colony · North America and Oceania

Province of Pennsylvania

1681 CE – 1776 CE · capital Philadelphia

William Penn's Quaker colony, a 'holy experiment' in religious freedom whose capital Philadelphia became the largest city in British America.

Origins

In 1681 Charles II granted William Penn a vast tract west of the Delaware River to settle a debt owed to Penn's father. Penn planned a refuge for Quakers and other persecuted groups, issued a Frame of Government in 1682, laid out Philadelphia on a grid and, by tradition, made a treaty of friendship with the Lenape at Shackamaxon.

Rule and society

The Charter of Privileges of 1701 created a single elected assembly and guaranteed freedom of worship to all who believed in God. Quakers, Germans, beginning with Germantown in 1683, and later Scots-Irish settlers poured in, and grain exports made Philadelphia prosperous. The Penn heirs remained proprietors, and the Walking Purchase of 1737 cheated the Lenape of land. Benjamin Franklin made Philadelphia a centre of printing, science and civic institutions.

Decline and legacy

Philadelphia hosted the Continental Congress, which declared independence there in 1776. That year Pennsylvania adopted a radical democratic constitution, ending proprietary rule, and became a state of the United States.

Lineage

Province of PennsylvaniaUnited States 1776 CE – present

Connections (3)

Province of Pennsylvania was a colony of Kingdom of England1681 CE – 1707 CE
Delaware Colony in personal union with Province of Pennsylvania1682 CE – 1776 CE
Province of Pennsylvania was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain1707 CE – 1776 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Province of Pennsylvania. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/province-of-pennsylvania
MLA: “Province of Pennsylvania.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/province-of-pennsylvania. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Province of Pennsylvania.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/province-of-pennsylvania.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Province of Pennsylvania’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/province-of-pennsylvania (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻