Holy Experiment panel from the Quaker Tapestry
True religion does not draw men out of the world but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it. - from No Cross, No Crown
One of the things Penn is best known for is being proprietor of the colony of Pennsylvania. In 1681, Penn and 11 other Quakers bought the proprietary rights to East New Jersey. In payment for a debt King Charles II owed his father, Admiral Sir William Penn, Penn persuaded the king to grant him a vast province on the west bank of the Delaware River. It was named Pennsylvania, which means Penn's woods, after his father.
Penn believed in a "divine right of government" and sought to form the government of Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" in governing. His Frame of Government of Pennsylvania is considered by many to be ahead of its time. It set forth a representative form of government. Thomas Jefferson called Penn "the greatest law-giver the world has produced."
Penn and the Quakers provided a relatively enlightened government. The penal system was designed to reform not just punish, all prisoners except capital prisoners were entitled to bail, work houses were substituted for dungeons, and the the death penalty was limited to murder and treason instead of the 200 crimes in England. Public education was available for all children. Penn designed Philadelphia and other towns with a grid pattern of streets, buildings and public squares to promote health and fire safety.
William Penn and the Indians Rotunda Frieze scene from the U.S. Capitol
As proprietor, Penn had opportunity to practice the Quaker peace testimony. Penn realized that much of the land to which he had been given a royal charter was held by the Delaware (Leni Lenape) Indians. Although the document has not survived, it is believed that in 1682 Penn signed a treaty with the natives who occupied the land paying them a fair value for its use by settlers. Voltaire wrote, "It was the only treaty made by the settlers with the Indians that was never sworn to, and the only one that was never broken."
Penn treated the native Americans ("Indians") with respect. He came among them without guards or weapons. He learned their dialects so he could negotiate with them without interpreters. His peaceful policies prevailed for several decades, after which those who opposed these policies came into control of the Pennsylvania legislature.
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