Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from "Penn's Woods", referring to William Penn's father Admiral Sir William Penn.
Province of Pennsylvania
- Colony of England (1681–1707)
- Colony of Great Britain (1707–1776)
William Penn (first)
John Penn (last)
William Markham (first)
John Penn (last)
(1683-1776)
Provincial Assembly
(1776)
Provincial Conference
March 4, 1681
July 4, 1776
The Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies. The proprietary colony's charter remained in the Penn family until they were later ousted following the American Revolution and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was established as one of the original thirteen states. The lower counties on Delaware, a separate colony within the Pennsylvania Province, broke away during the American Revolution and was established as the Delaware State and also became one of the original thirteen states.
The colony attracted English Quakers, Germans, and Scot-Irish frontiersmen. The Lenape Indian tribe promoted peace with the Quakers. However, after William Penn and Tamanend, who both supported peaceful coexistence, died, wars eventually broke out. The Quakers demonized Lenape mythology even though the Quakers were strong proponents of religious freedom.[1]
Philadelphia, the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, emerged as a major port and commercial city and central location for the thinking, writings, and planning that ultimately inspired the American Revolution. In the 18th century, Philadelphia emerged as the second-largest city in the British Empire, after London. Following the American Revolutionary War, Philadelphia served as the nation's capital until 1800, when a new capital city in Washington, D.C. was constructed at the direction of the young nation's Founding Fathers.[2]
Religious freedom and prosperity[edit]
William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious beliefs and values on the early Pennsylvanian government. The Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to all monotheists, and the government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War, Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, and no public debt. It also encouraged the rapid growth of Philadelphia into America's most important city and of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country hinterlands, where German (or "Deutsch") religions and political refugees prospered on the fertile soil and spirit of cultural creativeness. Among the first groups were the Mennonites, who founded Germantown in 1683; and the Amish, who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an auspicious year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the British American colonies,[7] and The Academy and College of Philadelphia, the predecessor to the private University of Pennsylvania,[8] both opened. Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions and Philadelphia's Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736.[9] Likewise in 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new bell tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.