The Story of William Penn

William Penn was born October 24, 1644 in the country of England. Penn attended school until age 12. After that he had private tutors teach him.

During Penn’s college experience, he joined a religious group called the Society of Friends, or Quakers.

Quaker Family

Quakers’ Beliefs

People who called themselves Quakers believed all people should be considered equal regardless of how much money they have, and that wars and fighting were wrong. Quakers also felt everyone should be able to choose their own religion.

Church of EnglandIn the 1600’s, the

people of England did not have the option of choosing their own religion. It was a law that everyone had to belong to the Church of England, also known as the King’s Church.

Penn’s religious beliefs caused him to get kicked out of college and thrown into jail six times. When Penn was 23, he officially joined the Quaker religion.

Penn’s father was a rich Admiral in the King’s navy. Penn’s farther was not pleased/unhappy with his son joining the Quakers.

The King borrowed some money from Admiral Penn. When he passed away, he left all of his money to his son, William. This included the money the King still owed his father.

Making a New Colony

With this money and much planning, Penn decided to begin a colony in North America where everyone could choose his or her own religion, and practice their beliefs without having the fear of being thrown in jail. Penn needed to find a way to own land in America.

King Pays Off DebtsThe King was unable

to pay Penn back the money he had borrowed from his father. Penn decided to ask the King for land in North America instead of the money.

Pennsylvania The land the King gave to Penn is now called Pennsylvania. At that time, Pennsylvania was covered with many trees. Penn wanted to name the new colony “Sylvania,” meaning woods. The King wanted to name Pennsylvania after Admiral Penn. They decided to combine their two thoughts and call it Pennsylvania meaning Penn’s Woods

Colony BeginsIn 1681, Penn had a plan to send a

group of people to help organize the colony. This plan was named “Holly Experiment.”

This plan gave people religious freedom, a voice in the government, and all people to be treated equally, no matter how rich or poor they were.

In 1682, Penn arrived with 100 more Quakers on a ship named Welcome.

HousingPenn arrived in

Pennsylvania October 29, 1682.

There were only 20 houses built. There was no room for Penn or the settlers who came with him. They lived in dugout caves.

Luckily, the settlers of this new colony had wood to build new homes. They also had fresh water and many types of animals around. The problem was they did not know how to catch the animals. The Native Americans who were also living in the area, taught the Quakers how to survive by fishing, hunting, and growing vegetables.

Peace TreatiesPenn got along with

the Native American tribes and made peace treaties with them. Penn treated the Indians as equals. (Fairly and peacefully).

Building a ColonyMany people heard

about Penn’s colony and freedoms so they decided to travel to the colony. Penn passed two important laws to help the people in the colony.

New Laws are Passed

The first law was known as the Great Law. This law gave everyone the freedom of religion. It also stated that everyone was born equally, no matter how much money was in the family. The second law that was passed was called the Frame of Government. This law allowed people to set up a General Assembly (freedom of speech).

General Assembly

Is a group of people chosen by the people to make rules on how the colony should be governed.

In 1718, Penn passed away, but his colony was run by his wife Hannah until 1775 when it was lost in the War of Independence.

William Penn’s Influence…. Penn’s colony showed a model

government for the rest of the world.

• Penn’s ideas of freedom of religion and speech, were the basis upon which our democratic form of government was organized.

That was how Pennsylvania began.