Society of Friends (Upper Canada)

The Quakers (Society of Friends) immigrated from New York, the New England States and Pennsylvania. They are a pacifist religion, and during this period were also a "plain folk" rejecting all ornamentation in clothing, speech and meeting houses (churches). The Children of Peace were founded during the War of 1812 after a schism in York County. A further schism occurred in 1828, leaving two branches, "Orthodox" Quakers and "Hicksite" Quakers.

The basic unit of Quaker organization is the Monthly Meeting, in reference to its monthly business meeting. The Monthly Meeting admitted members, disciplined them, and created committees of oversight. The Monthly Meeting had oversight of its constituent meetings for worship, which, when meeting for business, were called Preparative Meetings. The Monthly Meeting, in turn, reported to a Quarterly or Half Yearly regional meeting, which in turn joined other regional meetings in a Yearly Meeting.

Quaker settlers who planned on moving were to request a "minute of membership" to bring to the Quaker meeting in their new neighbourhood. This was to ensure that Quakers remained in touch even in frontier regions. As Quakers moved westward, into unsettled regions like Upper Canada, their home meeting might authorize a new Preparative Meeting in that locale. Nine Partners Monthly Meeting in the lower Hudson River Valley of New York state thus authorized a Preparative Meeting for its emigrating members to West Lake in the Bay of Quinte region of Upper Canada in 1798. These new Canadian meetings thus remained in touch with their home meetings (and relatives left behind) and their Yearly Meeting. They also served as a receiving station, easing the flow of settlers from east to west and ensuring they had an established network of Friends to turn to. This is a classic example of the process known as chain migration.

Friends' peace testimony is largely derived from beliefs arising from the teachings of Jesus to love one's enemies and Friends' belief in the inner light. Quakers believe that nonviolent confrontation of evil and peaceful reconciliation are always superior to violent measures. Peace testimony does not mean that Quakers engage only in passive resignation; in fact, they often practice passionate activism. The Peace Testimony is probably the best known testimony of Friends. Because of their peace testimony, Friends are considered as one of the historic peace churches.

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