" That in all laws made, or to be made, every person may be bound alike, and that no tenure, estate, charter, degree, birth, or place, do confer any exemption from the ordinary course of legal proceedings, whereunto others are subjected. "
Since 1652. The Quakers emerged from the radical political and religious turmoil surrounding the English Revolution.
If you are interested in the history of this period, and material about the early Quakers, an excellent place to start might be: