Quakers: Friends, Society of
also called Friends Church , byname Quakers Christian group that arose in mid-17th-century England, dedicated to living in accordance with the "Inward Light," or direct inward apprehension of God, without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms. As most powerfully expressed by George Fox (1624–91), Friends felt that their "experimental" discovery of God would lead to the purification of all of Christendom. It did not; but Friends founded one American colony and were dominant for a time in several others, and though their numbers are now comparatively small, they continue to make disproportionate contributions to science, industry, and especially to the Christian effort for social reform.
"Society of Friends." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 9 Mar. 2004 .

Shakers: United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing celibate millenarian sect that established communal settlements in the United States in the 18th century. Dedicated to productive labour as well as to a life of perfection, Shaker communities flourished economically and contributed a distinctive style of architecture, furniture, and handicraft to American culture before the sect's decline in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The Shakers derived originally from a small branch of radical English Quakers who had adopted the French Camisards' ritual practices of shaking, shouting, dancing, whirling, and singing in tongues. The Shaker doctrine, as it came to be known in the United States, was formulated by Ann Lee, an illiterate textile worker of Manchester, who was converted to the "Shaking Quakers" in 1758. After experiencing persecution and imprisonment for participation in noisy worship services, "Mother Ann" had a series of revelations, after which she regarded herself—and was so regarded by her followers—as the female aspect of God's dual nature and the second Incarnation of Christ. She established celibacy as a cardinal principle of the sect.

"Shaker." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 9 Mar. 2004 .