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The Province of Pennsylvania's colonial government was established in 1683, by William Penn's Frame of Government.Penn was appointed governor and a 72-member Provincial Council and larger General Assembly were responsible for governing the province.
Some colonies became Commonwealth realms, retaining the monarch as their own head of state. [49] Most former colonies and protectorates became member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, a non-political, voluntary association of equal members, comprising a population of around 2.2 billion people. [50]
The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania was a proto-constitution for the Province of Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony granted to William Penn by Charles II of England. The Frame of Government has lasting historical importance as an important step in the development of American and world democracy .
Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island were founded as corporate colonies. New England's corporate colonies were virtually independent of royal authority and operated as republics where property owners elected the governor and legislators. [19] Proprietary colonies were owned and governed by individuals known as proprietors.
Prior to and during the American Civil War, Pennsylvania was a divided state. Although Pennsylvania had outlawed slavery, there were still Pennsylvanians who believed that the federal government should not interfere with the institution of slavery. One such individual was Democrat James Buchanan, the last pre-Civil War president.
Colonization efforts began in the late 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first of the permanent English colony in the Americas was established in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
The three lower counties on the Delaware River were governed as part of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1701, when the lower counties petitioned for and were granted an independent colonial legislature; the two colonies shared the same governor until 1776. The English colonists who settled in Delaware were mainly Quakers.
The Welsh Tract, also called the Welsh Barony, was a portion of the Province of Pennsylvania, a British colony in North America (today a U.S. state), settled largely by Welsh-speaking Quakers in the late 17th century. The region is located to the west of Philadelphia.