To continue from the
last posting, this entry looks at the development of Pennsylvania in mostly the
1700s. But before the turn into the
eighteenth century an event in the seventeenth century is going to have a good
deal of an effect on the new one. And
that would be the conversion of William Penn to Quakerism. That happened in 1663. The effect would be that Penn used his land
grant to establish Pennsylvania so as to, in part, provide refuge for his
fellow Quakers. And that would initiate
the initial migration to this granted area in North America.
But Quakers would soon be joined by
emigrating Germans and Scot Irish people.
Despite that, Quaker beliefs had profound influence on Penn and his
original ideas of governance. First,
Quakers were considered radical Puritans, but unlike other radicals, they, in
their beliefs, democratized the dispensing of God’s grace. They believed that each person shared in God’s
grace in some varied way so that each person has a special or unique value or
worth.
Therefore,
according to this resulting aura in each person, each is unique with the
potential to make his/her own contribution.
The belief further sees each person as equal, and it projects a
responsibility for each to look after all others. This includes for one to do what is
necessary, and within one’s power and ability, to protect others from harm. In addition, Quakers emphasize that people
rely on their inner conscious experiences – one’s conscience serves as a basis
for a moral life.[1] One can observe the effects of such a belief
system on the actions of Penn and of his cohorts.
One
aspect of this bias can be detected, and mentioned in the previous posting, about
how Penn interacted with indigenous people.
Despite his land grant, he initiated and completed a series of
agreements with the local tribe leaders to attain tracts of land. Some of the details of these additions are
involved, but one can judge Penn’s actions as above board in every case.
Another
aspect of this bias was how it attracted its early “fellow travelers” – they
have been described as the dredges of society.
It was from those ranks that the first immigrants were recruited. And it is those who, once on this side of the
Atlantic, started what was to become a very industrious and successful colony. To be measured, though, Quakers never accounted
for more than ten percent of the immigrants that would populate this land mass.
Eventually, the immigrant population
became anglicized (including Penn’s son).[2]
One uncommon result of the Quaker
influence, uncommon as compared to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia,
was that religion’s anti formal education bias.
Unlike the other colonies, Pennsylvania delayed any establishment of an
academy or higher educational facility.
To recall, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia each had one –
Harvard, Yale, and William and Mary.
In
1740, the Academy of Philadelphia was started, and that institution became
first the College of Philadelphia and then the University of Pennsylvania. Despite, or because of its later start, the
institution took on an Enlightenment prone curriculum almost from its beginning. Some of the famous names of Enlightened
thinkers one can associate with the University of Pennsylvania include William
and John Alison, John Ewing, Benjamin Rush, and, of course, Benjamin Franklin.[3]
And
this short overview of the Pennsylvania colony should share some information as
to the beginnings of Philadelphia and, by doing so, more information can be
added as to Penn’s efforts in this settlement.
And one question the reader might ask, why did Charles II grant the
initial lands that were to become Pennsylvania and Delaware to a Quaker. Well, the grant was to satisfy a loan the king
had with Penn’s father, Admiral Penn, mentioned earlier in this blog. And part of the story includes a conflict
with Maryland since the Penn grant overlaid with territory issued to Lord
Baltimore and a resulting armed conflict, Cresap’s War, settled the dispute.
Shortly
after that conflict, Penn organized a colonizing expedition. Penn himself led this effort and upon landing
(in New Castle, Delaware) set out to establish a peaceful change of government
from Baltimore’s claims in which its people pledged allegiance to the new proprietor,
Penn. This led to the first structured
government, previously described.
Moving
up the Delaware River, Penn, along with a group of fellow Quakers, then founded
Philadelphia in order to secure religious freedom of the group. Without going into the details, these
developments had as a backdrop a complicated set of antagonism with local
tribes. These pitted settlers in
Maryland against Susquehannocks and the settlement of nearby areas by other European
immigrants, e.g., Dutch, Swedish, and English in what would become Delaware and
New Jersey.
As
for the general areas of what became Philadelphia, they drew the interest of
European explorers all the way back to 1609 when Henry Hudson was actively
seeking a Northwest Passage to the Far East.
Some years later the New Sweden Company engaged in fur trade activities. This included the building of a fort. A series of claims and establishment of
business enterprises followed – including the establishment of New Sweden – but
it had difficulties remaining viable. But
as far as establishing a permanent settlement, it was the Penn group that did
so.
He,
upon arriving at that area, found about fifty people – mostly subsistence
farmers – making their livings there. From
the start, he foresaw a city as a safe zone for people of all faiths. They would be able to practice their religions
in freedom and be able to live peacefully together. Penn personally appreciated this vision because
he had experienced discrimination due to his Quakerism.
He
also was an early visionary who saw the Enlightened urban plan of a grid outlay
that would mimic English rural towns rather than its crowded cities. He also advocated spacious house plots which
could have gardens and even orchards.
The first purchasers would be allotted plots along the river. He planned for a commercial center, a state
house, and some other key buildings.[4]
In
this Philadelphia story, one does not see any diminution of federated values. If anything, Penn encouraged those
foundational elements that would enhance the institutional qualities that not
only allowed it to influence how the various polities got started but encouraged
people to think in terms of adopting federal values in how they saw governance
should occur. This included high degrees
of tolerance for believers of other faiths and even accommodation of indigenous
people.
In
short, the combination of Puritanical thinking and Enlightenment ideas and
ideals, while contrary on many levels, did not contradict each other in this
area of concern at least under the leadership of Penn. Here is how the History Channel
describes Pennsylvania’s origins:
Philadelphia,
a city in Pennsylvania whose name means City of Brotherly Love, was originally
settled by Native American tribes, particularly the Lenape hunter gathers,
around 8000 B.C.
By the early 1600s, Dutch, English and Swedish merchants had established
trading posts in the Delaware Valley area, and in 1681, Charles II of
England granted a charter to William Penn for what would become the
Pennsylvania colony.
Penn arrived in the new city of Philadelphia in 1682. A Quaker pacifist,
Penn signed a peace treaty with Lenape chief Tamanend, establishing a tradition
of tolerance and human rights.
But in 1684, the ship Isabella landed in Philadelphia
carrying hundreds of enslaved Africans. Tensions over slavery, especially among
local Quakers, resulted in the 1688 Germantown Petition Against Slavery, the
first organized protest against slavery in the New World.
Penn’s colony thrived, and soon Philadelphia was the biggest shipbuilding
center in the colonies. Among those attracted to the city was Benjamin Franklin,
who in 1729, became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette.
The Pennsylvania State House—later known as Independence Hall—held its
first Assembly meeting there in 1735. State representatives ordered a large
bell for the building in 1751 with a Biblical inscription: “Proclaim LIBERTY
throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”[5]
Of course, Philadelphia would play a central role in the events leading
up to the Revolution.
[1] See “Quakers,” BBC (July 3, 2009), accessed May 12,
2021, https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/quakers_1.shtml#:~:text=of%20the%20Quakers-,Quakers%20believe%20that%20there%20is%20something%20of%20God%20in%20everybody,as%20the%20basis%20of%20morality.
[2]
Allen C. Guelzo, The American Mind, Part I
– a transcript book – (Chantilly, VA: The
Teaching Company/The Great Courses, 2005).
[3] Ibid.
[4]
“History of Philadelphia,” Wikipedia (n.d.), accessed May 12, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Philadelphia#:~:text=The%20written%20history%20of%20Philadelphia,inhabited%20by%20the%20Lenape%20people.
[5] History.com Editors, “Philadelphia,” History Channel (March 8, 2019), accessed May 13, 2021, https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/philadelphia-pennsylvania .
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