MDDM Dixon's act of violence

[Terrance]

In the early 1700s it may have appeared that Friends would be one of the
    major denominations in the American colonies. By the end of the 18th
    century, however, they were only a small minority in the United
States.
    This slow fade can be attributed, at least partly, to what is called
    "Quietism," ...  many members of the Society were disowned
    from, or "read out of," the Meetings they were born into -- for
instance
    when they married "out of meeting" or violated Quaker testimonies
    pertaining to fancy clothing, music, gambling, etc. 

When Mason asks Dixon about his military coat and his threats of
violence, Dixon refers to Quietism and his being read out of meeting
along with a few others. 

Mason is not always honest with Dixon and Dixon is not always honest
with Mason. Mason already knows a bit about Dixon's tendency to not be
Quiet, apparently he was briefed by the RS. 

During the American Revolution, some Friends (including Betsy Ross and
General Nathanael Greene) actively sided with the pro-Independence side
and were read out of their meetings. In Philadelphia, they formed the
Free Quakers, a group that maintained a Friends Meeting from 1781 to
1834.



http://www.strecorsoc.org/docs/fracture.html


Much of Seahorse scene seems to play to the twins.