Letters of Friends: Unsigned, Unattributed, and/or Undated

Quakers, also known as Friends, comprise a Christian religious movement called The Religious Society of Friends. The Religious Society of Friends was founded in England in the mid-17th century by George Fox, among others, and was one of many Protestant groups which broke from the Church of England in the years following the English Civil War (1642-1651). Quakers, despite their growing numbers in Britain, were persecuted by the state, causing many to move to North America. After facing persecution once again in Puritan Massachusetts, many Quakers settled in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, on the traditional land of the Lenape people, following the lead of prominent Quaker William Penn. Quakers are organized into local congregations, called Meetings (often Monthly Meetings), and larger organizations, called Yearly Meetings. The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, for example, joins together many Monthly Meetings in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.