Editing William Penn (section)

== The Pennsylvania Charter ==

The opportunity to create a Quaker refuge in America arose from an unlikely source: a debt owed by King Charles II to Penn's deceased father. Admiral Penn had lent the crown substantial sums that remained unpaid at his death in 1670. Rather than seeking monetary repayment, William Penn petitioned the king for a land grant in America, proposing to establish a colony where Quakers and other persecuted religious minorities could live in peace. After negotiations lasting several years, Charles II granted Penn a charter on March 4, 1681, conveying to him proprietary ownership of approximately 45,000 square miles west of the Delaware River. The king named the territory Pennsylvania—"Penn's Woods"—in honor of the admiral, over William's modest objections.<ref name="illick">{{cite book |last=Illick |first=Joseph E. |title=Colonial Pennsylvania: A History |year=1976 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York}}</ref>

Penn's charter made him the proprietor of Pennsylvania, granting him extraordinary powers to govern the colony, distribute land, and establish laws—subject to the approval of the Crown and the colonial assembly. Unlike many colonial proprietors, Penn took his responsibilities seriously, devoting tremendous energy to planning his colony before he ever set foot on American soil. He drafted a Frame of Government for Pennsylvania that established representative institutions, guaranteed religious freedom, and protected individual rights in ways that were remarkably progressive for the era. Penn also published promotional literature throughout Europe, attracting settlers not only from England but from Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries where religious dissenters faced persecution.<ref name="soderlund"/>