William Penn

William Penn

William Penn was born and raised in England, but he is well known for what he did in the Americas. First and foremost, William Penn was a religious nonconformist and writer: he wrote numerous religious books over his lifetime. Second, Penn is responsible for the "holy experiment": the colony of Pennsylvania. He was a Quaker advocate, and as a proprietor had the opportunity to practice the Quaker Peace testimony.

Penn was interested in religion from the time he was a child. When he was twelve years old he had the opportunity to hear testimony from a traveling Quaker minister, Thomas Loe. Penn was touched by Loe's message, and sought the Ð''authentic Christian message' rather then focusing on Ð''institutional' religion. At the age of 16, Penn started attending Oxford University. It was at Oxford University, that William began to reject Anglicanism and he began attending unauthorized prayer meetings. At this time, he was expelled for his "religious unconformity". He then attended a Protestant school in France, where he completed his education.

When Penn turned 23, he converted and became a Quaker after another run in with Thomas Loe. He then began to write down his religious ideas, and took a lot of criticism from other scholars. Penn wrote the book Sandy Foundations Shaken which was considered "controversial and superficial" and for this, was imprisoned in the Tower of London. While imprisoned, Penn kept writing. He wrote the book No Cross, No Crown, which was a call Christian Discipleship. He believed that "No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no cross, no crown" and showed this through his determined attitude. He wanted to get the word out about his religion and he wasn't going to be discouraged. After William was released, he wrote Innocency with Her Open Face, and wrote a number of other works on his Quaker faith.

In 1681, Penn and 11 other Quakers brought the Proprietary rights to east New Jersey. King Charles II owed Penn's father, Admiral Sir William Penn, and in return Penn persuaded the king to grant him a "vast province on the west bank of the Delaware River" (Samuel, 2000). It was named Pennsylvania, which means Penn's woods, after his father. Penn decided that his colony was going to be different from the rest of the colonies in that they were going to be a Quaker based colony. He believed in a "divine right of government" and formed the government of Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" in governing. This type of government is