Quakers, one of the 1st abolitionists, renew their call for resistance as America turns 250 [View all]

Source: ABC News

July 3, 2026, 5:04 AM


Quakers are joining with national advocacy groups on July 4 in Philadelphia to protest what they say are unjust policies by President Donald Trump’s administration. The faith group, formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, gathered signatures online and in person for a “Declaration of Resistance Banner” that they will display during their “People’s Parade” on the 250th birthday of the United States, according to Quaker officials.

The proclamation -- created by the Quakers’ advocacy arm, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) -- includes condemnations of mass arrests and deportations of immigrants, acts of war on sovereign nations and the dismantling of slavery exhibits in national parks, including Philadelphia’s President’s House -- the site of George Washington’s executive mansion.

Philadelphia isn’t only the “birthplace” of the U.S., where the Founding Fathers met to write and sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but is also in a state founded by Quakers.

William Penn, a powerful Quaker, established the state of Pennsylvania after King Charles II granted him the land in 1681. It was founded as a holy experiment for religious tolerance. “Native American peoples, Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans and other religious groups that had been persecuted in Europe could come and express their own conscience freely,” Dr. Brian Blackmore, director of Quaker engagement with AFSC, told ABC News.

Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/quakers-1st-abolitionists-renew-call-resistance-america-turns/story?id=134422099

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Link to American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) PRESS RELEASE - A Declaration of Resistance




There are definitely Quakers all around where I live and I'm not far from a Friends Meeting House.