William penn biography kids

He stated, "Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them. Remarkably, though the Crown reserved the right to override any law it wished, Penn's skillful stewardship did not provoke any government reaction while Penn remained in his province. Despite criticism by some Quaker friends that Penn was setting himself above them by taking on this powerful position, and by his enemies who thought he was a fraud and "falsest villain upon earth", Penn was ready to begin the "Holy Experiment".

Bidding goodbye to his wife and children, he reminded them to "avoid pride, avarice, and luxury". Under Penn's direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed. Philadelphia was planned out to be grid-like with its streets and be very easy to navigate, unlike London. The streets are named with numbers and tree names. In Penn returned to England to see his family and to try to resolve a territorial dispute with Lord Baltimore.

Penn did not always pay attention to details and had not taken the fairly simple step of determining where the 40th degree of latitude the southern boundary of his land under the charter actually was. After he sent letters to several landowners in Maryland advising the recipients that they were probably in Pennsylvania and not to pay any more taxes to Lord Baltimore, trouble arose between the two proprietors.

This led to an eighty-year legal dispute between the two families. Political conditions at home had stiffened since Penn left. To his dismay, he found Bridewell and Newgate prisons filled with Quakers. Internal political conflicts even threatened to undo the Pennsylvania charter. Penn withheld his political writings from publication as "The times are too rough for print.

The new king resolved the border dispute in Penn's favor. But King James, a Catholic with a largely Protestant parliament, proved a poor ruler, stubborn and inflexible. Penn supported James' Declaration of Indulgencewhich granted toleration to Quakers, and went on a "preaching tour through England to promote the King's Indulgence". His proposal at the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends in June to establish an "advisory committee that might offer counsel to individual Quakers deciding whether to take up public office" under James II was rebuffed by George Foxwho argued that it was "not safe to conclude such things in a Yearly Meeting".

Penn offered some assistance to James II's campaign to regulate the parliamentary constituencies by sending a letter to a friend in Huntingdon asking him to identify men who could be trusted to support the king's campaign for liberty of conscience. Penn faced serious problems in the colonies due to his sloppy business practices. Apparently, he could not be bothered with administrative details, and his business manager, fellow Quaker Philip Ford, embezzled substantial sums from Penn's estates.

Ford capitalized on Penn's habit of signing papers without reading them. One such paper turned out to be a deed transferring ownership of Pennsylvania to Ford who then demanded a rent beyond Penn's ability to pay. After agreeing to let Ford keep all his Irish rents in exchange for keeping quiet about Ford's legal title to Pennsylvania, Penn felt his situation sufficiently improved to return to Pennsylvania with the intention of staying.

Penn received a hearty welcome upon his arrival and found his province much changed in the intervening 18 years. Pennsylvania was growing rapidly and now had nearly 18, inhabitants and Philadelphia over 3, His tree plantings were providing the green urban spaces he had envisioned. Shops were full of imported merchandise, satisfying the wealthier citizens and proving America to be a viable market for English goods.

Most importantly, religious diversity was succeeding. Despite the protests of fundamentalists and farmers, Penn's insistence that Quaker grammar schools be open to all citizens was producing a relatively educated workforce. High literacy and open intellectual discourse led to Philadelphia becoming a leader in science and medicine. Quakers were especially modern in their treatment of mental illness, decriminalizing insanity and turning away from punishment and confinement.

Ironically, the tolerant Penn transformed himself almost into a Puritan, in an attempt to control the fractiousness that had developed in his absence, tightening up some laws. Another change was found in Penn's writings, which had mostly lost their boldness and vision. In those years, he did put forward a plan to make a federation of all English colonies in America.

There have been claims that he also fought slaverybut that seems unlikely, as he owned and william penn biography kids traded slaves himself and his writings do not support that idea. However, he did promote good treatment for slaves, including marriage among slaves though rejected by the council. Other Pennsylvania Quakers were more outspoken and proactive, being among the earliest fighters against slavery in America, led by Daniel Pastorius, founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Many Quakers pledged to release their slaves upon their death, including Penn, and some sold their slaves to non-Quakers. The Penns lived comfortably at Pennsbury Manor and had all intentions of living out their lives there. They also had a residence in Philadelphia. Their only American child, John, had been born and was thriving. Penn was commuting to Philadelphia on a six-man barge, which he admitted he prized above "all dead things".

James Logan, his secretary, kept him acquainted with all the news. Penn had plenty of time to spend with his family and still attend to affairs of state, though delegations and official visitors were frequent. His wife, however, did not enjoy life as a governor's wife and hostess and preferred the simple life she led in England. When new threats by France again put Penn's charter in jeopardy, Penn decided to return to England with his family, in Penn returned to England and immediately became embroiled in financial and family troubles.

His eldest son William, Jr. Penn had hoped to have William succeed him in America. Now he could not even pay his son's debts. His own finances were in turmoil. He had made many generous loans which he failed to press. Making matters worse from Penn's perspective, Philip Ford, his financial advisor, had cheated Penn out of thousands of pounds by concealing and diverting rents from Penn's Irish lands, claiming losses, then extracting loans from Penn to cover the shortfall.

When Ford died inhis widow Bridget threatened to sell Pennsylvania, to which she claimed title. Penn sent William to America to manage affairs, but he proved just as unreliable as he had been in England. There were considerable discussions about scrapping his constitution. In desperation, Penn tried to william penn biography kids Pennsylvania to the Crown before Bridget Ford got wind of his plan, but by insisting that the Crown uphold the civil liberties that had been achieved, he could not strike a deal.

Ford took her case to court. At age 62, Penn landed in debtors' prison; however, a rush of sympathy reduced Penn's punishment to house arrest, and Bridget Ford was finally denied her claim to Pennsylvania. A group of Quakers arranged for Ford to receive payment for back rents and Penn was released. In Berkeley Codd, Esq. Some of William Penn's agents hired lawyer Andrew Hamilton to represent the Penn family in this replevin case.

Hamilton's success led to an established relationship of goodwill between the Penn family and Andrew Hamilton. Penn had grown weary of the politicking back in Pennsylvania and the restlessness with his governance, but Logan implored him not to forsake his colony, for fear that Pennsylvania might fall into the hands of an opportunist who would undo all the good that had been accomplished.

During his second attempt to sell Pennsylvania back to the Crown inPenn suffered a stroke. A second stroke several months later left him unable to speak or take care of himself. He slowly lost his memory. William Penn died penniless inat his home in Ruscombe, near Twyford in Berkshire, and is buried in a grave next to his first wife in the cemetery of the Jordans Quaker meeting house near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire.

His william penn biography kids, as sole executor, became the de facto proprietor until she died in Springett the Posthuma in her name indicating that her father had died prior to her birth and Lady Mary Proude Penington. They had three sons and five daughters:. William Penn married Hannah when she was 25 and he was They had nine children in twelve years:.

After Penn's death, Pennsylvania slowly drifted away from a colony founded by religion to a secular state dominated by commerce. Many of Penn's legal and political innovations took root, however, as did the Quaker school in Philadelphia for which Penn issued two charters and Sometime later, the institution was renamed the William Penn Charter School.

Voltaire praised Pennsylvania as the only government in the world that responds to the people and is respectful of minority rights. Penn's "Frame of Government" and his other ideas were later studied by Benjamin Franklin as well as the pamphleteer of the American RevolutionThomas Painewhose father was a Quaker. Among Penn's legacies was the unwillingness to force a Quaker majority upon Pennsylvania, allowing his state to develop into a successful "melting pot".

In addition, Thomas Jefferson and the founding Fathers adapted Penn's theory of an amendable constitution and his vision that "all Persons are equal under God" informing the federal government following the American Revolution. In addition to Penn's extensive political and religious treatises, he wrote nearly 1, maxims, full of wise observations about human nature and morality.

Penn's family retained ownership of the colony of Pennsylvania until the American Revolution. However, William's son and successor, Thomas Pennand his brother John, renounced their father's faith, and fought to restrict religious freedom particularly for Catholics and later Quakers as well. Thomas weakened or eliminated the elected assembly's power, and ran the colony instead through his appointed governors.

He was a bitter opponent of Benjamin Franklin and Franklin's push for greater democracy in the years leading up to the revolution. As a pacifist Quaker, Penn considered the problems of war and peace deeply. He developed a forward-looking project and thoughts for a United States of Europe through the creation of a European Assembly made of deputies who could discuss and adjudicate controversies peacefully.

He is therefore considered the first thinker to suggest the creation of a European Parliament and what would become the modern European Union in the late 20th century See An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe When installed inthe statue represented the highest point in the city, as City Hall was then the tallest building in Philadelphia.

Urban designer Edmund Bacon was known to have said that no gentleman would build taller than the "brim of Billy Penn's hat". This agreement existed for almost years until the city decided to allow taller skyscrapers to be built. In Marchthe completion of One Liberty Place was the first building to do that. This resulted in a "curse" which lasted from that year on until when a small statue of William Penn was put on top of the newly built Comcast Center.

The Philadelphia Phillies went on to win the World Series that year. A lesser-known statue of Penn is located at Penn Treaty Parkon the site where Penn entered into his treaty with the Lenapewhich is famously commemorated in the painting Penn's Treaty with the Indians. InHajoca Corporation, the nation's largest privately held wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, and industrial supplies, adopted the statue as its trademark symbol.

Click the Edit button above to get started. This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members! To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free it only takes a minute and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! William Penn was a London-born writer who is best known for being the founder of the province of Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that became the present-day state of Pennsylvania in the United States.

William penn biography kids

With a background in theology and law, William Penn converted to the Quaker religion in his 20s. He is now known as one of the most influential Quakers of his time. See the fact file below for more information about William Penn, or you can download our page William Penn worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment. This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about William Penn across 25 in-depth pages.

These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about William Penn. William Penn was an English Quaker, entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony that later became the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He played a significant role in the development of the early American colonies.

William Penn, a devout Quaker, sought to create a haven for religious freedom and tolerance. He envisioned Pennsylvania as a place where people of different faiths could live together peacefully, free from religious persecution. This land, named Pennsylvania, covered a vast area in the American colonies. Penn saw this as an opportunity to realize his vision of a colony that promoted religious freedom and peaceful coexistence.

It included principles such as religious freedom, democratic representation, and a separation of powers within the government. It also emphasized the importance of fair treatment of Native Americans, though the success of these ideals varied over time. Penn maintained a generally peaceful and respectful relationship with the Native American tribes in the region.

He negotiated fair land agreements with them and sought to establish peaceful coexistence. If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source. These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

KidsKonnect is a growing library of high-quality, printable worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers. We pride ourselves on being a safe website for both teachers and students. Skip to primary navigation Skip to william penn biography kids content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer. Search for Worksheets e. Sign Me Up Already a member? Although Penn's authority over the colony was officially subject only to that of the king, he implemented a democratic system with full freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives of the people in power, and a separation of powers -- again ideas that would later form the basis of the American constitution.

The freedom of religion in Pennsylvania complete freedom of religion for everybody who believed in God brought not only English, German and Dutch Quakers to the colony, but also Huguenots French Protestants as well as Lutherans from Catholic German states. In - Penn was in Pennsylvania himself. After the building plans for Philadelphia had been completed, and Penn's political ideas had been put into a workable form, Penn explored the interior.

He befriended the local Indians, and ensured that they were paid fairly for their lands. He also introduced laws saying that if a European did an Indian wrong, there would be a fair trial, with an equal number of people from both groups deciding the matter. His measures in this matter proved successful: even though later colonists did not treat the Indians as fairly as Penn and his first group of colonists had done, colonists and Indians remained at peace in Pennsylvania much longer than in the other English colonies.

Penn visited America once more, in In those years he put forward a plan to make a federation of all English colonies in America. There have been claims that he also fought slaverybut that seems unlikely, as he owned and even traded slaves himself. However, he did promote good treatment for slaves, and other Pennsylvania Quakers were among the earliest fighters against slavery.

Penn had wished to settle in Philadelphia himself, but financial problems forced him back to England in His financial advisor, Philip Ford, had cheated him out of thousands of pounds, and he had nearly lost Pennsylvania through Ford's machinations. The next decade of Penn's life was mainly filled with various court cases against Ford. He tried to sell Pennsylvania back to the state, but while the deal was still being discussed, he was hit by a stroke inafter which he was unable to speak or take care of himself.

Penn died inand was buried next to his wife in the cemetery of the Quaker meetinghouse in Jordans[?