Why was Quakerism founded?

The Quaker faith was started in the mid-1600s, beginning
from the time in 1652 when George Fox (the founder of the religion) felt that he was
called by God to found a new religion.  The founding of Quakerism was made possible by
the same sorts of impulses that drove the Reformation in
general.

One of the major ideas of the Reformation was that
people should not have to rely on priests and bishops to tell them what God wanted. 
This was why Luther, for example, wanted all people to read the Bible on their own.  Fox
took this idea one step further.  He argued that there should not even be pastors who
would deliver sermons.  Instead, each person should listen to the "Inner Light," or
voice of God, and speak to the others as he or she was moved to
do.

So, in answer to the question of why Quakerism was
founded, you could give two answers:

1. You could
   say it was founded because Fox felt called to found
   it.


2. You could say it was founded because people wanted to
   control their own relationships with God and because people felt that they were able to
   understand God's message without being told what that message was by and priest or even
   any pastor.