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The colony was established by Peter Minuit, the former governor of New Netherland, who established the fur trading colony over the objections of the Dutch. New Sweden extended into modern-day Pennsylvania, and was centered on the Delaware River with a capital at Fort Christina (near Wilmington, Delaware ).
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from "Penn's Woods", referring to William Penn's father Admiral Sir William Penn.
William Penn (24 October [O.S. 14 October] 1644 – 10 August [O.S. 30 July] 1718) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era.
The trustees of the Academy of Philadelphia, later the University of Pennsylvania, established the first medical school in the colonies in 1765, becoming the first university in the colonies. [71] In New York, the medical department of King's College was established in 1767, and in 1770 it was awarded the first American M.D. degree.
The New England Colonies, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, were substantially motivated by their founders' concerns related to the practice of religion. The other colonies were founded for business and economic expansion. The Middle Colonies were established on the former Dutch colony of New Netherland.
Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden, a Swedish colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism.
Smith, George. "How the public school system was established in Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 37.1 (1913): 76-82. online; Tully, Alan. "Literacy levels and educational development in rural Pennsylvania, 1729-1775." Pennsylvania History (1972) 39: 301-12. online; Walls, Nina de Angeli.
By the mid-18th century, Pennsylvania was basically a middle-class colony with limited deference to the small upper-class. A writer in the Pennsylvania Journal summed it up in 1756: The People of this Province are generally of the middling Sort, and at present pretty much upon a Level.