Shakers

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, is a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded in the eighteenth century in England.

They are initially known as "Shaking Quakers" because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services.

As early as 1747, women assume eadership roles within the sect, notably Jane Wardley, Mother Ann Lee, and Mother Lucy Wright.

Shakers settled in colonial America, with initial settlements in New Lebanon, New York (called Mount Lebanon after 1861).

They practice a celibate and communal lifestyle, pacifism, and their model of equality of the sexes, which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s.

They are also known for their simple living, architecture, and furniture.

During the mid-nineteenth century, an Era of Manifestations results in a period of dances, gift drawings, and gift songs inspired by spiritual revelations.

At its peak in the mid-nineteenth century, there are six thousand Shaker believers

By 1920, there are only twelve Shaker communities remaining in the United States.

At the present time, there is only one active Shaker village, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, which is located in Maine.

Their celibacy combined with external and internal societal changes have resulted in the thinning of the Shaker community, and consequently many of the other Shaker settlements are now village museums, like Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts.