William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania

by Soderlund, Jean R.

• ISBN13: 9780812211313
• ISBN10: 0812211316
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1983-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr

Summary

On March 5, 1681, one day after receiving his royal charter for Pennsylvania, William Penn wrote that he believed God would make his colony "the seed of the nation." Penn wanted his Pennsylvania to be a land where people of differing languages and customs could live together, where men and women could worship as they pleased, where men could participate fully in their government. Such a land, Penn believed, would indeed be blessed. Beginning with his petition to the king in May 1680 and ending with his departure to England in August 1684, this book contains the most important documents describing the founding of Pennsylvania. The letters, orders, petitions, charters, laws, pamphlets, maps, constitutional drafts, legislative journals, newspaper articles, memoranda, deeds, and other business records assembled here include Penn's own explanations of his desire to found a Quaker colony, his invitation to settlers, and his design for government.

Author Biography

Jean R. Soderlund is Professor of History at Lehigh University, where she is also chair of the History Department and codirector of the Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Her other books include Quakers and Slavery: A Divided Spirit and, with Gary B. Nash, Freedom By Degrees: Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Its Aftermath.

Table of Contents

Illustrations and Maps	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	3	(8)
Editorial Method	11	(3)
A William Penn Chronology, 1680--1684	14	(3)
I Negotiating the Charter for Pennsylvania, May 1680--March 1681	17	(20)
Petition to Charles II, May? 1680	21	(3)
Minute of the Committee of Trade, 14 June 1680	24	(1)
Lord Baltimore's Agents to William Blathwayt, 23 June 1680	25	(1)
Sir John Werden to William Blathwayt, 23 June 1680	26	(2)
John Darnall's Outline for the Charter of Pennsylvania, July? 1680	28	(2)
Sir John Werden to William Blathwayt, 16 October 1680	30	(2)
Sir John Werden to William Blathwayt, 23 November 1680	32	(1)
Minute of the Committee of Trade, 22 January 1681	32	(2)
Chief Justice North's Memorandum on William Penn's Draft Charter, c. January 1681	34	(2)
Warrant to the Privy Seal Office, 28 February 1681	36	(1)
II The Charter of Pennsylvania, 4 March 1681	37	(14)
The Charter of Pennsylvania, 4 March 1681	39	(12)
III Promoting the New Colony, March 1681--June 1681	51	(18)
To Robert Turner, 5 March 1681	53	(2)
To the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 8 April 1681	55	(2)
To Lord Baltimore, 10 April 1681	57	(1)
Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681	58	(8)
To Robert Turner, Anthony Sharp, and Roger Roberts, 12 April 1681	66	(3)
IV Selling Land to the First Purchasers, July 1681--December 1681	69	(24)
Conditions or Concessions to the First Purchasers, 11 July 1681	71	(5)
Land Sale to Philip Ford, 14 July 1681	76	(1)
To James Harrison, 25 August 1681	77	(2)
To Planters in Maryland, 16 September 1681	79	(2)
News of William Markham's Arrival in Pennsylvania, 17 September 1681	81	(1)
Initial Plans for Philadelphia, 30 September 1681	82	(4)
To the Kings of the Indians, 18 October 1681	86	(3)
Additional Instructions to William Markham, 28 October 1681	89	(1)
From Robert Barclay, 19 November 1681	90	(3)
V The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania	93	(48)
The Fundamental Constitutions, summer 1681?	96	(13)
First Draft of the Frame of Government	109	(2)
To Algernon Sidney, 13 October 1681	111	(2)
Thomas Rudyard's Commentary on the Frame of Government, 13 January 1682	113	(5)
The Frame of Government and Laws Agreed Upon in England, 5 May 1682	118	(16)
Benjamin Furly's Criticism of The Frame of Government, 1682	134	(7)
VI Preparing to Leave for Pennsylvania, January 1682--September 1682	141	(42)
Bill for Lasse Cock's Services, 1682	144	(2)
To Elizabeth Woodhouse, 8 March 1682	146	(1)
Charter for the Free Society of Traders, 24 March 1682	147	(5)
Lord Baltimore to William Markham, 5 June 1682	152	(3)
To the Emperor of Canada, 21 June 1682	155	(1)
Deed from the Delaware Indians, 15 July 1682	156	(7)
William and Jane Yardley to James Harrison, 21 July 1682	163	(1)
To Gulielma Penn and Children, 4 August 1682	164	(7)
To Springett Penn, Laetitia Penn, and William Penn, Jr., 19 August 1682	171	(1)
Mortgage to Philip Ford, 24 August 1682	172	(2)
Edward Jones to John ap Thomas, 26 August 1682	174	(4)
News of William Penn's Departure for Pennsylvania, 26, 29 August 1682	178	(1)
James Claypoole to Edward Claypoole, 23 September 1682	179	(4)
VII First Months in America, October 1682--May 1683	183	(40)
John Moll's Account of the Surrender of the Three Lower Counties to William Penn, 1682	186	(2)
To Philip Ford, 1 November 1682	188	(1)
Writ to John Vines to Call an Election, 8 November 1682	189	(1)
To William Blathwayt and Francis Gwyn, 21 November 1682	190	(1)
John Vine's Election Return, 21 November 1682	191	(1)
Petition for an Act of Union, 6 December 1682	192	(1)
To Justices of the Peace, 21 December 1682	193	(1)
Minute of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, 9 January 1683	194	(3)
Naturalization of Swedish Inhabitants, 11 January 1683	197	(2)
To Jasper Batt, 5 February 1683	199	(3)
To Lord Culpeper, 5 February 1683	202	(2)
Laying Out Philadelphia Lots, 17 March 1683	204	(2)
Tavern Regulations, c. 23 March 1683	206	(2)
From James Claypoole, 1 April 1683	208	(4)
Early Census of Philadelphia County Inhabitants, post 14 April 1683	212	(4)
To John Blaykling and Others, 16 April 1683	216	(2)
From Joseph Harris, 19 May 1683	218	(5)
VIII The Pennsylvania General Assembly, 10 March 1683--4 April 1683	223	(52)
Minutes of the Provincial Council and Assembly of Pennsylvania, 10 March--4 April 1683	226	(39)
The Second Frame of Government, 2 April 1683	265	(10)
IX Conflict with Lord Baltimore, June 1683--August 1683	275	(30)
To Lord Baltimore, 6 June 1683	277	(4)
William Kennerly to James Harrison, 6 June 1683	281	(1)
To John Aubrey, 13 June 1683	281	(3)
From William Clarke, 21 June 1683	284	(3)
Deed from the Delaware Indians, 23 June 1683	287	(1)
To William Markham, James Harrison, and William Clarke, 2 July 1683	288	(2)
Release of Customs Duty, 2 July 1683	290	(2)
To Lord North, 24 July 1683	292	(1)
Commission and Instructions to James Graham and William Haige, 2 August 1683	293	(2)
From Margaret Lowther, 4 August 1683	295	(2)
To Charles II, 13 August 1683	297	(2)
To the Committee of Trade, 14 August 1683	299	(6)
X Negotiating with the Indians, August 1683--December 1683	305	(42)
Letter to the Free Society of Traders, 16 August 1683	308	(16)
Gulielma Penn to Margaret Fox, 21 August 1683	324	(1)
From William Haige, 29 August 1683	325	(3)
To William Markham, c. 1 September 1683	328	(6)
From James Walliam and John White, 8 September 1683	334	(1)
The Surveying of Germantown, 12 October 1683	335	(1)
Purchase of the Mouth of the Susquehanna River, 18 October 1683	336	(2)
To Tenants in New Castle, Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks Counties, 9 November 1683	338	(1)
From Thomas Holme, c. 9 November 1683	338	(2)
James Claypoole to Edward Claypoole, 2 December 1683	340	(2)
Lord Baltimore to Richard Burke, 7 December 1683	342	(5)
XI Friction with the Colonists, January 1684--July 1684	347	(38)
From William Welch, 18 February 1684	350	(1)
From James Harrison, 23 February 1684	351	(2)
Positive Information from America, by Francis Daniel Pastorius, 7 March 1684	353	(8)
From Elizabeth Gretton, 20 March 1684	361	(1)
From William Markham, 27 March 1684	362	(5)
From Samuel Carpenter, c. April 1684	367	(2)
To John Simcock and Others, 2 April 1684	369	(2)
From William Welch, 5 April 1684	371	(2)
From Richard Davies, 7 July 1684	373	(4)
Remonstrance from the Inhabitants of Philadelphia, c. July 1684	377	(8)
XII Return to England, August 1684	385	(14)
Commission to President Thomas Lloyd and the Provincial Council, 6 August 1684	388	(1)
Gardening Directions for Ralph Smyth, August? 1684	389	(1)
Last Will and Testament, 6 August 1684	390	(2)
To Gulielma Penn, 6 August 1684	392	(2)
Farewell to Pennsylvania, 12 August 1684	394	(5)
Abbreviations	399	(1)
Glossary	400	(4)
Suggestions for Further Reading	404	(3)
Index	407