William Penn Research Paper

Nick Ardagna
2/9/2015
Religion in Philadelphia
William Penn Essay

William Penn was a holy man, a do-gooder by all means, who in 1681, was granted land in the New World, and set out to commence his “Religious Experiment”, with his Quaker brethren. Penn had a vision for his own utopia and would end up investing all of his assets in the newly found colony which is now Pennsylvania. Much of his money as well as other investors’ went to the process of actually acquiring the land which was one of the most crucial objectives in Penn’s plan. Because William Penn was a religious man, and because the land he acquired was already partially settled by native tribes, the financial capital needed to execute a smooth and peaceful transaction was quite enormous for the time. The Quakers believe that everything they do and anything that happens to them is a reflection of their communication with God. In this case, Penn believed acquiring the land fairly with money and goods was the best thing to do. His idea of a land with borders was radical for the time but he knew it could be successful if he maintained a good relationship with all those who surrounded him, a principal Penn was raised on and took advantage of
throughout his life. Through the relationships he had developed Penn managed to start his colony, however not all he investors shared the same mission as William Penn. Penn was collecting investments from many of the successful Quaker merchants in order to ensure early success to the land.
While Penn was crafting the first constitution for his new land, and his early investors wanted a say in it. They wanted only the wealthiest of the Quakers to have power in the land, and Penn did not think the wealthy should have total power. Penn continued to struggle to form a framework of government that would satisfy the needs of everyone but he would not be discouraged and eventually would succeed. Eventually Penn developed a system that would give power to the public, limit his power, but ultimately allow him to make the final decision. Amendments allowed the government to make changes as society developed and kept the people
happy. Only a few short years passed before Penn voyaged back to England. He had to tend to a land dispute with Lord Baltimore, as well as take care of his family and fellow Quakers he had left behind. Meanwhile Pennsylvania was now in the hands of another man, Phillip Ford, and when William Penn returned he was in shock at what had become. The layout of his utoian society had dramatically changed. His masterpiece land of spacious parks and gardens with houses over 800 feet apart was no more, instead, an over-crowded city that was growing by the day, with houses packed together and filth filling the streets was a reality. William Penn would go on to regain the title of his land, but not before he found himself to be incarcerated in debtors prison in England, due to the fact that Ford deemed the title too much for Penn to repay. Eventually he borrowed some more money to pay it off and the land was back in the hands of the rightful owner. Penn sacrificed a lot in order to bring Pennsylvania to its full potential, including his own beliefs, incurring thousands of pounds in debt so that others could thrive.