Quakers in North America

Quakers in North America constitute approximately 30% of Quakers worldwide, according to the online Quaker Information Center. There are about 107,000 individual Quakers and about 44 Friends Yearly Meetings in North America.

Quakers are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a movement that started in England in the 17th Century. Some Quakers came to North America in the early days because they wanted to spread their beliefs to the British colonists there, while others came to escape the persecution that they were experiencing in Europe. The first known Quakers in North America were missionaries who arrived there in 1656. Soon other Quaker preachers arrived, many colonists converted to Quakerism, and Quakers from Europe migrated there. The colony of Rhode Island, with its policy of religious freedom, was a frequent destination, as the Friends were persecuted by law in Massachusetts until 1681. The British colony of Pennsylvania was formed by William Penn in 1681 as a haven for persecuted Quakers. Quakers also spread into Mexico and Central America.