The World Of William Penn

A collection of 20 essays, by a distinguished panel of specialists in British and American history, that explores the complex political, economic, intellectual, religious, and social environment in which William Penn lived and worked.

Traces the life of the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania with emphasis on the important people and events of his time.

The son of a wealthy, repected admiral, William Penn did what was forbidden in seventeenth-century England--he openly practiced the Quaker religion. Penn dreamed of a place with freedom of religion. He asked for land in the New World and was given a colony called Pennsylvania. His success in establishing a new and just government there later became the blueprint for thirteen newly independent colonies.

It may surprise many that William Penn, who founded one of the thirteen original American colonies, spent just four years on American soil. Even more surprising, though, is Penn's remarkable impact on the fundamental principles of religious freedom on both sides of the Atlantic, especially given his tumultuous life: from his youthful radicalism as leader of the Quaker movement to his role as governor and proprietor of a major American colony; from royal courtier to alleged traitor to the Crown. In the first major biography of this important transatlantic figure in more than forty years, Andrew R. Murphy takes readers through the defiant and complex life of a religious dissenter, political theorist, and social activist.

"This book features: the integration of English history with Penn's personal struggles and accomplishments (and shows how specific events affected Penn and the Quakers); thorough coverage of the Quaker faith provides insight into Penn's motivations and actions; chapter-ending summaries provide a synopsis of important events in Penn's life and chart Penn's evolution from peaceful Quaker to profit-making colonizer; and study and discussion questions at the end of the book help students check their reading and comprehension. These questions may also be used to facilitate discussions in the classroom or student study groups."--BOOK JACKET.

Camp William Penn, established in 1863, was the largest federal facility to train black Northern-based soldiers during the Civil War and is steeped in Civil War history. Almost 11,000 troops and officers trained at the sprawling facility outside of Philadelphia and a special officersAa' training school in the city. The camp, backed by the Union League of Philadelphia, was located near the home of antislavery abolitionist Lucretia Mott. The area, today known as Cheltenham TownshipAa's LaMott, was also instrumental in the Underground Railroad, with such great abolitionists as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass addressing the troops. The soldiers were a part of Abraham LincolnAa's Bureau of United States Colored Troops, and several earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroics during battle. The vintage photographs in Camp William Penn were obtained from government agencies, universities, historical organizations, and the personal collections of soldiersAa' descendants.

This work looks at the life and impact of William Penn, particularly his legacy and contributions to America's foundations.