why was pennsylvania created?

Answer 1

When Charles II became king following the Cromwell Protectorate, he had debts--and lots of them--owed to those who had supported both his father, Charles I, in the English Civil War and, after the execution of his father, had supported him as well.

Charles II, not unlike many kings in history, had a constant cash flow problem. What he DID have, however, was land in North America--and plenty of it.

One of the Royalist supporters had been the father of William Penn (I think the older Penn's first name was Richard), who had died and left his son to collect the debt if he could.

Here's where it gets really interesting.

William Penn had been raised a good Anglican, but had converted to the beliefs of the Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers. They are a group that believes very strongly in pacifism and that each human being is deserving of respect.

They used the familiar forms of "thee" and "thou" to all people (at this time the word "you" was used on formal occasions, as to a superior of some sort. "Thee" and "thou" were used for one's family and intimates), and the men would not remove their hats in the presence of a "superior." They even allowed women to serve as in their ministry on an equal basis. These weren't exactly mainstream religious beliefs in 17th-century England, and the Quakers often found themselves in prison. Penn was no exception.

The king decided that all this real estate he had in North America would be a good way of repaying his supporters, many of whom had mortgaged or lost estates because of their support for the Royalist (also called "Cavalier") cause. Penn was one of the beneficiaries of this plan.

Legend has it that, when he refused to take off his hat in the presence of Charles II, the monarch simply removed his own hat, saying, "'Tis the custom of the place that only one head be covered at a time." It's also said that Penn originally wanted to call his land grant "Sylvania," which means "woodland," and that it was at Charles' insistence that it was named "Penn's Sylvania," in honor of Penn's father.

Anyway, Penn thus became proprietor of Pennsylvania and a portion of New Jersey as well. He was interested in conducting a "Holy Experiment" in his colony, and proceeded to do such virtually uneard-of things such as negotiate and pay the native peoples for their land, set out one of the first planned cities in the world, and declare that religious toleration would be a feature of this colony. He was, in many ways, light years ahead of his time.

Philadelphia was palnned as a "Grene Countrie Towne," and Penn set up four plots of land that were to remain undeveloped. What remains of these plots are now Franklin, Washington, and Rittenhouse Squares, and Logan Circle. He was also responsible for the grid plan of the streets and the naming of the original streets after trees (and giving numbers to the North-South streets that crossed these East-West running ones named for trees) rather than after people, in accordance with the simplicity of his Quaker beliefs.

Since he and his fellow Friends (what Quakers still call themselves to this day) knew and understood persecution firsthand, from the very beginning people of all faiths were welcome in Pennsylvania--for many years Old St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, organized in the early 1700's, was the only place in the English-speaking world at the time where Catholic services were held publicly and, more to the point, LEGALLY. Other religious bodies that found a home in Penn's colony were such Pietistic sects as the Amish and the Mennonites, as well as Baptists and Jews.

If nothing else, we today owe a debt of gratitude to Penn's precedent for religious toleration, which later was incorporated into the Bill of Rights. The story itself reads almost like fiction, but not all history is as dry as old bones!

Answer 2

No no...it had nothing to do with religion. King Charles II awarded land to William Penn as a reward for the military service of his father, Admiral William Penn (yeah, same name). So Penn Jr. named it Pennsylvania in honor of his father and let the Quakers settle there to get some English speaking peoples on his land. Thus, if attacked, the English had legal justification for military action against any aggressor and expand further (not that they wouldn't have anyway) and being Quakers, if killed, the British weren't sacrificing anyone from the white, Protestant ruling elite.

Answer 3

I vaguely remember from 4th grade history class that William Penn wanted a colony where Quakers could practice their religion without persecution, and got a royal charter to start a new colony.

Answer 4

It was a land grant bestowed by the British government to pay off a substantial debt it owed to William Penn's father. wth his father dead, Penn used it to create a refuge for England's persecuted Quakers.

Answer 5

I believe the state (from the Delaware River) out to forever was deeded to William Penn by the king of England. It probably had something to do with a thanks for something Penn did and/or a place for Quakers to live.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

through examining the Bible and exhibiting a yearning to appreciate Jehovah no longer in basic terms doctrines and traditions. Mr Russel replaced right into a guy. He had to entice nearer to Jehovah so he did the organic element and started examining the Bible. the great distinction between this and a few others is. That he and now we pursue Bible truths. case in point we used to rejoice Christmas, have faith Christ died on the go, have faith he replaced into sparkling shaven. whilst we stumbled on the tip the two internally or from somebody outdoors our faith bringing it to our interest we tried to fall consistent with the suitable teachings. we attempt to no longer persist with custom and particularly persist with Christ.

Answer 8

william penn was a quaker and he wanted land for his people, so he bought sylvania and the king added penn to the name. so you get pennsylvainia