William Penn
By: Hailey Sliker
Introduction
Do you live in Pennsylvania? If you do you have probably heard about William Penn here and there but this informational text will tell you all about Penn! My first paragraph will explain William Penn as a youthful rebel. He was a troublemaker from the start. Before long, Penn wasen't a troublemaker any more. He was worse! Penn was getting persecutions and Imprisonments preaching about Quakerism. Furthermore, Penn came out as a good man! I hope this essay will tell you all you need to know about William Penn.
Youthful Rebel
William Penn was a son of a naval officer later knighted as Admiral Sir William Penn but that didn't stop him from getting expelled out of school. Penn was a troublemaker from the start. He got expelled with other students outside Christ Church, Oxford University in 1660. Penn's father sent him to France and Italy trying to get him to forget about his religious beliefs and think about his fashionable life. When Penn returned as a new selfish man, his father made him go study law in London. Later on, Thomas Loe, a Quaker preacher, convinced Penn the truth about Quaker faith, Penn's father was heart broken. Penn was 22 years old when he became a Quaker right at the time where Quakers were banished, imprisoned, ridiculed, and scorned. Penn's father was angry and heart broken, but Penn moved on as a young Quaker.
Persecutions and Imprisonments
People obviously didn't like Quakers. Penn was imprisoned several times just preaching about Quakerism. First, Penn was imprisoned in the Tower of London, he wrote NO CROSS, NO CROWN explaining Quaker beliefs and practices in 1668. In 1670, penn was arrested at a Quaker meeting for planning with another Quaker to start a riot. But Penn was not guilty for any crime. After that in 1677, he went to the Netherlands and Germany with George Fox and other Quaker leaders. Penn met other Quakers who wanted to settle where they could worship their beliefs at will. Penn thought that America was the place. Penn will make every belief of his be told, even if he gets arrested.
Later Years
Penn started as a menice than later turned out to be a reasonable man. Charles ll owed Penn's father $80,000. In 1680, Penn asked the King to repay the debt with wilderness land in America. On March 4, 1681, a charter was granted, giving Penn the territory west of the Delaware River between New York and Maryland. The Kings council added Penn to the suggested name Sylvania, making Pennsylvania. In October 1682, Penn sailed up the Delaware River and saw his colony for the first time. He made his first treaty with the Indians. His deals with the Indians were so fair that they never attached the colony. After the colony was started Penn returned to England 1684. Later on, sadly, William Penn died from a stroke July 30, 1718.
Conclusion
William Penn was a tormentor but he got better. He started off as a youthful rebel than got worse. Next he was getting persecutions and Imprisonments. Furthermore, Penn turned out as a totally new man. To summarize my essay William Penn was a courageous, brave man.
Glossary
- Debt: Something that is owed of that one is bound to pay to or perform for another.
- Imprisoned: To confine in or as in a prison.
- Quakerism: The beliefs, principals, and practices of Quakers.
- Ridiculed: Speech or action intended to cause comtemptuous laughter at a person or thing.
- Treaty: A formal agreement between two or more states in reference to peace, alliance, commerce, or other international realations.