William
Penn,
the son of Sir William Penn (1621-70), was born in 1644. Penn was
sent down from Oxford University for refusing
to conform to the restored Anglican Church.
Admiral Penn sent his son France, hoping that he would lose his Puritan
beliefs. He returned to study law in London and in 1666 went to Ireland
where he managed his father's estates in Cork. While in Ireland he
attended Quaker meetings and this led to
his arrest and imprisonment.
Penn moved back to England and was soon in trouble for writing Sandy
Foundation Shaken. This attack on the Anglican
Church resulted in him being imprisoned in the Tower
of London. While in prison Penn wrote No
Cross, No Crown and Innocency
With Her Open Face. He was eventually released but in 1671,
Penn, now a devout Quaker, was sent to
Newgate Prison for six months for preaching.
On his release he made a preaching tour of Holland and Germany where
he advocated toleration of all religious faiths.
In 1681 Penn purchased a large area of land in America from Charles
II. Penn saw the venture as a "holy experiment" and hoped
he would be able to establish a colony where people of all creeds
and nationalities could live together in peace. The first settlers
began arriving in Pennsylvania in 1682 and settling around Philadelphia
(the city of brotherly love) at the junction of the Delaware and
Schuylkill Rivers.
Penn returned to London in 1684 and led
the campaign for religious toleration in England. Two years later,
all people imprisoned on account of their religious opinions, including
1200 Quaker, achieved their freedom.
In 1689 Penn returned to Pennsylvania and made changes to a constitution
which had proved to be unworkable. This included conflicts over the
keeping of slaves. William Penn died
in 1718.
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