By liberty of conscience we understand not only a mere liberty of the mind, but the exercise of a visible way of worship this day my country was confirmed to me by the name of Pennsylvania. My God will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation
—Gentleman
Son of an Admiral
william Sonn of william pen & margaret his wife of the Tower Liberty
—Parish Register, All Hallows-by-the Tower, London 1655
Expelled from Oxford
Of my persecution at Oxford; how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish darkness and debauchery; of my being banished the College. The bitter usage I underwent when I returned to my Father, whipping, beating, and turning out of doors.
Become a Quaker
Of the Lord's dealings with me in France; and in the time of the great plague in London; the deep sense He gave me of the vanity of this world; of the irreligiousness of the religions of it. It was at this time, that the Lord visited me with a certain sound and testimore of His eternal word through one of those the world called a Quaker.
Quaker
Religious Freedom in a Time of Intolerance
Preacher
If you would God and worship and serve God, you must come to the means He has given for that purpose. Some seek it in books, some in learned men, but what they look for is
in themselves though not of themselves, but they overlook it.
Defended of the Friends
Let the winds of imagination blow, the storms of persecution beat, and the sea of raging malice foam...we shall still confide and rejoice in that everlasting Holy God Almighty!
My prison shall be my grave before I budge a jot, for I owe my conscience to no mortal man. (From the Tower of London, 1668)
Founder
Pennsylvania, the "Holy Experiment"
Visionary
For my country, I eyed the Lord in obtaining it, and desire that I may not be unworthy of His love; but do that, which my answer His kind Providence, and serve His truth and people; that an example may be set up to the nations. There may be room there, though not here, for such an holy experiment.
Planner
Philadelphia is at last laid out in the great content of those here. The situation is a neck of land, and lies between two navigable rivers, Delaware and Schuylkill, whereby it has two fronts upon the water, each a mile, and two from river to river.
Friend of Indians
When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us of kindness and good neighborhood, and the Indians and English must live in love, as long as the sun gave light.
Promoter
The air is sweet and clear, the heavens serene, like the south part of France, rarely overcast.
The
people are a collection of diverse nations in Europe, as, French, Dutch, German, Swedes, Danes, Finns, Scotch, Irish and English, and of the last equal to all the rest. But as they are of one kind, and in one place and under one allegiance, so they live like the people of my country. (A Further Account of the Province, 1685)
Lawgiver
Let me be good, and the government can't be bad; it is be ill, they will cure it; but if men be bad, let the government be never so good they will endeaver to warp and spoil it to their turn. (Frame of Government, 1682)
Statesman
Pacifism in a Time of Wars
Courtier
Quaker Penn attends the King very close and preached at the Battle in the Tennis Court but the report of his being made one of the King's Privy Council is false, though the King consults him in all matters of moment.
—The Duke of Portland, 1686
Fall From Favor
I have been above these three years hunted, up and down, and could never be allowed to live quietly in city or country, even where there was hardly a pretense against me, so that I have not only been unprotected, but persecuted by the government.
Man of Letters
The sovereign princes would, for the love of peace and order, agree to meet in a general parliament, and there establish rules of justice to observe one to another and thus to meet yearly, and
to be styled the sovereign or imperial diet, parliament, or states of Europe. (An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace in Europe, 1693)
Proprietor
New Liberties for a Troubled Colony
Slate Roof House
Quarrelling Colony
Cannot more friendly and private courses be taken to set matters to rights in an infant province whose steps are numbered and watched; for the love of God, me and the poor country, be not so governmentish; so noisy and open, in your disaffections.
Charter of Privileges
I do hereby grant and declare that no person or persons inhabiting this province, or territories shall be, in any case, molested or prejudiced in his or their person or estate because of his or their conscientious persuasion or practice, not be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship place or ministry contrary to his or their mind.
—Charter of Privilges, 1701
"Man of Sorrows" Memorial
O Pennsylvania, what hast thou not cost me! Above £30,000 more that I ever got from it; two hazardous and most fatiguing voyages, my straits and slavery here, and my son's soul almost! (To James Logan, 1704)
And as his love was great and endeavors constant happiness of his friends, countrymen, and fellow-subjects, so was his great tenderness, justice, and love towards the Indians, from first to last, always
conspicuous and remarkable.
—Testimony of Quaker in Pennsylvania Concerning their Deceased Friend and Governor, William Penn, 1719
Seeds of a Nation
In 1751, Pennsylvania marked the 50th anniversary of Penn's Charter of Privileges by purchasing a new bell for their State House. They inscribed this bell with a Biblical line that commemorated William Penn's greatest legacy that they would soon be called upon to defend for their descendants: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
1644
October 14, William Penn born in London
Roger Williams receives charter for Rhode Island; secures religious liberties
1647
Has smallpox
1648
Charles I beheaded
Oliver Cromwell rules England until his death in 1658
1650
Death of Descartes
1651
Thomas Hobbes writes Leviathan
1653
At Chigwell School, near London, until 1656
1656
In Ireland with his family until 1660
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1657
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1658
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1659
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1660
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1661
Religious persecution renewed in England under the (Unreadable text)
1662
Expelled from Oxford for religious non-conformity
Goes to France to study
1664
England seized New York from the Dutch
1665
Studies law in London
England at war with the Netherlands
Begins friendship with James, Duke of York
The plague in London
Admiral Penn victorious in a battle with the Dutch
1666
In Ireland managing family estate
Great Fire of London
Christopher Penn's plan for reconstruction of London
1667
Becomes a Quaker
Imprisoned at Cork for his faith
John Milton publishes Paradise Lost
1668
Argues with his father over religion
Imprisoned in the Tower of London for preaching
Louis XIV begins palace at Versailles
1669
Writes No Cross, No Crown, while in Tower
Again visits Ireland
Carolina founded; Fundamental Constitutions written by John Locke and the Earl of Shaftesbury
Death of Rembrant
1670
Writes the Great Cause of Liberty of Conscience
Arrested for preaching in London
Imprisoned and tried but acquitted in the (Unreadable text) trial
Admiral Penn dies
1671
Imprisoned at (Unreadable text) for preaching
First missionary trip to the Netherlands and Germany
Works for religious toleration
1672
Charles II's Declaration of Indulgences pardons imprisoned Quakers
Marries Gulielma Maria Springett
War with Netherlands; England victorious in 1674
Preaches and writes for Quaker faith
1673
Death of Moliere
1674
Appears again at Court; renews friendship with the Duke of York
1675
Becomes a trustee for Quaker colony in West New Jersey
Wren begins the reconstruction of St. Paul's Cathedral
Death of Verineer
1676
King Philip's War with the Indians in New England
Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia
1677
Makes Missionary journey to the Netherlands and Gemany
Spinoza publishes Ethics
1678
Befriends the radical republican, Algernon Sidney
Struggles for religious toleration in England
1680
Petitions Charles II for a colony in America
1681
March 4. Receives Charter for Pennsylvania
Addresses letter to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania
Appoints William Markham deputy governor
Markham summons council at Upland (Chester), beginning Pennsylvania's government
Names Philadelphia
Charter (Unreadable text)
Le Salle explores Mississippi River; claims land for France
1682
Purchases East New Jersey with group of Quakers
Penn's mother dies
Publishes his Frame of Government for Pennsylvania
Site of Pennsbury bought from Delaware Indians
The Duke of York grants Delaware to Penn
Sails for America
October 28. Lands at New Castle, Delaware
Visits Chester, Pennsylvania, and the site of Philadelphia a few days later
Thomas Holmes begins laying out Philadelphia
First Pennsylvania Assembly meets at Chester
Quarrel with Lord Baltimore over boundary with Maryland begins
1683
Begins building his manor house at Pennsbury, Bucks County
Assembly approves revised Frame of Government
Obtains deeds for land from Delaware Indians
Germantown funded
Rye House plot in London
Algernon Sidney executed
1684
Quarrel with Lord Baltimore grows worse
(Unreadable text) to England (Unreadable text) Baltimore's (Unreadable text)
1685
King Charles II dies
Penn's friend, James, Duke of York, becomes King James II
Becomes courtier and lobbies for toleration
Birth of Johann Sebastian Bach
France (Unreadable text) of the Netherlands, England and (Unreadable text)
1687
Sir Isaac Newton publishes Principia Mathematica
1688
James II overthrown in England's "Glorious Revolution"
Suspected of being a traitor and a Jesuit; leaves public life until 1693
John Locke writes Second Treatise on Government
1689
William and Mary become rules of England
England's Bill of Rights and Act of Toleration passed
Rebellions against Crown in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland
King Williams's War against France
1691
Death of George Fox, founder of Quakerism and Penn's close friend
1692
Deprived of governmental powers over Pennsylvania
Salem witch trials
1693
Publishes an Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe and Some Fruits of Solitude
1694
Pardoned by William III; Pennsylvania's government restored to Penn
Penn's wife, Gulielma dies
1696
Marries Hannah Callowhill
Death of Penn's favorite son, Springett
Assembly adopts Markham's laws, which revise Penn's Frame of Government
Proposes Plan for Union of the Colonies
1699
Penn and his family sail for America
Lands at Chester
1700
Son, John Penn, born in the Slate Roof House, Philadelphia
Pennsbury Manor completed
1701
Philadelphia receives city charter
October 28, Grants Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's Constitution until 1776.
Sails for England
1702
Death of King William III
Queen Anne ascends throne
Troubled by his profligate son, William Penn, Jr.
War of Spanish Succession begins; England at war with France and Spain
1705
Sued by his business manager, Philip Ford, for payment of (Unreadable text)
1706
Birth of Benjamin Franklin
1707
Union of England and Scotland to form Great Britain
1708
Spends time in debtors' prison
1711
Alexander Pope writes Essay on Criticism
1712
Prepares to sell Pennsylvania
Partially paralyzed by strokes
Hannah Penn acts as governor
Birth of Jean Jacques Rousseau
1713
Peace of Utrecht; Great Britain becomes an imperial power
1714
Death of Queen Anne
George I ascends throne
1718
July 30, William Penn dies
Buried at Jordans, Buckinghamshire
Hannah Penn continues to manage Pennsylvania until her sons reach maturity
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