Penn, William

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Penn, William

October 14, 1644

London, England

July 30, 1718

Berkshire, England

Founder of Pennsylvania

"When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us of kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love, as long as the sun gave light."

William Penn.

William Penn was an English aristocrat (member of the upper social class) who founded the colony of Pennsylvania. Although he was born into the Anglican faith (the Church of England, the official state religion), he became a Quaker as a young man. (See box on Quakerism.) At that time Quakerism was outlawed in England, and Penn served at least three jail terms for practicing his religious beliefs. In 1682 he went to America to establish Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers and others who experienced religious persecution. The colony was a success, yet Penn himself received no profit from his efforts. In fact, the venture ruined him financially, and toward the end of his life he spent a year in debtor's prison. Moreover, he was constantly engaged in a struggle with colonists who wanted to return control of Pennsylvania to the British monarchy. Today, Penn is remembered for signing one of the few treaties that brought a prolonged peace between Native Americans and European colonists.

Born during time of strife

William Penn was born into a privileged and wealthy family on October 14, 1644, in London, England. His father, William Penn (1621–1670), was an admiral in the British Royal Navy, and the owner of several large estates in Ireland. He was also a friend of the Stuart kings of England. (The Stuarts were a family who had ruled Scotland and England since the twelfth century.) Penn's mother was Margaret Jasper Vanderschuren, who was the widow of a Dutch merchant before she married Penn's father. In 1641 she and her family fled Ireland for London, England, as Irish Catholics waged a war against Protestant immigrants. In London she met and married William Penn. Their elder son and primary heir, William, was born in 1644, during a time of political unrest. A civil war was raging in England, and the king was being held prisoner in Scotland. There was also religious turmoil. Dissidents (people who disagree with the rules of a government or church) such as George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (known as Quakers), were preaching throughout England for religious reform. Penn's father was arrested on suspicion of treason (betraying one's country) because he was a friend of the Stuarts, but he was soon released. In 1654 he headed for the West Indies and became involved in a military assault on the Spanish at Hispaniola. This grand expedition ended in failure, and on his return the older Penn was imprisoned again. Upon his release he decided that England was not safe, so in 1656 he moved the family to Ireland. In 1660 the English civil war came to an end and the Stuarts regained the throne. That same year young William was sent to study at Oxford's Christ Church College.

Becomes a Quaker

William Penn Jr. had his first religious experience at the age of ten or eleven. When he was thirteen he met Thomas Loe, an itinerant (one who travels from place to place) Quaker, who visited Ireland and was invited to the Penn home. This was Penn's first encounter with Quakerism, although it did not then lead to his conversion. At Oxford, Penn realized he needed a more personal religious faith than was provided by the Church of England. In 1662 he was expelled for not attending chapel, which was required of all students. Meanwhile, Quakerism had been outlawed in England. Penn's father then sent him to France, the center of elite society, where he was introduced at the court of King Louis XIV at Fontainebleau. Soon bored with court life, young William enrolled in the Protestant Academy of Saumur, where he stayed for a year and a half.

In 1666 Penn went to Ireland to manage the family estates. The following year he again encountered Loe, and this time he underwent an intense religious awakening. He began attending Quaker meetings and was briefly jailed in Cork because of his actions. (Ireland was part of the British Empire, so Penn was breaking the law when he attended Quaker meetings in Cork.) He also wrote his first public statement against religious intolerance, and at age twenty-four he became a minister. When he held Quaker meetings he was again arrested, imprisoned this time in the Tower of London. While he was in jail he wrote several tracts on religious freedom, the most famous being No Cross No Crown (1669). In 1670 Penn's father died, leaving young William not only a substantial fortune but also a large debt owed to the estate by the Stuart kings—a debt that led to the founding of Pennsylvania. After being jailed a third time, Penn left for Europe to spread the word of Quakerism in Germany and Holland. He would later urge German and Dutch converts to settle in Pennsylvania.

Quakerism

As a young man William Penn joined the Religious Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers. "Quaker" was initially an uncomplimentary term used by members of the established church to describe the Friends. Founded in 1668 by English religious leader George Fox, Quakerism contended that an ordained priest and a formal worship service were not needed to establish communion between an individual and God. Fox believed all people were endowed with an "inner light" that enabled them to understand and be guided by the Holy Spirit. Among the early converts to Quakerism were Separatists who had withdrawn from the Church of England, the official state religion, because they considered it corrupt and repressive. The Quakers refused to attend church services and pay tithes (monetary offerings paid to the church). Opponents of violence and war, they would not bear arms or vow allegiance to the government. Quakers also believed in the total equality of men and women, and they refused to remove their hats in the presence of people who were considered to be their superiors—at the time, a very rebellious and disrespectful act.

Quakerism was outlawed in England until the Tolerance Act was passed in 1669. During the late seventeenth century the Quakers sent missionaries to other European countries and to America, Asia, and Africa. Extending their activities to social reform, they were among the first to propose the abolition (end) of slavery. They also campaigned for more humane criminal laws (they opposed capital punishment and the death sentence), improvements in mental institutions, and education for common people. Quakers who settled in America were generally subjected to persecution, but they found refuge in Penn's colony, Pennsylvania, and in Rhode Island, which was founded by Roger Williams (see entry) on the principle of religious freedom. Although Quakers in the American colonies remained pacifists (those opposed to war) during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), they were loyal to the new United States government.

Founds Pennsylvania

In 1675 Penn was involved in writing a liberal charter of government for Quakers settling in the American colony of East Jersey (now New Jersey). In 1681 he formed a company with eleven other investors and purchased East Jersey. That same year he also reminded King Charles II of the royal debt that was owed to the Penn estate. Instead of asking to be repaid with money, however, he requested a tract of land north of Maryland in America. Knowing persecution firsthand, Penn planned to establish a colony based on religious and political freedom. After being appointed proprietor of Pennsylvania (named Penn's Woods by Charles II in honor of Penn's father), he arrived in America in 1682. At that time he signed one of the few treaties with the Native Americans that brought about a prolonged peace. He stayed only two years before returning to England to help fellow Quakers fight a renewed round of persecution. He also needed to settle the southern boundary of his colony, which was being claimed by Charles Calvert, Third Lord Baltimore, the governor of Maryland. By this time James II , a Roman Catholic, had become king of England. (Roman Catholicism is a branch of Christianity that is based in Rome, Italy, and headed by a pope who is considered infallible [unable to make a mistake]. The pope oversees all bishops and priests of the church, who are authorized to forgive sins.) James II was overthrown in 1688, however, and the Protestant rulers King William III and Queen Mary II ascended the throne. This turn of events meant trouble for Penn, who no longer had a personal relationship with the monarchy. Since he was still absent from Pennsylvania, he lost his authority there as well. In 1692 the Crown (royal government) withdrew Penn's proprietorship because the Pennsylvania colony was poorly managed during Penn's absence. King William III appointed a new governor, Benjamin Fletcher, who immediately had his own problems. For example, the pacifist Quakers were opposed to using Pennsylvania funds for military purposes. In hopes of compromising with the Quakers the king finally restored the charter to Penn, who returned to Pennsylvania in 1699 only to face growing opposition from settlers who wanted the Crown to take over the colony. Staying for two years, he helped draft the Charter of Privileges (1701), which were legal reforms that gave some power to an elected assembly (elected representatives). But affairs in England called him home. He arrived there in December 1701, never again to see his colony.

Ends life in poverty

Penn spent his final years battling opponents who wanted Pennsylvania to come under English rule. He was also confronted with substantial debts that threatened to ruin him. Although the colony had been a success, it had yielded very little profit for Penn. He was also swindled by one of his agents. Crushed by the financial burden, he went to debtor's prison in 1707. Five years later he began negotiating with the Crown for the sale of Pennsylvania, but during these discussions he suffered a series of disabling strokes. He lingered on until 1718, when he finally died. The Pennsylvania colony remained under the control of the Penn family until the American Revolution (1775–83).

Penn's treaty with Native Americans

William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, signed one of the few treaties that brought a prolonged peace between Native Americans and European colonists. In The Propriety of Pennsylvania he described the process of forming the treaty with Native American dignitaries:

. . . . Having thus introduced the matter, he [the representative of the Native American sachem] fell to the bounds of the land they had agreed to dispose of, and the price (which [land] now is little and dear, that which would have bought twenty miles, not buying now two). During this time that this person spoke, not a man of them was observed to whisper or smile; the old, grave, the young, reverent in their deportment; they do speak little, but fervently, and with elegancy. I have never seen more natural sagacity [wisdom], considering them without help (I was a'going to say, the spoil) of tradition; and he will deserve the name of wise, that outwits them in any treaty about a thing they understand.
When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us of kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love, as long as the sun gave light. Which done, another made a speech to the Indians, in the name of all the Sachamakers or kings, first to tell them what was done; next, to charge and command them, to love the Christians, and particularly to live in peace with me, and the people under my government; that many governors had been in the river, but that no governor had come himself to live and stay here before; and having now such a one that had treated them well, they should never do him or his any wrong. At every sentence of which they shouted, and said Amen, in their way. . . .
. . . . We have agreed, that in all differences between us, six of each side shall end the matter. Don't abuse them, but let them have justice, and you will win them. The worst is that they are the worse for the Christians, who have propagated [spread] their vices, and yielded them tradition for ill, and not for good things. . . .

Reprinted in: Stiles, T. J., ed. In Their Own Words: The Colonizers. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1998.