About Colonial Pennsylvania

From the colony's founding by William Penn in 1681 through English charter, Pennsylvania quickly grew into a major American trading post and bastion of intellectual thought. Set up as a place for religious and personal freedom, the colony attracted English and European immigrants. Principles that were practiced as well as preached included pacifism and coexistence with Native American peoples.

History

Penn's colony quickly became the commercial leader in the colonies. The wealthy Penn started the colony as a place of religious freedom where fellow Quakers could practice their faith openly. Lucrative commercial trade transformed an early agricultural-based society to an urbanized--for the time--society based around Philadelphia, America's second-largest city in the eighteenth century. The city was known as the "Athens of America."

Misconceptions

Most people think of early Quakers as ascetic, other-worldly types dressed in drab clothes. In fact, prominent Quakers lived well and exhibited wealth. Colors might have been subdued in clothing, but the material was first-class. Bowls for eating porridge might have been made of solid silver instead of cheaper copper. The economic basis for the colony sometimes is overlooked given its founding on principles of religious freedom and pacifism.

Time Frame

Penn received Pennsylvania's charter from King Charles II in 1681. The area transformed from humble agricultural roots and mainly Dutch and Swedish residents to a refined and cultured colony led by a trader class of English Quakers. Starting with a few thousand people led by Penn in 1681, the colony grew to about 45,000 people in 1720 when Philadelphia became the second-largest city in British America. Leaders such as Benjamin Franklin became all-important to the revolutionary movement culminating in 1783.

Features

Colonial Pennsylvania also contained areas that became New Jersey and Delaware. Commercial and religious freedom created an atmosphere in which new ideas flourished. Wheat and corn were exported. Textile mills and manufacturing developed along with a thriving port and trading class. The western portion of the colony was in the forefront of the war between the English and French for domination of the new world. The colony had the colonies' first nonreligiously based university, first hospital and library.

Significance

Religious toleration and economic freedom--these two cornerstones of colonial Pennsylvania have been importance principles in American life ever since. Commerce fueled the colony's explosive growth--the fastest growing colony in America--and was key to the development of the early nation. Penn's principles of personal liberty became an important cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution.