immediate experience of the divine that required no priest, no sacrament, no special building.

"You will say, What began the first Quaking? I answer, the power of God, and witness of God's spirit; this was and is the beginning of the Quakers..."

— George Fox

When Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, persecution intensified. The "Quaker Act" made meetings illegal. The "Conventicle Act" banned assemblies. The "Bloody Assizes" of 1685 sent hundreds to prison.

Some died in Newgate. George Fox spent over six years in various prisons. Edward Burrough perished in Newgate before reaching age 30.

Yet in prison, something unexpected happened. The Friends wrote. They produced epistles, defenses, letters of comfort to the persecuted. Isaac Penington, eventually imprisoned himself, wrote letters that are still treasured for their spiritual wisdom.

"My prison shall be a pulpit; and my sufferings shall preach more than ever my tongue hath done."

— Thomas Ellwood (attributed)

In 1689, Parliament passed the Act of Toleration. Suddenly, Quakers could legally meet. They still could not hold public office or attend universities without swearing oaths—Quakers refused—but they could worship in peace.

William Penn helped negotiate this. His "Holy Experiment" in Pennsylvania, founded in 1681, had demonstrated that Quakers could govern—including peacefully with Native Americans. He used his influence at court to secure relief.

The first generation was passing. Fox had died in 1691. Nayler had died in 1660. Burrough in 1663. But the movement had endured. Meeting houses were built. Children were educated in Quaker schools. The "peculiar people" became citizens, even respected ones.

"The liberties of the people of this kingdom have been bought at a very dear rate... Let us not be so ungrateful to our Saviour and ourselves as to be so easily parted with them."

— William Penn, England's Present Interest Discovered