William Penn

English writer

Date of Birth	:	14 Oct, 1644
Date of Death	:	30 Jul, 1718
Place of Birth	:	London, England
Profession	:	English Writer
Nationality	:	American

William Penn was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial period. Penn, an advocate of democracy and religious freedom, was known for his friendly relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans who lived in present-day Pennsylvania before European settlement in the state.

In 1681, King Charles II granted Penn a large portion of his North American lands along the North Atlantic coast to pay off debts owed to Penn's father, the admiral and politician Sir William Penn. This land included the present-day states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The following year, in 1682, Penn left England for what was then British America, crossing the former Swedish and Dutch riverfront colonies of Delaware Bay and the Delaware River in present-day New Castle, Delaware. On this occasion, the colonists pledged allegiance to Penn as their new master, and the first Pennsylvania General Assembly was held.

Penn then traveled further north up the Delaware River and founded Philadelphia on the west bank of the river. Penn's Quaker government was not viewed favorably by the previous Dutch, Swedish, and English settlers in what is now Delaware, and in addition, the land was claimed for half a century by the neighboring provinces of Maryland's owning families, the Calverts and Lord Baltimore. . These early colonists had no historical allegiance to Pennsylvania and almost immediately began petitioning for their own representative assembly. Twenty-three years later, in 1704, they achieved their goal when the three southernmost counties of provincial Pennsylvania along the west bank of the Delaware River were allowed to secede and become the new semi-autonomous Delaware Colony. As the most prominent, prosperous and influential settlement in the new colony, New Castle, the original Swedish colony city, became the colony's first capital.

As one of the earliest proponents of colonial unification, Penn wrote and, after the American Revolutionary War, urged a union of all the English colonies that would later become the United States. The democratic principles he incorporated in the West Jersey Concession and set the frame of government for Pennsylvania inspired delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to draft the United States Constitution, which was ratified by the delegates in 1787.

A man of deep religious conviction, Penn wrote numerous works, urging believers to adhere to the spirit of early Christianity. Penn was imprisoned several times in the Tower of London for his beliefs, and his book No Cross, No Crown, published in 1669, which he wrote from prison, has become a classic of Christian theological literature.

Biography

Early years

Penn was born in Tower Hill, London, in 1644, the son of Sir William Penn, an English naval officer, and Margaret Jasper, a Dutch woman, the widow of a Dutch sea captain and the daughter of a wealthy Rotterdam merchant. Through the Platjes-Jasper family, Penn is also said to be a cousin of the Op den Graef family, important Mennonites of Krefeld and Quakers in Pennsylvania. Admiral Penn served in the Commonwealth Navy during the War of the Three Kingdoms and was commissioned by Oliver Cromwell. was rewarded with property in Ireland. The lands given to Penn were confiscated from Irish confederates who had taken part in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Admiral Penn took part in the Restoration of King Charles II and was eventually knighted and served in the Royal Navy. At the time of his son's birth, then-Captain Penn was twenty-three years old and an aspiring naval officer tasked with besieging harbors by Confederate forces.

Penn grew up under Oliver Cromwell, who succeeded in leading the Puritan rebellion against King Charles I; King was beheaded when Penn was four years old. Penn's father was often at sea. Young William contracted smallpox and lost all his hair to the disease; She wore a wig until she left college. Country life made a lasting impression on the young Penn and instilled in him a love of gardening. Their neighbor was the diarist Samuel Pepys, who was at first friendly but later secretly hostile to the admiral, perhaps somewhat embarrassed by the failed seductions of both Penn's mother and his sister Peggy.

After a failed mission to the Caribbean, Admiral Penn and his family were exiled to his estate in Ireland when Penn was about 15 years old. During this time, Penn met Thomas Lowe, a Quaker missionary who was reviled by both Catholics and Protestants. Lowe was admitted to the Penn family, and during his lecture on Inner Light, the young Penn later recalled that "the Lord came to see me and gave me His heavenly impression.

A year later, Cromwell was dead, the Royalists were resurrected and the Penn family returned to England. The middle classes aligned themselves with the royalists and Admiral Penn was sent on a secret mission to bring back the exiled Prince Charles. For his role in restoring the monarchy, Admiral Penn was knighted and given the powerful post of Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.

Education

Penn was educated first at Chigwell School, then by private tutors in Ireland, and later at Christ Church, Oxford University, Oxford. At that time, there were no state schools and almost all educational institutions were affiliated to the Anglican Church. Children from poor families had to have rich sponsors to get an education. Penn's teaching relied heavily on classical authors and allowed "no fancy or pretentious modern writers", including Shakespeare. Running was Penn's favorite sport, and he often ran the more than three miles (5 km) from his home to school, which was cast on an Anglican model and was austere, humorless and grim. School teachers should be pillars of virtue and provide a sterling example to their students. Penn later opposed Anglicanism on religious grounds, but he absorbed many Puritan attitudes and later became known for his own serious demeanor, stern demeanor, and lack of humor.

In 1660, Penn arrived at Oxford University, where he enrolled as a gentleman scholar with an engaged servant. The student body was a volatile mix of equestrian knights, who were largely elite Anglicans, staunch Puritans and non-conforming Quakers. The new British government's discouraging of religious dissent gave the Cavaliers license to harass minority groups. Due to his father's high status and social position, the young Penn was firmly a cavalier but his sympathies were with the persecuted Quakers. To avoid conflict, Penn withdrew from conflict and became a reclusive scholar. During this time, Penn developed his personality and philosophy of life. He found that he did not sympathize with his father's martial view of the world or his mother's society-based sensibilities. "I never had a relationship that tended to be so lonely and spiritual; I was a child alone. A child given to singing, occasionally experiencing the divine presence," he later said.

Penn returned home to the extraordinary splendor of the King's restoration ceremony and was the guest of honor with his father, who received a highly unusual royal salute for his services to the Crown. Penn's father had high hopes for his son's career in favor of the king. Back at Oxford, Penn considered a medical career and took some discrete classes. Rational thought began to spread to science, politics, and economics, which he favored. When theologian John Wayne was excommunicated.

Penn in Ireland (1669-1670)

In 1669, Penn traveled to Ireland to deal with his father's estate. While there, he attended many meetings and lived with leading Quaker families. He became a great friend of William Morris, a leading Quaker figure in Cork, and often stayed with Morris at Castle Salem, near Rosscarbery.

Penn in Germany (1671-1677)

Between 1671 and 1677, Penn toured Germany on behalf of the Quaker faith, leading to a German settlement in the province of Pennsylvania that was symbolic in two ways: it was a German-speaking congregation and it included religious dissent. During the colonial period, Pennsylvania was home to several branches of Anabaptists, including the Old Order Mennonites, Ephrata Kloster, Brethren, and Amish.

Pennsylvania quickly emerged as a home for many Lutheran refugees from Catholic provinces, such as Salzburg, and for German Catholics who faced discrimination in their home countries.

In Philadelphia, Francis Daniel Pastorius negotiated the purchase of 15,000 acres (61 km2) from his friend William Penn, a proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and settled the present-day Germantown section of Philadelphia. In 1764, the German Society of Pennsylvania was founded, which still operates from its headquarters in Philadelphia.

Persecution and imprisonment

In 1668, Penn published the first of many pamphlets, Truth Exalted: To Princesses, Priests, and People. He was critical of all religious groups, except the Quakers, who he saw as the only truly Christian group in England at the time. He called the Catholic Church "the harlot of Babylon", denounced the Church of England and called the Puritans "hypocrites and worshipers of God". He condemned all "false prophets, soothsayers and opponents of perfection". Pepys thought it a "ridiculous nonsense book" that he was "ashamed to read".

In 1668, after writing a follow-up tract, The Sandy Foundation Shocked, Penn was imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Bishop of London ordered that Penn be detained indefinitely until he publicly retracted his written statement. The official charge was publication without license but the real offense was blasphemy, as signed by a warrant from King Charles II. Held in solitary confinement in a heated cell and threatened with life imprisonment, Penn was accused of denying the Trinity, although this was a misinterpretation Penn himself refuted in his open-mouthed Innocence Essay, presented as an apologetic for the book of the title. Sandy shook the foundation, where he wanted to prove the divinity of Christ.

Penn said the rumor was "wickedly instigated" by those who wanted to create a bad reputation for Quakers.

Penn later said that what he really rejected was the Catholic interpretation of this theological subject, and the use of biblical concepts to explain it. Penn clearly admits that he believes in the Holy Trinity and the divinity of Christ.

In 1668, in a letter to the anti-Quaker minister Jonathan Clapham, Penn wrote: "Reader, you must not infer from my question that we deny those glorious three (as he falsely accuses us of) which bear record. Heaven. , the Father, the Word, and the Spirit; not even the infinity, eternity, and divinity of Jesus Christ; for we know that he is the mighty God.

Given writing materials in the hope that he would commit his retraction to paper, Penn wrote another inflammatory treatise, No Cross, No Crown: A Discourse on the Nature and Discipline of the Holy Cross of the Nature and That the Denial of the Self, and Daily Hearing. The cross of Christ is the only way to rest and the kingdom of God. In it, Penn exhorted believers to adhere to the spirit of early Christianity. The work was notable for its historical analysis and citations from 68 authors whose quotations and commentaries he had committed to memory and was able to summon without any reference material at hand. Penn appealed to the king for an audience, which was refused but one of the royal chaplains led to negotiations on his behalf. Penn declared, "My prison shall be my grave before I give one stroke: for I owe my conscience to no mortal man. He was released after eight months in prison.

Penn showed no remorse for his aggressive stance and vowed to continue fighting against the injustices of the Church and the King. For its part, the Crown continued to confiscate Quaker property and sent thousands of Quakers to prison. From then on, Penn's religious views effectively banished him from English society; He was expelled from Christ Church, a college at Oxford University, for being a Quaker, and was arrested several times. In 1670, he and William Mead were arrested. Penn was accused of preaching before a gathering in the streets, which Penn had deliberately instigated to test the validity of the 1664 Conventical Act, renewed in 1670, which "denied the right of assembly to more than five persons, besides members of the family, the rule of the Church of England." for any religious purposes not in accordance with".

Go back to America
The Slate Roof House in Philadelphia, one of two houses Penn used during his second stay in America, had fallen into disrepair; In 1867, it was demolished.

After Ford agreed to keep all of his Irish rents in exchange for keeping quiet about Ford's legal title to Pennsylvania, Penn felt his condition had improved enough to return to Pennsylvania with the intention of staying. With his wife Hannah, daughter Letitia, and secretary James Logan, Penn sailed from the Isle of Wight in Canterbury, arriving in Philadelphia in December 1699.

Penn received a warm welcome on his arrival and saw his province change a lot in the intervening 18 years. Pennsylvania grew rapidly. It had about 18,100 residents, and Philadelphia had over 3,000. His tree planting is providing the green urban space he envisions. The shops were full of imported merchandise, satisfying wealthy citizens and proving America a viable market for English goods. Most importantly, religious diversity was successful. Despite protests from radicals and farmers, Penn's insistence on keeping Quaker grammar schools open to all citizens was creating a relatively educated workforce. High literacy and open intellectual discourse made Philadelphia a leader in science and medicine. Quakers were particularly modern in their treatment of mental illness, decriminalizing insanity and moving away from punishment and imprisonment.

The tolerant Penn almost transformed himself into a Puritan, in an effort to control the fragility that had developed in his absence, by stricting certain laws. Another change was found in Penn's writings, which mostly lost their boldness and vision. During those years, he planned a federation of all the English colonies in America. It has been claimed that he also fought against slavery, but this seems unlikely, as he himself owned and even traded slaves, and his writings do not support this idea. However, he promoted better treatment of slaves, including intermarriage among slaves, although this was rejected by the council. Other Pennsylvania Quakers were more outspoken and active, being among the earliest fighters against slavery in America, led by Francis Daniel Pastorius and Abraham op den Graef, founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Pastorius, op den Graeff, his brother Derrick op den Graeff, both cousins of Penn, and Garrett Hendricks, signed the Germantown Quaker Petition of 1688 against slavery. Many Quakers, including Penn, promised to free their slaves after their deaths, and some sold their slaves to non-Quakers.

The Penns lived comfortably at Pennsbury Manor and had every purpose in their lives there. They also had a residence in Philadelphia. Their only American child, John, was born and prospered. Penn was traveling to Philadelphia in a six-man barge, which he admitted he valued above "all dead things."

His secretary, James Logan, kept him updated. Penn had plenty of time to spend with his family and still attended to affairs of state, although delegations and official visitors were frequent. His wife, however, did not enjoy life as a governor's wife and maid and preferred the simple life she led in England. When new threats from France again threatened Penn's charter, Penn decided to return to England with his family in 1701.
Death
In 1718, at age 73, Penn died penniless, at his home in Ruscombe, near Twyford in Berkshire, and is buried in a grave next to his first wife, Gulielma, in the cemetery of the Jordans Quaker meeting house near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. His second wife, Hannah, as sole executor, became the de facto proprietor until she died in 1726.

Family
Penn first married Gulielma Maria Posthuma Springett (1644–1694), daughter of William S. Springett; the Posthuma in her name indicates that her father had died prior to her birth, and Lady Mary Proude Penington. They had three sons and five daughters:
Two years after Gulielma's death he married Hannah Margaret Callowhill (1671–1726), daughter of Thomas Callowhill and Anna (Hannah) Hollister. William Penn married Hannah when she was 25 and he was 52. They had nine children in twelve years:
- Unnamed daughter (born and died 1697)
- John Penn (28 January 1700 – 25 October 1746), who never married
- Thomas Penn (20 March 1702 – 21 March 1775), married Lady Juliana Fermor, fourth daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret
- Hannah Penn (1703–1706)
- Margaret Penn (7 November 1704–February 1751), married Thomas Freame (1701/02–1746) nephew of John Freame, founder of Barclays Bank
- Richard Penn Sr. (17 January 1706 – 4 February 1771)
- Dennis Penn (26 February 1707 – 1723)
- Hannah Margarita Penn (1708–March 1708)
- Louis Penn

Posthumous honors

Penn on the seal of the defunct Strawbridge & Clothier department store, representing Penn's exchange with the Lenape; the Quaker Oats standing "Quaker Man" logo, identified at one time as William Penn

On October 24, 1932, the U.S. Post Office issued a 3-cent postage stamp to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Penn's arrival to the British-American colonies.

On 28 November 1984, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation declaring Penn and his second wife Hannah Callowhill Penn both honorary citizens of the United States.

A bronze statue of William Penn by Alexander Milne Calder stands atop Philadelphia City Hall. When installed in 1894, the statue represented the highest point in the city, as City Hall was then the tallest building in Philadelphia. Urban designer Edmund Bacon was known to have said that no gentleman would build taller than the "brim of Billy Penn's hat". This agreement existed for almost 100 years until the city decided to allow taller skyscrapers to be built. In March 1987, the completion of One Liberty Place was the first building to do that. This resulted in a "curse" which lasted from that year on until 2008 when a small statue of William Penn was put on top of the newly built Comcast Center. The Philadelphia Phillies went on to win the 2008 World Series that year.

A lesser-known statue of Penn is located at Penn Treaty Park, on the site where Penn entered into his treaty with the Lenape, which is famously commemorated in the painting Penn's Treaty with the Indians. In 1893, Hajoca Corporation, the nation's largest privately held wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, and industrial supplies, adopted the statue as its trademark symbol.

The Quaker Oats cereal brand standing "Quaker man" logo, dating back to 1877, was identified in their advertising after 1909 as William Penn, and referred to him as "standard bearer of the Quakers and of Quaker Oats".In 1946, the logo was changed into a head-and-shoulders portrait of the smiling Quaker Man. The Quaker Oats Company's website currently claims their logo is not a depiction of William Penn.

Bil Keane created the comic Silly Philly for the Philadelphia Bulletin, a juvenile version of Penn, that ran from 1947 to 1961.

Penn was depicted in the 1941 film Penn of Pennsylvania by Clifford Evans.

William Penn High School for Girls was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The William Penn House – a Quaker hostel and seminar center – was named in honor of William Penn when it opened in 1966 to house Quakers visiting Washington, D.C. to partake in the many protests, events and social movements of the era.

Chigwell School, the school he attended, has named one of their four houses after him and now owns several letters and documents in his handwriting.

William Penn Primary School, and the successor Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School, in Manor Park, Slough, near to Stoke Park, is named after William Penn.

A pub in Rickmansworth, where Penn lived for a time, is named the Pennsylvanian in his honour, and a picture of him is used as the pub sign.

The Friends' School, Hobart has named one of their seven six-year classes after him.

The William Penn Society of Whittier College has existed since 1934 as a society on the college campus of Whittier College and continues to this day.

William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, which was founded by Quaker settlers in 1873, was named in his honor. Penn Mutual, a life insurance company established in 1847, also bears his name.

Streets named after William Penn include Penn Avenue, a major arterial street in Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, Penn Avenue in Scranton, and Penn Street in Bristol, Pennsylvania.