I shall use Quakers because it is quicker to type.
The early history of the Quakers is available to read online - go to archive.org and search for The beginnings of Quakerism. It was published in 1912 by William C(harles) Braithwaite. This is a free (and brilliant) site, sometimes you have to change the format so that it is the scans of the book itself that you are looking at, you can enlarge the image and turn the pages with the arrows or by "flicking" across the page (which I often unintentionally do). It is like reading the actual book but I confess I have not read it all yet, and I prefer looking at the actual book in the reference library.
The following is my own understanding, at the moment (it may well change as I learn more).
Change did not come overnight, it was a gradual process and influenced by many things.
It was a time of uncertainty in the world, the old way of life had been traumatically changed by the whim of a Tudor King - Henry VIII and the stirrings of independent thought in Europe against the corrupt Catholic Church leading to Protestant religions. The people still wanted a religion, but they wanted one they could believe in, or they wanted to change the one they had, and different people wanted different things leading to the formation of different groups. So in England the Puritans developed alongside the new Church of England, whilst the Catholics were demonized ,and then came the Civil Wars which also must have been unsettling and confusing and frightening. A different kind of king, Oliver Cromwell was telling them now how they were to think and live and believe. And many people didn't know what to believe. It was a time of discussion and thinking. The Church was still central to life, it was not just a place they went to for worship - after services there would be debates and business was often conducted in the church grounds. The Church was central to the people - it was a way of controlling them and it was also a big business with a monopoly on belief, everyone had to give the Church (tax) money. At that time Royalty, government and religion were all tied together - you couldn't have one without the other and they were all controlled by the elite. News was distributed through the churches and it was a place to socialize. Ideas also spread because of the printing press - pamphlets were light to carry and cheaper than books, they were taken about the country by hawkers. The publishing of an English Bible gave people direct access to the scriptures and encouraged independent thinking, discussion and debate. Basically two things happened which led to the birth of the Quakers generally taken as a two week period in 1652 in Westmorland 1. George Fox had spent several years wandering about, trying to find his own personal answers as to faith and his beliefs, on his journey he found his way to Westmorland and there he found a group of people 2. now known as the Westmorland Seekers who did not want to belong to the established church and were seeking a new faith, they found their answer in George Fox's preaching. The events of that time are remembered by calling that area 1652 country, and Quakers still visit these places (there is much on the internet about 1652 country).
Personally, I think the world today is very much in the same position. Our way of life is being transformed by technology. Today we are told by the TV and other forms of media, how we should live, what values we should believe in etc. often by inference. There is a crisis of faith, many do not know what to believe. There are many different religions to choose from, which is the right one? and then there is the other greater god to whom so many worship - called materialism - and the world is still a frightening and confusing place. Not a civil war but terrorism is a threat within. And to decide what you do believe in takes conviction and courage - because if you do stand out you risk ridicule and worse.
What was so different about George Fox's message? He preached about the Inner Light - everyone could connect to God through themselves they did not need a priest.
What did the Westmorland Seekers bring ? numbers, from them came some of the Valiant Sixty (but not actually sixty in number) usually traveling in pairs they went all about England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even over the seas to Europe and America spreading the message and converting people - more than what George Fox could do alone. They also fetched an organization that was already in place.
George Fox was also a pacifist - perhaps in response to the Civil Wars. Quaker resistance was never violent but civil disobedience. There was no religious freedom in those days - Catholics and Jews were persecuted and the same happened to the Quakers. Because they no longer believed you needed the established church and a paid priest they did not see why they should have to pay for it, so they refused to pay the church (tax) tithe. This was a loss of revenue - and what if others followed suit, so the Quakers were to be punished and made an example of. The Quakers also showed them up by refusing to take oaths and showing the accepted respect of doffing hats to those considered "greater" (Quakers believed that all were equal before God). It all makes sense today, but then they were rebelling and revolutionary - a threat to the established way of life. And they were punished, persecuted and suffered.
These sufferings were later recorded, as far as able by Joseph Besse - they also can be read online - A collection of the sufferings of the people called Quakers. Imprisonments, fines, taking of their goods in lieu, and even transportation - so to be an early Quaker must have taken courage and belief. They certainly were not in it for any advantages. I have read that our religious tolerance of today owes much to the Quakers and their suffering.
As the Quakers no longer went to Church they began keeping their own records of births, marriages and burials. When Civil Registration began in 1837 the job of recording bmds passed from church to government and nonconformist records, included those of the Quakers up to then were surrendered. It is those surrendered records which have been filmed and can be found on ancestry and the genealogist websites - both of which you have to pay for (but having used microfilmed versions I would say it is worth paying to see the online versions) however they are not easy to use. Some of the records are very difficult to read and understand. Not all the records have survived. I think that not all events were recorded, you find inserted births and sometimes whole families of children all recorded together. Some of the filmed pages are very dark. Some handwriting is easier to read than others. Events were first recorded in local meeting, then monthly meeting and quarterly meeting but not all have survived. So for some events you may only have one record for it, others you may have several. Sometimes the records differ slightly and you may get an extra bit of information. Record Offices also hold other records the Quakers kept - but I have not had any experience of looking at those other than removal certificates, the ones I have seen are just letters. (I also think that some marriage certificates may have survived in family records where the meeting record may not have survived - but no definite proof of this yet.) It has been noted by some that the records do not match, that one would expect to find a record for someone and it is not there ( Colthouse burials, one would expect some people to be buried there but they are not, nor elsewhere). Finding records is one thing, making sense and interpreting them another.
What follows is my interpretation, you may reach a different one.
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