American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Laws Agreed Upon in England (April 25, 1682) included in Pennsylvania's Frame of Government: <1. That the charter of liberties, declared, granted and confirmed. the five and twentieth day of the second month, called April, 1682, before divers witnesses, by William Penn, Governor and chief Proprietor of Pennsylvania, to all the freemen and planters of the said province, is hereby declared and approved, and shall be forever held for fundamental in the government thereof, according to the limitations mentioned in the said charter... 3. That all elections of members, or representatives of the people and freemen of the province of Pennsylvania,...

William Penn's Charter of Liberties of Pennsylvania (April 25, 1682): <To ALL PEOPLE to whom these presents shall come WHEREAS King Charles the second by his Letters, Patents under the Great Seal of England for the Considerations therein mentioned hath been graciously pleased to give and grant unto me William Penn (By the name of William Penn Esq'r son and heir of Sr. William Penn deceased) and to my heirs and assigns forever ALL that tract of land or province called PENNSILVANIA in America with divers Great Powers Pre-eminencies Royalties Jurisdictions and Authorities necessary for the Well-being and Government thereof...

Fundamental Constitutions of Pennsylvania (1682) Frame of Government as drafted by William Penn for the consent of the first adventurers and free holders of the Province (Penn Papers, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania; The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XX. 1896. No. 3.): <Preamble. When it pleased Almighty God, the Creator and upholder of all things, to make man his great Governour of the World, he did not only endue him with excellent knowledge but an upright mind, so that his power over the Creation was balanced by an inward uprightness, that he might use it Justly: then...

Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania (July 11, 1681) agreed upon by William Penn, proprietor: <That so soon as it pleaseth God that the above said persons arrive there, a certain quantity of land, or ground plat, shall be laid out, for a large town or city... And forasmuch, as it is usual with the planters to over-reach the poor natives of the country, in trade, by goods not being good of the kind, or debased with mixtures, with which they are sensibly aggrieved, it is agreed, whatever is sold to the Indians, in consideration of their furs, shall be sold...

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...