Beacon Hill Friends Meeting House - Quaker

6-8 Chestnut St

Quakers were founded as a Christian Movement by George Fox in England in the 1650s. While many groups came to America for freedom, once arriving in the colonies, if they didn’t match that state’s prevalent faiths then they faced persecution. What made the Quakers notable was how they are pacifists, believed in sexual equality, and opposed slavery. This became very challenging during the Revolutionary War and especially in Mass. They call their group “Religious Society of Friends” but are nicknamed “Quakers” as some fervent worshipers tended to shake or quake during services. Shakers are an offshoot that broke off from Quakers in 1747 because they wanted a liturgical service with singing and dancing but were not common in Massachusetts Colony except for some areas that are now part of Maine.

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The colonies were founded as distinct Protestant societies with their own charters and, with a few exceptions, an emphasis on religious uniformity. Anglicans and Puritan Protestantism (renamed Congregationalism or Presbyterianism) became the two dominant forces in New England’s religious life for much of the 17th century.

Quakers did not fit either group. They were a Christian movement founded by George Fox in England in the early 1650s. Quakers opposed central church authority and rejected the orthodox Calvinist belief in predestination as they insisted that salvation was available to all and came from within, by following the "inner light" of God's spirit and not from an institution. It was because Friends seemed to shake when they felt religious enthusiasm that they became known as Quakers. They advocated sexual equality and became some of the most outspoken opponents of slavery in early America. In October 1656, Massachusetts enacted their first ban on Quakers, and in 1658 it ordered Quakers banished from the colony “under penalty of death.” Quakers found solace in RI and other colonies, and later MA anti-Quaker laws were repealed.

Because Quakers believe that every person possesses an inner divine light that guides them, they traditionally do not commit or support acts of violence. The Quakers opposed such activities as the declaration of American Independence, which led to the Revolutionary War (1775-1781), because they believed that “governments were divinely instituted and that they should only rebel should the government disobey the laws of God.”

When they opposed the stamp act it was in peaceful protests and nonviolent actions such as embargoes. Quaker leadership’s moderating influence kept events in Pennsylvania and New Jersey comparatively peaceful compared to those of New England until the 1767 Townshend Acts (Intolerable Acts). Quakers who refused to support the war often suffered for their religious beliefs at the hands of non-Quaker Loyalists and Patriots alike who seized goods and property for their armies. Some Friends were arrested for refusing to pay taxes or follow conscription requirements, particularly in Mass near the end of the war when demand for new recruits increased.

Lydia Darragh was a Quaker in British-occupied Pennsylvania and acted as a spy for George Washington while keeping her political ideals quiet from her Quaker community. Because Quakers were known as pacifists, and she kept her patriotic support secret she managed to outwit British spymaster Major Andre (who would recruit Benedict Arnold.)

By the end, instead of suppressing conflicts the Friends were losing political support to more radical factions that supported violence. The individual Quaker's response to the Revolution varied widely. While some supported the colonies and others were avowed loyalists, the majority of Friends followed their faith and largely stayed out of the conflict.

What fruitage did these spiritual leaders produce? Mt 7:15-20. Consider John 17:16 vs Acts 20:29, 30. What would Jesus have said seeing this?

-Source Links-

https://www.history.com/news/religion-13-colonies-america

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-quaker-colonists-land-at-boston

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=94

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/quakers-at-the-battle-of-guilford-courthouse.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers_in_the_American_Revolution

https://www.ushistory.org/people/darragh.htm

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/lydia-barrington-darragh