d imprisonment and brutality at York and Cambridge, went with Ann Austin across the Atlantic, first to Barbados and then to Boston. Boston was governed by a Puritan regime, which regarded all Quakers as dangerous heretics and enacted strict and harsh laws against them. Mary Fisher and Ann Austin suffered no more than imprisonment followed by banishment, but the laws against Quakers were strengthened in the following years. Some including Mary Dyer in 1660 were executed. The spread of Quakerism into America during these years makes a remarkable story. The best know event is the voyage in 1657 of the “Woodhouse”, which was sailed to New York (then known as New Amsterdam) by a group of Quakers, their survival in America is a matter of wonder. During the 1650’s the Friends had begun building Meetinghouses, the beginning of the establishment of local stable worshiping groups. There were already many of such groups up and down the country when Fox was released from prison in 1666.George Fox was an Englishman and he was a man who lived by his principles. Despite severe persecution no one could halt his preaching or his disrespect for the Church of England, which he considered irreligious. Once he even refused to leave prison when given his freedom. Because he had been imprisoned unjustly, he demanded pardon as well as release. George Fox was born in July 1624. His parents were Puritans. As a boy George was extremely religious. When he was 19, he became disgusted by the sinfulness of many Christians. He left his family and went off alone. After much thought and reading of the Bible, Fox came to the conclusion that God was to be found only within the soul of each individual. Fox was 23 when he began his ministry by traveling from village to village. He preached his new belief of the Inner Light and soon won many converts. England was torn by civil war, however, and the authorities did not like this sect that claimed equ...
