Wiliam Penn's "Holy Experiment"

 

"Now I would have you well observe, That I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustices that has been so much exercised towards you by the people of these parts of the world...to make great advantages...sometimes by the shedding of blood...But I am not such a man...I have great love and regard for you, and I desire to win and gain friendship but a kind, just and peaceable life..."                    -William Penn letter to Native Americans

William Penn, a converted Quaker, wanted to found a colony based on religious freedom and the Quaker concepts of a good and fair society.  He was able to set his “Holy Experiment” into motion when King Charles II repaid a 16,000-pound debt by deeding William land that would be named Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods) after William’s popular father. Added to this was land from the Duke of York, future James II, that would become Delaware.

Penn invited people of all religions to join him in his new colony where freedom of religion would be the law. His “City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia, was his dream city of Quaker ideals. He also insisted that the Native Americans be treated as equals and that their land be purchased at fair prices which lead to sixty years of peaceful relations,

Even the City of Brotherly Love needed a night-watch for those who might try to take advantage of those who believed in peace.

As with other colonies established for religious freedom, the Quaker population was soon vastly outnumbered by other religious groups. But the concepts of equality and freedom of religion remained in the fabric of the new colonies of Pennsylvania (1681) and Delaware (originally founded by the Dutch in 1638), helping establish these concepts critical to the future United States. While Penn’s ideas prospered as did his colonies, he himself received no financial gain and died in poverty.  He saw this as a small price to pay for his “Holy Experiment.”