William Penn & Pennsylvania

In 1678 the popish terror came to a head, and to calm and guide Friends in the prevailing excitement Penn wrote his Epistle to the Children of Light in this Generation. A far more important publication was An Address to Protestants of all Persuasions, by William Penn, Protestant, in 1679; a powerful exposition of the doctrine of pure tolerance and a protest against the enforcement of opinions as articles of faith. This was succeeded, at the general election which followed the dissolution of the pensionary parliament, by an important political manifesto, England’s Great Interest in the Choice of this New Parliament, in which he insisted on the following points: the discovery and punishment of the plot, the impeachment of corrupt ministers and councilors, the punishment of pensioners, the enactment of frequent parliaments, security from popery and slavery, and ease for Protestant Dissenters. Next came One Project for the Good of England, perhaps the most pungent of all his political writings. But he was not merely active with his pen. 

He was at this time in close intimacy with Algernon Sidney, who stood successively for Guildford and Bramber. In each case, owing in a great degree to Penn’s eager advocacy, Sidney was elected, only to have his elections annulled by court influence. Toleration for Dissenters seemed as far off as ever. Encouraged by his success in the West Jersey province, Penn again turned his thoughts to America. In repayment of the debt mentioned above he now asked from the Crown, at a council held on the 24th of June 1680, for a tract of land in America north of Maryland, bounded on the east by the Delaware, on the west limited as Maryland,  this latter limit Penn explained to be “three degrees northwards.”  This formed a tract of 300 m. by 160, of extreme fertility, mineral wealth and richness of all kinds. Disputes with James, duke of York, and with Lord Baltimore, who had rights over Maryland, delayed the matter until the 14th of March 1681, when the grant received the royal signature, and Penn was made master of the province of Pennsylvania. 

His own account of the name is that he suggested “ Sylvania,” that the king added the Penn in honor of his father, and that, although he strenuously objected and even tried to bribe the secretaries, he could not get the name altered. It should be added that early in 1682 Carteret, grandson of the original proprietor, transferred his rights in East Jersey to Penn and eleven associates, who soon afterwards conveyed one-half of their interest to the earl of Perth and eleven others. It is uncertain to what extent Penn retained his interest in West and East Jersey, and when it ceased. The two provinces were united under one governor in 1699, and Penn was a proprietor in 1700. In 1702 the government of New Jersey was surrendered to the Crown.

By the charter for Pennsylvania Penn was made proprietary of the province. He was supreme governor; he had the power of making laws with the advice, assent and approbation of the freemen, of appointing officers, and of granting pardons. The laws were to contain nothing contrary to English law, with a saving to the Crown and the privy council in the case of appeals. Parliament was to be supreme in all questions of trade and commerce; the right to levy taxes and customs was reserved to England; an agent to represent Penn was to reside in London; neglect on the part of Penn was to lead to the passing of the government to the Crown (which event actually took place in 1692); no correspondence might be carried on with countries at war with Great Britain. The importunity of the bishop of London extorted the right to appoint Anglican ministers, should twenty members of the colony desire it, thus securing the very thing which Penn was anxious to avoid, the recognition of the principle of an establishment.

Having appointed Colonel (Sir William) Markham, his cousin, as deputy, and having in October sent out three commissioners to manage his affairs until his arrival, Penn proceeded to draw up proposals to adventurers, with an account of the resources of the colony. He negotiated, too, with James and Lord Baltimore with the view, ultimately successful, of freeing the mouth of the Delaware, wrote to the Indians in conciliatory terms, and encouraged the formation of companies to work the infant colony both in England and Germany, especially the “Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania,” to whom he sold 20,000 acres, absolutely refusing, however, to grant any monopolies. In July he drew up a body of “conditions and concessions.” This constitution, savoring strongly of Harrington’s Oceana, was framed, it is said, in consultation with Sidney, but the statement is doubtful. Until the council of seventy-two (chosen by universal suffrage every three years, twenty-four retiring each year), and the assembly (chosen annually) were duly elected, a body of provisional laws was added.