The Shakers are a Christian group that began in England in 1747 and then set up villages in the United States from 1774. People called them Shakers because in their meetings they shook, danced, and sang with strong feeling. Members lived together, farmed, and made furniture that is plain, strong, and still famous. They believed men and women should be equal in the group, and they chose not to marry or have children. Because they did not have children of their own, the group grew only when new people joined, and today almost nobody is left. They are not the same as the Quakers, though the first Shakers came out of that world and were once called Shaking Quakers. When English speakers say a Shaker chair, they mean that simple, well-made style — not a chair that moves. Capital S: this is a named group, not people holding salt shakers.