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Penn called Pennsylvania a "Holy Experiment." His four "Frames of Government" of 1682, 1683, 1696, and 1701, and his Indian policy, charted the course of Pennsylvania's colonial history. He spent two years in Pennsylvania, 1682-1684, during which he founded and planned the city of Philadelphia; he visited the colony again from 1699 to 1701. Meanwhile, he continued his writings, travels, and missionary work in the interests of Quakerism.
Penn called Pennsylvania a "Holy Experiment." His four "Frames of Government" of 1682, 1683, 1696, and 1701, and his Indian policy, charted the course of Pennsylvania's colonial history. He spent two years in Pennsylvania, 1682-1684, during which he founded and planned the city of Philadelphia; he visited the colony again from 1699 to 1701. Meanwhile, he continued his writings, travels, and missionary work in the interests of Quakerism.
A friend of [[King James II]], Penn was on the losing side of the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 and lost control of his province in 1692; it was restored to him in 1694. His wife died in 1694 and he remarried in 1696. His fourth "Frame of Government" of 1701 was notable for its liberalism, being the constitution of colonial Pennsylvania. His last years were filled with financial misfortune and included a term in debtors' prison in England.
Penn's advertising campaign to promote his new colony was the most successful effort in colonial recruitment since the Puritans founded Massachusetts. During 1682-83, he recruited 50 shiploads of passengers. This success provided the momentum to launch the Quaker colony. Penn and his agents used numerous techniques and appeals to attract settlers to Pennsylvania. Normally, he was able to recruit from districts in England and Ireland where Quakerism was strong or where he had personally spent much time and was well-known. His efforts to attract religious minorities in Germany proved especially successful. Despite his ability to attract settlers and sell a fairly large amount of real estate, however, he made little profit from the venture, and for a time languished in a debtor's prison. The selling of Pennsylvania was a grand financial success for all - except for Penn himself.
Penn's failure to govern Pennsylvania effectively can be traced to his absence from the colony during 1684-99, his constant tampering with the mechanisms of governance, and his insufficient respect for his subjects. The hierarchical model of government he supported was liberal for the day, but still provided the Quaker settlers with less power than they wanted.
===Tolerance===
Penn's experiences as a persecuted Quaker led him to make a major contribution to the tradition of religious tolerance and liberty both in Pennsylvania and in American political culture. Penn used his religious beliefs, his legal training, and the insight gained from his own persecution and imprisonment, along with that of Friends in general, to formulate the practical and formal guidelines for the settlement of Pennsylvania, particularly the 1682 "Frame of Government", the colony's first constitution. His view was that church and state were two complementary yet exclusive creations, both ordained by God to carry out their respective roles. Penn's notions of religion and the state served as an inspiration for Thomas Jefferson's "Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia" and, by extension, for the First Amendment in the [[Bill of Rights]].
==Later life==
A friend of [[King James II]], Penn was on the losing side of the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 and lost control of his province in 1692; it was restored to him in 1694. His wife died in 1694 and he remarried in 1696. His fourth "Frame of Government" of 1701 was notable for its liberalism, being the constitution of colonial Pennsylvania. His last years were filled with financial misfortune and included a term in debtors' prison in England.
==Pacifism==
==Pacifism==
Quakerism is a traditionally a pacifist religion. William Penn asked [[George Fox]], the founder of Quakerism, whether that meant that he should stop carrying his sword. Fox answered, "carry it as long as you can". He meant that Penn should '''not''' become a pacifist just because it is expected of Quakers. Fox told Penn to wait until he became personally convinced ''for himself'' that war was wrong, rather than doing it in response to what we would today call "peer pressure".
Quakerism is a traditionally a pacifist religion. William Penn asked [[George Fox]], the founder of Quakerism, whether that meant that he should stop carrying his sword. Fox answered, "carry it as long as you can". He meant that Penn should '''not''' become a pacifist just because it is expected of Quakers. Fox told Penn to wait until he became personally convinced ''for himself'' that war was wrong, rather than doing it in response to what we would today call "peer pressure".