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William Penn and the Quakers
King Charles II was in debt to William Penn's father. He owed him £16,000 when he died, so now he was in debt to William Penn. To solve this problem, the King gave Penn a colony. It also benefitted the King by getting rid of the Quakers (because William Penn was taking them with him for religious freedom) and the King had a new colony. The King signed the Charter of Pennsylvania and it was official. They named the colony after Penn's father. -
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Pennsylvania History
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Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin's popularity and genious spans the history of Pennsylvania since he ran away to Philadelphia in 1723 until he died April 17, 1790. He established newspapers, a fire company, a circulating library, a hospital, paper money, and a postal mail system. He not only benefitted Pennsylvanians, but all of mankind. -
The French and Indian War
Pennsylvania played a big part in the French and Indian War. George Washington was exploring near where Pittsburgh is today, and ambushed a French scouting party. That basically started the global Seven Years' War. Pennsylvania also had forts like Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) and Fort Duquesne that helped tremendously in the war. -
Philadelphia Just Before the Revolution
Even though Pennsylvania was last province to be founded, it was the third largest colony. Besides London, Philadelphia became the largest English-speaking city in the world. Philadelphia contributed greatly to the Stamp Act in 1765, and supported Boston quickly when Britain established its Intolerable Acts in 1774. -
Commerce and Transportation
The rivers of PA were great to start with for commerce and were soon replaced by roads. Stagecoach lines stretched from Philadelphia to the south-central region in 1776. Philadelphia became one of the most important centers in the colonies for the conduct of foreign trade.
