PRESENTATION OUTLINE
COLONIAL PENNSYLVANIA PRESENTATION
William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania which was granted to him by the king of England for his debt of 80,000 dollars he had to pay him. Pennsylvania was founded on December 12, 1787 and was one of the thirteen original colonies.
William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a safe haven for Quakers and other minority religions being persecuted in Europe. Apart from religious freedom, Penn wanted Pennsylvania to also be a place of safety to native Americans and an organized constitution.
On August 31, 1682, an English ship sailed to Chester, Pennsylvania. This ship contained William Penn and mostly a bunch of Quakers with good estates and the desire to get away from the other religions in Europe.
The climate in Pennsylvania was very mild and the soil was fertile, but not as good as the southern colonies. Pennsylvania was a mountainous area with many forests, rivers, and lakes.
Pennsylvania's economy was based mostly on crops like wheat, corn, rye, hemp, and flax. These products and other small manufactured items were exported to Europe and made Pennsylvania wealthy.
Since Pennsylvania was set up to be a religious sanctuary to the minor religions like the Quakers, their was no main religion that dominated the rest. Some of the religions were Quakers, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Mennonites, and the Amish.
In 1683, William Penn wrote the "Frame of Government," a constitution for Pennsylvania. The government of colonial Pennsylvania has lasting history in the development of the American democracy.
