The society, established by George Fox, near the middle of the seventeenth century, increased rapidly in numbers, due very largely to the efforts of its founder and the services of the men whom he associated with him in his work. This influence was extended by means of (1) journeys made to foreign parts; (2) letters; and (3) preaching out of doors to all who would listen. Fox, from the first, was interested in education, particularly moral and practical, and recommended the establishment of several schools. He was primarily interested in (1) moral training; (2) religious instruction; and (3) in education of a practical sort which would fit every individual to earn a livelihood. These ends which he strove for were likewise accepted as worthy to be achieved, and consciously striven for by the society in its organized meetings. This organization of meetings itself was devised by Fox and regularly constituted in various parts before the time of his death. It consisted of yearly, quarterly, monthly, and particular meetings, whose relations were well defined. The functions of the first were general and directive; those of the last were particular and effective. The chief weakness, already pointed out in previous chapters, was the lack of compulsory power in the yearly meeting. Its recommendations gained results, but might be neglected in communities desiring to do so.

An organization, of itself, performs nothing. Its accomplishments depend on men who have purposes, and the determination and ability to execute them. A considerable number of such men were members of Friends, and expressed themselves definitely on education. Such leaders as Penn, Fothergill, Fox, Banks, Chalkley, Crisp, Crouch, Pastorius, Benezet and others as important, were responsible for its educational guidance and in the end, accomplishments. From a study of their expressions it appears that the criticisms, concerning the Quakers’ antipathy to education, are without foundation, and arose, for the most part, from their statement that a classical education was not essential for a minister. The life and the education of most of them attest the fact that they sought a higher education for themselves and promoted it for others. Not only for their own society, but for the rich and poor of others, were efforts made to establish schools. The education of Indians and Negroes was similarly urged both on the part of individuals and the organization. The tangible results of their efforts in this regard were seen in the various local meetings.

In the establishment of schools, the direction lay in the hands of the yearly meeting. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s advices on that subject, for the first half century, were very general in nature and seemingly of little import to the various lower meetings. A development is noticed, however, toward a definite plan for schools to be established. The advices of 1746 and continuing thereafter, 1750, 1751, 1753, 1755, 1778, and following, are definite in their ideas as to what should be done, and the persistency with which they were urged in the meetings, where all school affairs came to be attended to by committees, seems to have effected tangible results. Committee reports on educational conditions increased greatly in definiteness after 1777, which allows a better estimate to be made of what was done. From such reports it is estimated that by the end of the century there were sixty or seventy schools established “according to direction” given by the yearly meeting. Many others are reported in various meetings, which did not measure up in any great degree to the standards set.

These standards[1339] (stated elsewhere in this work) demanded a high moral quality in masters and mistresses, as well as training in the subjects to be taught. From a study of the manuscript records and newspapers it appears that the moral standards, met by Quaker masters, were as high, and, in Philadelphia, perhaps higher than those of the other private school masters. The cases of open lawlessness are at least more numerous in the latter case. The degree of preparation for teaching ranged from the highest, the best college trained men of the day, to the lowest, those who possessed a most elementary education.

The opportunities offered for study, both in the lower and in the Classical School, were at all times equal at least to those of the other schools of the day.

The Quakers established no system of public schools, though they were called such quite frequently. As public school sentiment grew, and the Quaker schools correspondingly declined in many places, they often were taken over as public schools. In that sense they were, truly enough, the foundation of public schools. Education was free to the poor; in a few cases the funds might be applied to lower the rates paid by the regular pay scholars, but such were exceptional.

In 1750 there were about fifty particular meetings in the territory covered by this study; those were under the direction of seventeen monthly meetings.[1340] With the exception of nine of them we know from their reports that they had schools then, or established them in the period following 1750, in which the increased activity and interest of the yearly meeting brought the subject more fully to their notice. From the nature of the reports, it is often impossible to determine the date of establishing such a school, and because of the irregularity of reports it is not known how long a school may have been in operation before reported. For these reasons any estimate such as made above is very unsatisfactory.

It is not to be understood that at the time above mentioned the schools were in all cases “according to the plan” of the yearly meeting. Many reports have been quoted wherein schools were mentioned which did not measure up to the standards.[1341] Some lacked buildings, grounds, Friends as masters, masters’ accommodations, and so forth.

Assuming the nine meetings, for which no schools were reported in the minutes, did not have them, there were about forty schools under control of the Quakers, who at that date constituted one-third of the entire population.[1342] The population estimated by Oldmixon was about 100,000 in 1741.[1343] Though the colony increased rapidly by immigration,[1344] the Quaker increase was not proportionate to their numbers stated above.[1345] In 1795 it is stated that the Episcopalians and Quakers together constituted but one-third of the whole population, which then numbered about 434,373.[1346] The number of regularly established Quaker schools at that date was between sixty and seventy.

If in 1741 we estimate the number of school age children of Quaker parentage between six and seven thousand, which is probably a less number than there actually were, it is apparent that the schools regularly established were in no way adequate to the school population. The remainder were doubtless cared for in the frequently mentioned mixed schools and neighborhood schools, which are known to have been common. These were sometimes under partial control of the Quaker meetings. What proportion the number of Quaker schools bears to those established by other agencies is not known. No studies made up to the present time have attempted to estimate the number of schools established by all or particular agencies. Any comparison is impossible until such a study is made.