Born: October 14, 1644; London, England; Death: July 30, 1718; Ruscombe, Berkshire, England. In his twenties, Penn converted to the Quaker religion, and was jailed several times for his resistance to the Church of England. By the 1670s, Penn became a prominent figure in the Quaker community. In 1675, he was asked to resolve a land dispute between Quaker property owners in the American colony of West New Jersey. He settled the dispute, and then was chosen to organize the founding of a Quaker colony in America. Penn received a charter for this territory in 1681. He was made proprietor and governor of the new colony, which the king titled “Pennsylvania,” and William Penn moved there in 1682. Many of the principles used in establishing the government in the Pennsylvania Colony served as inspiration for the United States Constitution. Pennsylvania was one of two colonies, the other being Rhode Island, that decided not to be a strict theocracy. While Pennsylvania avoided theocratic rule in the sense that all Christian denominations were welcome, one was still required to be a Christian in order to serve as a government official.
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