Colonial Pennsylvania

The Making of a Quaker Colony

Jul 16, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

William Penn uses his own wealth and that of other Quakers to insure than his colony of Pennsylvania would surpass all other American colonies to date.

William Penn's father was a good friend of the Stuarts in England. When the senior Penn died William inherited this friendship as well as a large sum of money owed the aristocratic Penn family by the English rulers. To repay this debt, King Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, granted William Penn the former Dutch-Swedish colony, called West Jersey by the English, in 1681, and what is now Delaware, in 1682. By right of charter Penn was both landlord and ruler of this New World domain, which he made into a sanctuary for Quakers .

Penn's charter gave him the sole ownership of all the land that extended five degrees of longitude west of the Delaware River. It was bound on the north by the 43rd parallel and on the south by "an arc twelve miles above Newcastle, Delaware. Westward from there, the southern boundary of Penn's holdings, that was to be called Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods, overlapped with Maryland's claim and a grant made to New York. This explosive situation prompted a famous land dispute that was not settled until a survey was made in 1760 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. This survey of a 244-mile line was completed in 1767.

Philadelphia is Planned

William Penn, determined to create the "most elaborate colonial preparations to date," not only used his own inherited wealth but also that of other wealthy Quakers.

Penn's plans paid off handsomely for many Quakers. One such person was Thomas Holme who purchased a large tract within the area designated for the colony's capital that would be called Philadelphia. After purchasing his land, Holme surveyed the town and plotted groundwork in such a way that would make it certain that his property's value would soar.

About four miles above the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, Holme sketched out a vast grid of streets that would be centered about halfway between these two rivers. It would be more than a century before Philadelphia spread the fourteen blocks inland to Broad Street. But this future expansion was of little concern in 1681. Penn and Holme's planning paid off much sooner than that faraway date.

Colonial America Series continues with:

Colonial Philadelphia .

Previous: William Penn the Quaker .

The copyright of the article Colonial Pennsylvania in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Colonial Pennsylvania in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Conestoga River, Pennsylvania