Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The monument at the William Penn Landing Site in Chester, Pennsylvania marks the spot of the first landing of William Penn on the territory of Pennsylvania, on October 28 or 29, 1682 . Penn, the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania , landed in the only town in the province, then known as Upland.
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 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.
Thomas Penn, governor of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1746 to 1775, c. 1752 Lappawinsoe, who sold regions of present-day eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey to the sons of William Penn in the Walking Purchase, c. 1735 A historical marker in Nockamixon Township, erected in 1949 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission commemorating the Walking Purchase
William Penn, an English Quaker, sought to construct a new type of community with religious toleration and a great deal of political freedom.It is believed that Penn's political philosophy is embodied in the West Jersey Concessions and Agreements of 1677, which is an earlier practical experience of government constitution prior to the establishment of Pennsylvania.
In about 1681, a group of Welsh Quakers met with William Penn to secure a land grant to conduct their affairs in their language. The parties agreed on a tract covering 40,000 acres (160 km 2 ), to be constituted as a separate county whose people and government could conduct their affairs in Welsh.
Penn had his manor built on an 8,000-acre (3,200 ha) parcel, part of his much larger grant of land from the Crown. It was located about 25 miles north of Philadelphia along the Delaware River in present-day Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1929, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized acquisition of the property by gift.
William Penn had wanted to call the land "New Wales", which was objected to by the Secretary of State, Privy Council member and Welshman Leoline Jenkins. Penn instead put forward the name "Sylvania". The Council then chose to tweak this new name a bit by adding the prefix "Penn" to honour the late Admiral, William Penn's father.