William
Penn was one of the first heroes of freedom in America. After becoming a Quaker
in his twenties, Penn became a leading voice for religious freedom in England
and was imprisoned numerous times. When a group of Quakers received the charter
for the colonial province of West New Jersey in 1677, Penn wrote a charter of
liberties for the colony that guaranteed freedom of religion, free elections,
freedom from unjust imprisonment and fair trial by jury. In 1681 King Charles
gave William Penn the charter for Pennsylvania in repayment for a debt he owed
Penn's father. William Penn then set out to create his dream -- "a holy experiment"
as he called it - to establish a virtuous society which would be a model for all
humanity. He wanted to establish a colony where religious and political freedom
could flourish, and advertised plans for the city of Philadelphia he was building
throughout Europe. Unlike many settlers, William Penn made friends with local
Indian tribes, negotiating treaties, paying them for the land, and instituting
laws that protected Indians from Europeans. William Penn set up a constitution
for Pennsylvania with democratic principles which would serve as inspiration for
the Constitution of the United States a century later.
