William Penn, now a devoted Quaker, landed in jail four times for what he believed. However, not one or all of his incarcerations convinced him to recant his Quaker faith. In stead, Penn went on to compose some forty-two books defending the Quakers.
Somewhere in that period of time between promoting and defending his beliefs, and landing in jail for them, William Penn was wed. In time, he fathered four children, one of whom managed to survive infancy.
Penn Finds His Calling
It was a historical time in that prominent English men were obtaining grants from the king and founding new colonies in America. Penn, too, jumped on this bandwagon. His would be a Quaker colony that was devoted to "freedom of conscience." Through his friendship with the Duke of York who had taken over New Netherlands in America and made it New York, William obtained a charter for Pennsylvania in 1681, from King Charles II.
From then on an important part of American History was held in the faithful hands of William Penn.
Colonial America Series continues, July 16, 2006, with:
Previous: William Penn .
Anne Hutchinson finds that the staunch Puritans of New England and the Massachusetts clergy considered her words to be an attack on their rigid moral and legal codes. Because of her religious beliefs she is banished from the colony.
Source:
Carson, Clarence B. A Basic History of the United States, volume 1: The Colonial Experience, 1607-1774. American Textbook Committee, Wadley, Alabama, 1987.
McDougall, Walter A. Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585-1828. Harper Collins, New York, NY., 2004.
