02/13/2026
"As we have seen, Quakers held the army and others to account both in print, and in private and public meetings. The circulation of information about the intentions of the army also reminds us, ultimately, of the strategic focus of Quaker campaigning. Quakers were by no means passive or mystical observers of the political landscape, but were organizing a sophisticated and multifaceted campaign, which required a range of well-informed negotiative strategies and a pragmatic, often clandestine, analysis of the actual power of those in charge. In this regard models of popular politics which deployed different tactics of negotiation with those in power are more helpful to our understanding of the Quakers in the 1650s than historical interpretations which prioritize the articulation of coherent ideologies, broad political programmes, or the delineation of denominational identity. One of the key defining purposes of Quakers before 1689 was to achieve, and exercise, the legal right to worship according to conscience and, in order to do this, they were obliged to negotiate for it from those in power."
— Kate Peters, The Quakers and the Politics of the Army in the Crisis of 1659 (Past & Present, Volume 231, Issue 1, May 2016)
