One important aspect of Quaker life to understand before reading An Account of the Travels, Sufferings and Persecutions of Barbara Blaugdone, is the use of traveling ministers to spread the Quaker religion around the world. The Society of Friends, given the popular name “Quakers”, originated in England in the seventeenth century and quickly spread to the English colonies, and later to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Turkey, and America (Sharpless 393). The most influential people in this rapid spread of the Quaker religion were the missionaries. While Quakers believed that “no one should preach the Word without a direct call from God”, they did believe that any one “male or female, old or young (395)” could receive this call. The truth of the matter was, however, that the majority of the traveling ministers in the seventeenth century were women.
Stewart, M. (2014, February 27). William Penn’s holy experiment became the seed of a nation. Retrieved from Freedom for all Ministry: http://freedomforallministry.org/William-Penns-Holy-Experiment.php
“The Quakers were devout Christians who believed part of god’s nature lived within every person: therefore, they refused to kill other People.” This resulted in them passing “the Great Law” in 1682. That made the colony of Pennsylvania punish crime by long term confinement. In 1718 the colony was forced to return to the old means of punishment by the Royal English government, but when to colonies won their freedom from English rule they would set the foundation for the modern day prison system that we use today (History of Incarceration, 2007).
Traveling female Quakers tested gender norms even more so than by preaching alone. Their ability to ignore the role of men as protectors, as well as owners, had no context in the minds of their contemporaries. Evans and Chevers greatly distressed their captors when they refused to give their affiliation to fathers or husbands.
The early persecution of Quakers strongly influenced the development of their beliefs both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Though their population remains small, they are a powerful community and actively involved with politics. Historically, they have played a major role in the War Reform Act and the abolitionist movement. Today, they continue to take part in initiatives focussing on sustainable development and extending democratic values to many nations. Though their participation in different issues may not always be welcomed, they are dedicated to making our world better. Many aspects of their religion are open to interpretation, which is both a major strength and weakness. During our field study, I was able to make connections to my own experiences and gained a more comprehensive understanding of Quakerism.
George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, held new beliefs that would cause the religion problems from its beginning. Fox was born in 1642 in the English Midlands in the town of Leicestershire, where as a young man he strived to “live a life of purity and love.” Like Muhammad in Islam, he believed that he had an experience that “opened him to the knowledge that the love and power of god were available to all people without the help of priests, ministers, or outward sacraments.” Quakers read the Bible constantly and were able to quote it in their daily lives and in their writings. William Penn once wrote on their continuous reading of the Bible, “We believe the scriptures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God, in and to those ages in which they were written, being gi...
George Fox had already met with opposition and indeed with imprisonment. However the group had a steadfastness which eventually enabled the Quakers to survive as a group. They were full of confidence that they possessed the "Truth of God" and were not slow to point out that others were in the darkness. Above all, they refused to give in to violent treatment; a response which always brings out the worst from those in power. The early Quakers encountered a lot of hatred and brutality, they encountered it from the magistrates and from the judges, from the prison wardens and in a less physical manner from many of the clergy. The crimes they were charged with were such things as blasphemy and disturbing the peace, but their offences were really agai...
The Quakers first arrived in North America after facing constant persecution under England’s monarchical government. Led by William Penn, Jr., the Quakers landed in the not-yet-founded colony of Pennsylvania. During the early stages of their settlement, the Quakers and Native Americans had a mutual relationship; this一at the time一was unheard of between European settlers and Native Americans. It was not until after regular, Episcopalian Englishmen began to migrate to Pennsylvania that Native American and Pennsylvanian ties were broken. Although that progressive step forward of the counterculture, Quakerism, was neutralized, remnants of their beliefs were kept and ingrained into the United States of America’s own set of core values. This is especially evident in the United States’s first governmental document, The United States Declaration of Independence. Found in the Preamble, the line “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (US 1776) is strong proof of Quaker impact. Before the Quakers, this was a foreign idea. Quakers did not only believe in the equality of men though; they also played a great role in the fight for gender equality一specifically一helping to push the Seneca Falls Convention. Society of Friends members truly did show that actions speak louder than words in that they modeled very progressive “relationships where men and women worked and ...
Quaker’s views of freedom and Puritan’s views of freedom differed in several significant ways. First of all, Freedom and liberty according to William Penn involves great religious tolerance. Penn discusses his views of the matter in the following passage, “Finding then by Sad Experience, and a long Tract of Time, That the very Remedies applied to cure Dissension increase it; and that the more Vigorously a Uniformity is coercively prosecuted, the Wider Breaches grown, the more Inflamed Persons are, and fixt in their Resolutions to stand by their Principles” (Penn). He believed in letting people worship whenever and however they pleased (within the limits of Christianity). Eric Foner explains that to Quakers, “liberty was a universal entitlement, not the possession of any single people—a position that would eventually make them the first group of whites to repudiate slavery” (Foner 95). This can be used to assume that Quakers, or the Society of Friends, were among the most liberal of
Densmore, Christopher and Thomas Bassett. "Quakers, Slavery and the Civil War." In Quaker Crosscurrents: Three Hundred Years of Friends in the New York Yearly Meetings, edited by Hugh Barbor and Christopher Densmore, 183-197. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995.