History of Pennsylvania

The history of Pennsylvania traces Indigenous societies, European colonization, the founding of the colony, and its development as a U.S. state.

Lenape: An Indigenous people whose homeland included the Delaware River valley and parts of present-day Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Lenape communities lived in the region before and during European colonization.
Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges: A 1701 colonial constitution that established an elected assembly and protected religious liberty for many inhabitants. It defined representative government in Pennsylvania before independence.
William Penn: An English Quaker, proprietor of Pennsylvania, and founder of Philadelphia. Penn’s charter and policies set the colony’s founding principles.
United States Constitution: The supreme law of the United States, drafted and signed in Philadelphia in 1787. Philadelphia’s role in the convention tied Pennsylvania’s history to the federal government’s creation.
New Jersey Colony: An English colony established in 1664 in the region between the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Its divided proprietorship contrasts with Pennsylvania’s single-proprietor founding.
Pennsylvania Colony: An English colony founded by William Penn in 1681 under a royal charter. Penn’s colony gave the region its name and shaped its early political institutions.
Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776: The state constitution adopted during the American Revolution, creating a unicameral legislature and an elected executive council. Its radical design shaped Pennsylvania’s first years as a state.
Pennsylvania Charter of 1681: The royal grant that gave William Penn control over a large North American territory in 1681. The charter established the legal basis for Pennsylvania’s colonial creation.
Philadelphia Convention: The 1787 meeting at which delegates drafted the United States Constitution. The convention made Pennsylvania a central setting for the nation’s constitutional settlement.
Maryland Colony: An English colony founded in 1632 under the proprietorship of the Calvert family. Maryland’s Catholic proprietary origins differ from Pennsylvania’s Quaker-associated founding.

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