http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N8djl4soR8&NR=1
The promise of religious freedom brought many to the shores of America and even the smaller groups have found their place and made their contribution to the American identity. The Society of Friends (The Quakers) came to America in the middle of the seventeenth century. They firstly suffered persecution but later prospered, contributing to society. There were many Quaker activists who furthered the cause of the abolition of slavery. Over the years they have fragmented into divisions, such as Conservative, Pastoral, Evangelical Quakers, etc. They are broadly Christian, but there are different shades of opinion amongst them. They are perhaps best known as being pacifists, although again, they do not all adhere to that. The following website gives us information about the distribution of the Friends. In 2008 there were 130,000 members. In a 1999 survey, there were 16,167 in Indiana and 15,723 in North Carolina. In Alaska, they formed 51% of the population. There were also 13,436 in Ohio, 12,081 in Pennsylvania and 10,916 in California. There are smaller numbers in several other States. http://www.quakerinfo.com/quak_us.shtml
There have been many famous Quakers, including William Penn (the founder of Pennsylvania), Daniel Boone, Annie Oakley, the singer Joan Baez, James Dean, David Lean, and two presidents, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon.
This next site gives further information and the names of some more notable Quakers.
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_quaker.html
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