Difference between revisions of "William Penn"

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William Penn as a young soldier

William Penn (1644-1718) was a Quaker leader in England and a friend of the king; he founded the colony of Pennsylvania and his family kept ownership until the American Revolution. He had been persecuted in England for his Quaker faith, and welcomed Quakers to his colony.

Career

Penn was the son of the powerful and rich Admiral Sir William Penn. He became a Quaker at the age of 24 and was expelled from Oxford University for that reason in 1662. He then traveled in France and Italy; served briefly in the Royal navy and then studied law in Lincoln's Inn, London. In 1666 his father sent him to Ireland to manage his estates. He was imprisoned in Ireland as the result of participation in a disturbance at a Quaker meeting in Cork, but was released and returned to London an avowed Quaker. A vigorous promotedr of the new religion, he spoke widely and wrote influential pamphlets, such as The Sandy Foundation Shaken (1668) and No Cross, No Crown. He was imprisoned in 1669 for failure to remove his hat in court, but was released on the death of his father in 1670. He was arrested again the same year and wrote The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience while serving a six-month prison term. Released in 1671, he made a continental missionary tour and married Gulielma Springett in 1672. From 1675 to 1680 he was deeply engaged in oral and written religious and political agitation.

Colonizer

Penn became interested in a refuge for Quakers to freely practice their religion in the New World. Quakers were uunwelcome in New England (several were hung in Boston for proselytizing), so he sought a new colony. He promoted successful Quaker colonization in New Jersey, for which he designed the famous "Concession and Agreements," his earliest governmental program.

In 1681 King Charles II, who owed his father money, gave Penn a grant or charter of vast lands that comprised a new colony, which his friends called Pennsylvania. In 1682 another royal grant included what later became the state of Delaware.

Pennsylvania

By the charter for Pennsylvania Penn was made proprietary of the province. He was supreme governor with the power of making laws with the advice of the freemen, of appointing officers, and of granting pardons. The laws were to contain nothing contrary to English law; appels were possible to the Crown and the privy council. Parliament was to be supreme in all questions of trade and commerce; the right to levy taxes and customs was reserved to England; an agent to represent Penn was to reside in London. In case of neglect on the part of Penn, the Crown could reclaim the colony (as happend in 1692-94).

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 and had a long-term impact on several state constitutions. He went to Pennsylvania in 1682-1684, as he founded and planned the city of Philadelphia; he visited the colony again from 1699 to 1701. Meanwhile, he devoted most of his attention to writings and missionary work in England to promote Quakerism.

Penn's advertising campaign to promote his new colony was the most successful effort in colonial recruitment since the Puritans founded Massachusetts in the 1630s. 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

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".

Indians

Penn was respectful of and dealt fairly with the Indians. His successors, unfortunately, did not. Penn is supposed to have signed a treaty with the Indians in 1682 (although historians are not sure whether or not this really happened). The famous painting, "The Peaceable Kingdom," by primitive artist Edward Hicks, incorporates many religious and Quaker symbols. In the foreground are the lion and the lamb; in the background, Penn is negotiating his treaty with the Indians.

External link

• Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom

Further reading

• Dunn, Richard and Dunn, Mary Maples. The World of William Penn. (1986) 421 pp. by leading scholars
• Endy, Melvin B., Jr. William Penn and Early Quakerism. (1973). 410 pp.
• Geiter, Mary. William Penn. (2000). 186 pp. short biography by scholar
• Kelley, Joseph J., Jr. Pennsylvania: The Colonial Years, 1681-1776. (1980). 848 pp.
• Wildes, Harry Emerson. William Penn: A Biography. (1974). 469 pp.

Primary sources

• Penn, William. The Political Writings of William Penn. ed. by Andrew R. Murphy, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2002. 439 pp.
• Penn, William. William Penn on Religion and Ethics: The Emergence of Liberal Quakerism. ed. by Hugh S. Barbour, 2 Vols. (1991). 672 pp.
• Penn, William. The Papers of William Penn ed. by Mary Maples Dunn et al., 5 vol. 1981-1987