Province of Pennsylvania | |||||||||||
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| 1681–1776 | |||||||||||
 Map of the Province of Pennsylvania | |||||||||||
 Land purchases from Native Americans in Pennsylvania | |||||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Philadelphia | ||||||||||
| Official languages | English andPennsylvania Dutch | ||||||||||
| Government | Proprietary colony | ||||||||||
| Proprietor | |||||||||||
• 1681–1718 | William Penn (first) | ||||||||||
• 1775–1776 | John Penn (last) | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1681–1682 | William Markham (first) | ||||||||||
• 1773–1776 | John Penn (last) | ||||||||||
| Legislature | (1683–1776) Provincial Assembly (1776) Provincial Conference | ||||||||||
• Upper house | Provincial Council | ||||||||||
• Lower house | General Assembly | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Land grant byCharles II of England toWilliam Penn | March 4, 1681 | ||||||||||
| July 4, 1776 | |||||||||||
| Currency | Pennsylvania pound | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | United States | ||||||||||
TheProvince of Pennsylvania, also known as thePennsylvania Colony, was aBritish North American colony founded byWilliam Penn, who received the land through a grant fromCharles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived fromLatin, meaning "Penn's Woods", a reference to William Penn's fatherAdmiral Sir William Penn.
The Province of Pennsylvania was one of two majorRestoration colonies incolonial-eraBritish America. A plan for government of the colony of Pennsylvania was heavily influenced by the ideas andutopian aspirations of English political scientistJames Harrington. The proprietary colony's charter remained in the Penn family until the Penns were ousted in 1776 during theAmerican Revolutionary War, and theCommonwealth of Pennsylvania was established as one of theoriginal thirteen states.
In June 1776, theLower counties on the Delaware, a separate colony within the Province of Pennsylvania, broke away from the Province of Pennsylvania. On December 7, 1787, following independence, this former colony, renamedDelaware, was the first state to ratify theU.S. Constitution, making it the nation's firstU.S. state and one of the original thirteen states. Five days later, on December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution and join the United States.
The Province of Pennsylvania attractedEnglishQuakers,Germans, andScots-Irish frontiersmen. TheLenape Indian tribe, which inhabited most of present-day eastern Pennsylvania, mostly co-existed peacefully with the Quakers during William Penn's governance of the province.
However, onceTamanend, who supported peaceful coexistence with the settlers, died in 1701, and William Penn, who was equally committed to peaceful relations, died in 1718, wars began breaking out between the Lenape and European settlers. Quakers demonizedLenape mythology, even though Quakers were strong proponents ofreligious freedom.[1]
During theAmerican Revolution andAmerican Revolutionary War,Philadelphia, which served as both the first capital of the Province of Pennsylvania and thecolonial era capital of theThirteen Colonies, emerged as a major port, commercial city, and a central location for the thinking, writings, and planning that ultimately inspired the American Revolution.
During the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, both theFirst andSecondContinental Congress convened in Philadelphia. In 1775, after the Revolutionary War broke out with theBattles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress, meeting inside present-dayIndependence Hall, formed theContinental Army and unanimously selectedGeorge Washington as the new army's commander-in-chief.
The following year, in June 1776,Thomas Jefferson authored the first draft of theDeclaration of Independence from his second floor apartment at present-day 700Market Street; on July 4, the Declaration was unanimously adopted and issued to KingGeorge III by all 56 delegates to the convention.
Between July 1776 and November 1777, the Second Continental Congress debated and authored theArticles of Confederation at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
On September 26, 1777, during theBritish Army'sPhiladelphia campaign, Philadelphia fell to the British, who occupied the city through June 1778, forcing Washington and 12,000 Continental Army troops to retreat toValley Forge, where as many as 2,000 died from disease or starvation over the harsh winter of 1777–1778.
Following independence, theConstitution of the United States, now the longest-standing written constitution in the world, was debated, authored, and implemented at theConstitutional Convention, which met inside Independence Hall from May 25 to September 17, 1787, with George Washington presiding as the convention's president.
During the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the second-most populous city in the entireBritish Empire afterLondon.
Once American independence was secured, Philadelphia continued to serve as the nation's capital from 1790 to until 1800, while the new national capital city inWashington, D.C. was constructed.[2] Both George Washington, the nation's firstpresident, andJohn Adams, the nation's second president, lived and worked fromPresident's House in Philadelphia while theWhite House was being constructed in Washington, D.C. In November 1800, near the end of hisadministration, Adams relocated to the White House through the end of his term in March 1801, becoming the first U.S. president to work and reside there.
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| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1680 | 680 | — |
| 1690 | 11,450 | +1583.8% |
| 1700 | 17,950 | +56.8% |
| 1710 | 24,450 | +36.2% |
| 1720 | 30,962 | +26.6% |
| 1730 | 51,707 | +67.0% |
| 1740 | 85,637 | +65.6% |
| 1750 | 119,666 | +39.7% |
| 1760 | 183,703 | +53.5% |
| 1770 | 240,057 | +30.7% |
| 1780 | 327,305 | +36.3% |
| Source: 1680–1760;[3] 1770–1780[4] | ||
The Province of Pennsylvania's colonial government was established in 1683, byWilliam Penn'sFrame of Government. Penn was appointed governor and a 72-memberProvincial Council and larger General Assembly were responsible for governing the province. The General Assembly, also known as thePennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government but had limited powers.
Succeeding frames of government were produced in 1683, 1696, and 1701. The fourth frame, also known as theCharter of Privileges, remained in effect until theAmerican Revolution. At the time, the Provincial Assembly was deemed too moderate by American revolutionaries, who rejected the General Assembly's authority and held theFirst Continental Congress inPhiladelphia, which produced thePennsylvania Constitution of 1776 for the newly established commonwealth and created the newPennsylvania General Assembly.
Despite having the land grant fromKing Charles II, Penn embarked on an effort to purchase the lands fromNative Americans. TheLenape Indian tribe held much of the land near present-dayPhiladelphia, and they expected payment in exchange for aquitclaim to vacate the territory.[5] Penn and his representatives (Proprietors) negotiated a series of treaties with the Lenape and other tribes that had an interest in the land in his royal grant.
The initial treaties were conducted between 1682 and 1684, for tracts betweenNew Jersey and the formerDelaware Colony in present-dayDelaware.[6] The province was divided into three counties, plus the threeLower counties on Delaware Bay, includingBucks County,Philadelphia County, andChester County.
The lower counties on Delaware, a separate colony within the province, included the three counties of present-dayDelaware:New Castle,Sussex, andKent County.
Several decades into the 18th century, additional treaties with Native Americans were concluded. The colony's proprietors made treaties in 1718, 1732, 1737, 1749, 1754, and 1754, pushing the boundaries of the colony, which were still within the original royal grant, north and west.[6] By the time theFrench and Indian War began in 1754, the Assembly had established additional counties, includingLancaster (1729),York (1749),Cumberland (1750),Berks (1752), andNorthampton (1752).[6]
After the French and Indian War concluded, an additional treaty was made in 1768, which codified the limits of theRoyal Proclamation of 1763, which provided a temporary boundary that could be extended further west in an orderly manner by the royal government but not by private individuals, such as the proprietors. This agreement altered the original royal land grant to Penn.
The next acquisitions by Pennsylvania took place after Pennsylvania became part of the United States, following its ratification of theU.S. Constitution.
ThePennsylvania General Assembly established three additional counties prior to theAmerican Revolutionary War:Bedford (1771),Northumberland (1772), andWestmoreland (1773).[6]
William Penn and his fellowQuakers heavily imprinted their religious beliefs and values on the early Pennsylvanian government. TheCharter of Privileges extended religious freedom to all monotheists, and the government was initially open to all Christians. Until theFrench and Indian War, Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, and no public debt. It also encouraged the rapid growth ofPhiladelphia into America's most important city and of thePennsylvania Dutch Country hinterlands, where German (or "Deutsch") religions and political refugees prospered on the fertile soil and spirit of cultural creativeness. Among the first groups were theMennonites, who foundedGermantown in 1683; and theAmish, who established theNorthkill Amish Settlement in 1740.
In 1751,Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital inBritish America,[7] andThe Academy and College of Philadelphia, the predecessor to the privateUniversity of Pennsylvania,[8] both opened.Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions and Philadelphia's Union Fire Company 15 years earlier, in 1736.[9] In 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell for the bell tower onPennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, which later was renamed theLiberty Bell.
William Penn had mandated fair dealings withNative Americans in the United States. This led to significantly better relations with the local tribes, mainly theLenape andSusquehanna, than most other colonies had.[10] TheQuakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, and had even representation of Indians and whites on juries. According toVoltaire, theShackamaxon Treaty was "the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken."[11][12][13] The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance toNew England'sIndian wars.
In 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land.[10] The colonial administrators claimed that they had a deed dating to the 1680s in which the Lenape-Delaware had promised to sell a portion of land beginning between the junction of theDelaware River andLehigh River in present-dayEaston, Pennsylvania "as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half".
The purchase became known as theWalking Purchase.[10] Although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that. Provincial SecretaryJames Logan set in motion a plan that would grab as much land as they could get and hired the three fastest runners in the colony to run out the purchase on a trail that had been cleared by other members of the colony beforehand. The pace was so intense that only one runner completed the "walk", covering an astonishing 70 miles (110 km).[10] This netted the Penns 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km2) of land in what is nownortheastern Pennsylvania, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the state ofRhode Island in the purchase. The area of the purchase covers all or part of what are nowPike,Monroe,Carbon,Schuylkill,Northampton,Lehigh, andBucks counties.
The Lenape tribe fought for the next 19 years to have the treaty annulled but to no avail. The Lenape-Delaware were forced into theShamokin andWyoming Valleys, which were overcrowded with other displaced tribes.[14]
As the colony grew, colonists and British military forces came into confrontation with natives in the state's Western half. Britain fought for control of the neighboringOhio Country with France during theFrench and Indian War. Following the British victory, the territory was formally ceded to them in 1763, and became part of theBritish Empire.
With the French and Indian War over andPontiac's War just beginning, theRoyal Proclamation of 1763 banned colonization beyond theAppalachian Mountains to prevent settlers settling lands that Indians tribes were using. This proclamation impacted Pennsylvanians and Virginians the most, since they both had been racing towards the lands surroundingFort Pitt in modern-dayPittsburgh.
TheSupreme Court of Pennsylvania, consisting of the Chief Justice and at least one other judge, was founded by statute in 1722 (although dating back to 1684 as the Provincial Court) and sat in Philadelphia twice a year.
| Incumbent | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | |
| Arthur Cook | 1681 | 1684 |
| Nicholas Moore | 1684 | 1685 |
| Arthur Cook | 1686 | 1690 |
| John Simcock | 1690 | 1693 |
| Andrew Robson | 1693 | 1699 |
| Edward Shippen | 1699 | 1701 |
| John Guest | August 20, 1701 | April 10, 1703 |
| William Clark | April 10, 1703 | 1705 |
| John Guest | 1705 | 1706 |
| Roger Mompesson | April 17, 1706 | 1715 |
| Joseph Growden, Jr. | 1715 | 1718 |
| David Lloyd | 1718 | 1731 |
| James Logan | August 20, 1731 | 1739 |
| Jeremiah Langhorne | August 13, 1739 | 1743 |
| John Kinsey | April 5, 1743 | 1750 |
| William Allen | September 20, 1750 | 1774 |
| Benjamin Chew | April 29, 1774 | 1776 |
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40°17′46″N75°30′32″W / 40.296°N 75.509°W /40.296; -75.509
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