Charter of Pennsylvania (February 28, 1681) was granted to William Penn by King Charles II of England, in payment of a large debt he owed to Penn's father, who had been an Admiral in the king's navy. When his father died, 1670, William Penn inherited his estate. The area consisted of all the land between Maryland and New York. The following year Penn received from the Duke of York the territory that is now Delaware.
William Penn had named the area "Sylvania," meaning "woodland," but King Charles II changed it to "Pennsylvania." The state has since become known as "The Quaker State," due to the members of the Society of Friends who helped found it. The Charter of Pennsylvania, 1681, stated:
<Charles the Second, by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c., To all to whome these presents shall come Greeting.
Whereas Our Trusty and well beloved Subject William Penn, Esquire, Son and heir of Sir William Penn deceased, out of a commendable Desire to enlarge our English Empire, and promote such useful commodities as may be of Benefit to us and Our Dominions, as also to reduce the savage Natives by gentle and just manners to the Love of Civil Society and Christian Religion, hath humbly besought Leave of Us to transport an ample Colony unto a certain Country hereinafter described, in the Parts of America not yet cultivated and planted...
Section 16...And, because in so remote a Country, and situated near many Barbarous Nations, the incursions as well of the Savages themselves, as of other enemies, pirates and robbers, may probably be feared; Therefore We have given...power by these presents unto the said William Penn...to levy, muster and train all sorts of men...to pursue the enemies and Robbers aforesaid, as well by Sea as by Land, even without the Limits of the said Province, and by God's assistance to vanquish and take them, and being taken to put them to death by the Law of War or to save them, at their pleasure...
Section 22...If any of the inhabitants of the said province, to the number of Twenty, shall at any time hereafter be desirous, and shall be any writing or by any person deputed for them signify such their desire to the Bishop of London, that any preacher or preachers to be approved of by the said Bishop, may be sent unto them for their instruction, that then such preacher or preachers, shall and may be and reside within the said province, without any Denial or molestation whatsoever...> 1681CP001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1681CP001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Charter of Pennsylvania, February 28, 1681, granted to William Penn by King Charles II. A Collection of Charters and Other Public Acts Relating to the Province of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: B. Franklin, 1740), p. 1. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968), Vol. V, p. 2743. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), p. 32. The World Book Encyclopedia, 18 vols. (Chicago, IL: Field Enterprises, Inc., 1957; W.F. Quarrie and Company, 8 vols., 1917; World Book, Inc., 22 vols., 1989), Vol. 13, pp. 6181-6183, 6192-6195.