Eat Your Oats!

The Quakers were one of the first religious groups to settle in America. They came here to escape punishment in England for their religious beliefs. William Penn, a Quaker, founded the colony of Pennsylvania so people of many religions could worship without being prosecuted. The Quakers made an impact in Colonial America and continue to practice their religion today.
A theologian named George Fox founded this religion in 1647 and called it the Society of Friends. While many thought that the Bible was how God spoke to men, George Fox thought that God was inside of every person. George Fox once told a judge “to tremble at the word of the Lord.” The judge called Fox a Quaker. Enemies first used the word “Quakers” as a term of abuse, but the Quakers soon used it to describe themselves. Quakers did not wear colors, all their clothing was black or white. They wore hats, to cover their heads from the sight of God. They rejected war and stressed peace and education.
The Quakers effected the world around them in many ways. They helped stop wars and they also helped make America a county where you can practice your religion freely. They were the first group to oppose slaveholding. The Quakers thought that all men were equal and no man could own a slave. They also renounced violence.
If there were never any Quakers then Americans might still have to belong to the official Church of England and we might not have all the religious rights we have now. The Quakers, or the Society of Friends, still are an influential religion in the USA. In 1947 Quakerism was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Both of President Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, currently attend a Quaker school, Sidwell Friends.
Slavery was abolished in the United States, in part, because the Quakers taught that it was evil. The principal of non-violence that is a basic part of the Quaker religion has spread throughout the world. Quakerism is now a major religion all over the world.

Robert
Freedom Seven Elementary
School of International Studies
May 17, 2009