William Penn: The Founder of Pennsylvania P3

William Penn continued attending Quaker meetings and writing theological essays - repeatedly went to jail for doing so. In 1677, he began helping Quakers move to the American colonies, where they could experience far more religious liberty than they could in England.

In 1681, following the death of Penn’s father, King Charles II gave William Penn the land between New York and Maryland to repay a financial debt the king owed the elder Penn. The king named the land Pennsylvania in honor of the Admiral Penn.

William Penn accepted the land and went to America, but understanding that the land was actually not the king’s to give, he proceeded to purchase tracts of land from the Indians. He even purchased some of the same land multiple times because different tribes claimed the same property, having taken and retaken it from each other in conquests. Penn ensured that he secured a clear title from each tribe that claimed it.

Content Sourced from The American Story The Beginnings by: David Barton & Tim Barton