Province of Pennsylvania

Last updated

Province of Pennsylvania
1681–1776
Penncolony.png
Map of the Province of Pennsylvania
Status
Capital Philadelphia
Official languages English and Pennsylvania Dutch
Government Proprietary Colony
Proprietor  
 1681–1718
William Penn (first)
 1775-1776
John Penn (last)
Governor  
 1681-1682
William Markham (first)
 1773-1776
John Penn (last)
Legislature(1683-1776)
Provincial Assembly
(1776)
Provincial Conference
 Upper house
Provincial Council
 Lower house
General Assembly
History 
 Land grant by Charles II of England to William Penn
March 4, 1681
July 4, 1776
Currency Pennsylvania pound
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Statenvlag.svg New Netherland
Pennsylvania  Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
Delaware  Flag of Delaware.svg
Today part of United States

The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from "Penn's Woods", referring to William's father Admiral Sir William Penn.

Contents

The Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies. The proprietary colony's charter remained in the Penn family until they were later ousted following the American Revolution and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was established as one of the original thirteen states. The lower counties on Delaware, a separate colony within the Pennsylvania Province, broke away during the American Revolution and was established as the Delaware State and also became one of the original thirteen states.

The colony attracted Quakers, Germans, and Scot-Irish frontiersmen. The Lenape Indian tribe promoted peace with the Quakers. However, after William Penn and Tamanend, who both supported peaceful coexistence, died, wars eventually broke out. The Quakers demonized Lenape mythology even though the Quakers were strong proponents of religious freedom. [1]

Philadelphia, the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, emerged as a major port and commercial city and central location for the thinking, writings, and planning that ultimately inspired the American Revolution. In the 18th century, Philadelphia emerged as the second-largest city in the British Empire, after London. Following the American Revolutionary War, Philadelphia served as the nation's capital until 1800, when a new capital city in Washington, D.C. was constructed at the direction of the young nation's Founding Fathers. [2]

Government

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1680680    
169011,450+1583.8%
170017,950+56.8%
171024,450+36.2%
172030,962+26.6%
173051,707+67.0%
174085,637+65.6%
1750119,666+39.7%
1760183,703+53.5%
1770240,057+30.7%
1780327,305+36.3%
Source: 1680–1760; [3] 1770–1780 [4]

The Province of Pennsylvania's colonial government was established in 1683, by William Penn's Frame of Government. Penn was appointed governor and a 72-member Provincial Council and larger General Assembly were responsible for governing the province. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government but had limited powers.

Succeeding frames of government were produced in 1683, 1696, and 1701. The fourth frame, also known as the Charter of Privileges, remained in effect until the American Revolution. At the time, the Provincial Assembly was deemed too moderate by American revolutionaries, who rejected the General Assembly's authority and held the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which produced the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 for the newly established commonwealth and created the new Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, Quaker, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, and an advocate of democracy and religious freedom known for fostering peaceful and positive relations with the Lenape Indian tribe through a number of treaties. Under Penn's direction, Philadelphia was planned and developed and served as the largest city and national capital until 1800 when it was surpassed in population by New York City and a new national capital was constructed in Washington, D.C.

Counties

Despite having the land grant from King Charles II, Penn embarked on an effort to purchase the lands from Native Americans. The Lenape Indian tribe held much of the land near present-day Philadelphia, and they expected payment in exchange for a quitclaim to vacate the territory. [5] Penn and his representatives (Proprietors) negotiated a series of treaties with the Delaware and other tribes that had an interest in the land in his royal grant.

The initial treaties were conducted between 1682 and 1684, for tracts between New Jersey and the former Delaware Colony in present-day Delaware. [6] The province was thus divided first into three counties, plus the three Lower counties on Delaware Bay. The easternmost, Bucks County, Philadelphia County and Chester County, the westernmost.

Lower counties

The lower counties on Delaware, a separate colony within the province, constituted the same three counties that constitute the present State of Delaware: New Castle, the northernmost, Sussex, the southernmost, and Kent, which fell between New Castle and Sussex County. Their borders remain unchanged to this day.

New Lands and New Counties

Several decades into the 18th century, additional treaties with the Native Americans were concluded. The colony's proprietors made treaties in 1718, 1732, 1737, 1749, 1754, and 1754 pushing the boundaries of the colony, which were still within the original royal grant, north and west. [6] By the time the French and Indian War began in 1754, the Assembly had established the additional counties of Lancaster (1729), York (1749), Cumberland (1750), Berks (1752) and Northampton (1752). [6]

After the French and Indian War concluded, an additional treaty was made in 1768, that abided by the limits of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation line was not intended to be a permanent boundary between the colonists and Native American lands, but rather a temporary boundary that could be extended further west in an orderly manner but only by the royal government and not private individuals such as the Proprietors. This effectively altered the original royal land grant to Penn. The next acquisitions by Pennsylvania were to take place as an independent commonwealth or state and no longer as a colony. The Assembly established additional counties from the land before the War for American Independence. These counties were Bedford (1771), Northumberland (1772) and Westmoreland (1773). [6]

Religious freedom and prosperity

William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious beliefs and values on the early Pennsylvanian government. The Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to all monotheists, and the government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War, Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, and no public debt. It also encouraged the rapid growth of Philadelphia into America's most important city and of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country hinterlands, where German (or "Deutsch") religions and political refugees prospered on the fertile soil and spirit of cultural creativeness. Among the first groups were the Mennonites, who founded Germantown in 1683; and the Amish, who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an auspicious year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the British American colonies, [7] and The Academy and College of Philadelphia, the predecessor to the private University of Pennsylvania, [8] both opened. Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions and Philadelphia's Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736. [9] Likewise in 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new bell tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.

Indigenous relations

Benjamin West's 1771 portrait of William Penn's 1682 treaty with the Lenape Treaty of Penn with Indians by Benjamin West.jpg
Benjamin West's 1771 portrait of William Penn's 1682 treaty with the Lenape

William Penn had mandated fair dealings with Native Americans in the United States. This led to significantly better relations with the local tribes, mainly the Lenape and Susquehanna, than most other colonies had. [10] The Quakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, and had even representation of Indians and whites on juries. According to Voltaire, the Shackamaxon Treaty was "the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken." [11] [12] [13] The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance to New England's Indian wars.

In 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land. [10] The colonial administrators claimed that they had a deed dating to the 1680s in which the Lenape-Delaware had promised to sell a portion of land beginning between the junction of the Delaware River and Lehigh River in present-day Easton, Pennsylvania "as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half." This purchase has become known as the Walking Purchase. [10] Although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that. Provincial Secretary James Logan set in motion a plan that would grab as much land as they could get and hired the three fastest runners in the colony to run out the purchase on a trail that had been cleared by other members of the colony beforehand. The pace was so intense that only one runner completed the "walk," covering an astonishing 70 miles (110 km). [10] This netted the Penns 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km2) of land in what is now northeastern Pennsylvania, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island in the purchase. The area of the purchase covers all or part of what are now Pike, Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northampton, Lehigh, and Bucks counties. The Lenape tribe fought for the next 19 years to have the treaty annulled but to no avail. The Lenape-Delaware were forced into the Shamokin and Wyoming Valleys, which were overcrowded with other displaced tribes. [14]

Limits on further settlement

As the colony grew, colonists and British military forces came into confrontation with natives in the state's Western half. Britain fought for control of the neighboring Ohio Country with France during the French and Indian War. Following the British victory, the territory was formally ceded to them in 1763, and became part of the British Empire.

With the French and Indian War over and Pontiac's War just beginning, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 banned colonization beyond the Appalachian Mountains to prevent settlers settling lands that Indians tribes were using. This proclamation impacted Pennsylvanians and Virginians the most, since they both had been racing towards the lands surrounding Fort Pitt in modern-day Pittsburgh.

Judiciary

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, consisting of the Chief Justice and at least one other judge, was founded by statute in 1722 (although dating back to 1684 as the Provincial Court) and sat in Philadelphia twice a year.

Chief Justices
IncumbentTenureNotes
Took officeLeft office
Arthur Cook16811684
Nicholas Moore16841685
Arthur Cook16861690
John Simcock16901693
Andrew Robson16931699
Edward Shippen 16991701
John Guest August 20, 1701April 10, 1703
William ClarkApril 10, 17031705
John Guest 17051706
Roger Mompesson April 17, 17061715
Joseph Growden, Jr.17151718
David Lloyd 17181731
James Logan August 20, 17311739
Jeremiah Langhorne August 13, 17391743
John KinseyApril 5, 17431750
William Allen September 20, 17501774
Benjamin Chew April 29, 17741776

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenape</span> Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands

The Lenape, also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Colonies</span> Subset of British American Thirteen Colonies

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Colony</span> British colony in North America (1664–1776)

The Delaware Colony, officially known as the three "Lower Counties on the Delaware", was a semiautonomous region of the proprietary Province of Pennsylvania and a de facto British colony in North America. Although not royally sanctioned, Delaware consisted of the three counties on the west bank of the Delaware River Bay. In the early 17th century, the area was inhabited by Lenape and possibly Assateague Native American Indian tribes. The first European settlers were Swedes, who established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, in 1638. The Dutch captured the colony in 1655 and annexed it to New Netherland to the north. Great Britain subsequently took control of it from the Dutch in 1664. In 1682, William Penn, the Quaker proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania to the north leased the three lower counties on the Delaware River from James, the Duke of York, who went on to become King James II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Pennsylvania</span> Aspect of history

The history of Pennsylvania stems back thousands of years when the first indigenous peoples occupied the area of what is now Pennsylvania. In 1681, Pennsylvania became an English colony when William Penn received a royal deed from King Charles II of England. Although European activity in the region precedes that date. The area was home to the Lenape, Susquehannocks, Iroquois, Erie, Shawnee, Arandiqiouia, and other American Indian tribes. Most of these tribes were driven off or reduced to remnants as a result of diseases, such as smallpox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandywine Creek (Christina River tributary)</span> Creek in Pennsylvania and Delaware, US

Brandywine Creek is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine is 20.4 miles (32.8 km) long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Easton</span> 1758 peace agreement between British colonists and various Native American nations

The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, Lenape (Delaware), and Shawnee. Negotiations over more than a week were concluded on October 26, 1758, at a ceremony held in Easton, Pennsylvania between the British colonial governors of the provinces of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and representatives of 13 Indian nations, including the Iroquois, who sent chiefs of three of their nations to ensure their continued domination of their Ohio Country region; the eastern and western Lenape (Delaware), represented by two chiefs and headmen; Shawnee and others. More than 500 Native Americans attended the outdoor ceremony, after lengthy negotiations to bring peace to the regions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Ohio Country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walking Purchase</span> 1737 agreement between the Penn family and the Lenape Native Americans

The Walking Purchase, also known as the Walking Treaty, was a 1737 agreement between the Penn family, the original proprietors of the Province of Pennsylvania, later the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape native Indians. In the purchase, the Penn family and proprietors claimed that a 1686 treaty with the Lenape ceded an area of 1,200,000 acres (4,860 km2) in present-day Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania, which included a western land boundary extending as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half, which led to its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Logan (statesman)</span> Mayor of Philadelphia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hamilton (Pennsylvania politician)</span> American politician

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Penn</span> English landowner and mercer (1702–1775)

Thomas Penn was an English landowner and mercer who was the chief proprietor of Pennsylvania from 1746 to 1775. He was one of 17 children of William Penn, the founder of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania in British America. In 1737, Thomas Penn negotiated the Walking Purchase, a contested land cession treaty he negotiated with Lenape chief Lappawinsoe that transferred control over 1,200,000 acres (4,860 km2) of territory in the present-day Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania regions of Pennsylvania and a portion of West Jersey in colonial New Jersey from the Lenape tribe to the Province of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Weiser</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Nations land cessions</span> Iroquois and Lenape land cessions to the colonial and later independent U.S. (1682–1797)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teedyuscung</span> Native American chief

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<i>Penns Treaty with the Indians</i> Painting by Benjamin West

The Treaty of Penn with the Indians, sometimes known as Penn's Treaty with the Indians at Shackamaxon or more simply Penn's Treaty with the Indians, is an oil painting by Benjamin West, completed in 1771–72. The painting depicts William Penn entering into the Treaty of Shackamaxon in 1683 with Tamanend, a chief of the Lenape Turtle Clan, under the shade of an elm tree near the village of Shackamaxon in Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn's Creek massacre</span> Massacre of Pennsylvania settlers during the French and Indian War

The Penn's Creek massacre was an October 16, 1755 raid by Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans on a settlement along Penn's Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania. It was the first of a series of deadly raids on Pennsylvania settlements by Native Americans allied with the French in the French and Indian War.

References

Citations

  1. Hershey, L. B. (2009). Peace through conversation: William Penn, Israel Pemberton and the shaping of Quaker-Indian relations, 1681-1757 [University of Iowa]. https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.hk7i11nh
  2. Joseph E. Illick, Colonial Pennsylvania: A History (1976).
  3. Purvis, Thomas L. (1999). Balkin, Richard (ed.). Colonial America to 1763. New York: Facts on File. pp.  128–129. ISBN   978-0816025275.
  4. "Colonial and Pre-Federal Statistics" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 1168.
  5. Forest, Tuomi J., William Penn Visionary Proprietor http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/penn/pnind.html Archived 2018-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Genealogical Map of the Counties" (PDF). Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission.
  7. Historic Pennsylvania Hospital, The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 39, No. 12 (Dec. 1939), pp. 1306-1311
  8. College Founding in the American Colonies, 1745-1775 Beverly McAnear, The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Jun. 1955), pp. 24-44
  9. "Penn: About Our Founder". Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Goode, Michael. "Native American-Pennsylvania Relations 1681-1753". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  11. Rothbard, Murray N. (2005). "Pennsylvania's Anarchist Experiment: 1681–1690". LewRockwell.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  12. Newman, Andrew. "Treaty of Shackamaxon". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  13. Kyriakodis, Harry (May 7, 2014). "Respectfully Remembering the Affable One". Hidden City Philadelphia.
  14. Shannon, Timothy J. "Native American-Pennsylvania Relations, 1754-89". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  15. Rothbard, Murray N., Conceived in Liberty, Vol. II (Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1999), p. 64.

General sources

40°17′46″N75°30′32″W / 40.296°N 75.509°W / 40.296; -75.509