Religious TolerancePenn and other Quakers believed that everyone had to seek God in his or her own way. Penn also thought that religious tolerance – or “liberty of conscience” – would create stronger governments and wealthier societies. Other English thinkers in the 1600s shared these ideas. But Penn had the opportunity to act on his beliefs. In Pennsylvania, religious tolerance was the law. Show
Penn welcomed settlers from all faiths to Pennsylvania. Each of the other American colonies had established an official church, but Penn did not. He sought out religious groups suffering in Europe, and invited them to his colony. He even gave some groups land. Yet religious tolerance did not mean that colonists of all faiths had equal rights. Only Christians could vote or hold political office. But all settlers could take part in the social and economic life of Pennsylvania. Penn’s belief that “Religion and Policy…are two distinct things, have two different ends, and may be fully prosecuted without respect on to the other” took hold and became one of America’s most important ideals. Representative GovernmentDuring Penn’s time, older forms of government such as the “divine right of kings” were slowly giving way to a belief that stressed individual rights. In 1681, Penn crafted a government for Pennsylvania based on these Enlightenment principles. He rejected models of government that forced laws on citizens against their will. Penn emphasized self-government for the people. In 1696 the Assembly, an elected body of 36 men with power to accept or reject laws, demanded the power to make laws. While Penn disagreed, he nevertheless believed strongly in representative government. So he reluctantly changed the way Pennsylvania was governed. The will of the people was more important to him than his own ideas about government. Penn’s ideas inspired our nation’s founding fathers. Penn’s vision lives on in the American government’s most important document, the United States Constitution. Diversity in early PennsylvaniaPennsylvania quickly became America’s most diverse colony. Lenape Indians lived near the Delaware River. Dutch and Swedish settlers had farmed and traded in the region since the 1620s. During the 1680s, other European settlers arrived at Penn’s invitation. Some of them purchased slaves from Africa or the Caribbean. Penn needed settlers with many different skills to build his new colony. So he invited people from many backgrounds and classes to Pennsylvania. Some wealthy colonists immediately became leaders in the fledgling colony. Middle-class people worked as free laborers or small businessmen. And members of the “lower sorts” came as indentured servants. Pennsylvania, from the beginning and by Penn’s design, was a complex society of people of different ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds. This model of diversity became the basis for the American “melting pot.” Visit Pennsbury Manor and discover how William Penn’s ideals inspired the founding fathers.Quakers (or Friends) are members of a Christian religious movement that started in England as a form of Protestantism in the 17th century, and has spread throughout North America, Central America, Africa, 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. The arrival of the Quakers[edit]Mary Fisher and Ann Austin are the first known Quakers to set foot in the New World. 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, and their books were burned. 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.[1] The first Monthly Meeting[edit]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, which began meeting 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[edit]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. In 1681, King Charles II allowed William Penn, a Quaker, a charter for the area that was to become Pennsylvania. 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 at his home, which eventually became the Chester Monthly Meeting. Quakers and abolitionism[edit]Quakers were at the center of the movement to abolish slavery in the early United States; it is no coincidence that 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."[2]: 1 Branches of Quakerism in North America[edit]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. 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. 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. 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. 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[edit]
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What makes Quakers different from other religions?Quakers seek to experience God directly, within ourselves and in our relationships with others and the world around us. Quakerism is a way of life, rather than a set of beliefs. It has roots in Christianity and many Quakers find the life and teachings of Jesus inspirational, but we have no creed.
How were the Quakers different from the other groups in their time?Their style of worship was an oddity by itself. They had no clergy, no pulpit, no ceremony, nor did they worship in a church. Quakers met in a simple meetinghouse with rows of benches and a partition to separate the men and women.
How did the Quakers differ from the Pilgrims?Pilgrims and Quakers are alike because both are very religous and both developed about the same time. Pilgrims and Quakers are different because Quakers beleieved in a strong relationship with god while the Pilgrims focused more on work and labor.
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