William Penn received a royal charter for the Province of “Pensilvania” from King Charles II of England on March 4, 1681, and dedicated his “holy experiment” to the development of a society that would “open its doors to every kindred, tongue and nation”. William Penn’s vision of government embraced the principle of “inclusion” rather than “exclusion”.

Penn s “holy experiment” started in 1670, when he and William Meade were indicted for breach of the peace by unlawfully preaching to a street crowd of some three hundred people (Quakers). That Sunday, William Penn and William Meade found their meeting house locked by order of the crown, since the religion being observed was not the official religion of England. Unlawful assembly with a group greater than 25 persons was a capital offense in England at that time.

The trial of Penn and Meade are of considerable historic importance for two reasons. First, Penn and Meade defended themselves so eloquently that their jury acquitted them, despite an order for a directed verdict of guilty from the judge. The judge became so incensed that he locked up the jury solely because of their verdict. That never happened before or since in either English or American jurisprudence. The second significant event was when an attempt was made to compel Meade to testify against himself. He flatly refused, claiming an Englishman s right, that no man is bound to accuse himself. It is among the first recorded instances of what we know of today as pleading the 5th .

Soon after his arrival in the Province on October 9, 1682, William Penn called for an assembly to meet on December 4, 1682, in what is now known as Chester. During that first session, the First Frame of Government was presented to the General Assembly for review, along with a series of laws agreed upon by England.

Although the Charter granted Penn power to rule the colony, Penn wanted Pennsylvania to be governed by people of different languages and customs who worshiped as each chose. His first attempt at drafting a document to accomplish this end were the Fundamental Constitutions, written between 1681 and 1682. The Fundamental Constitutions granted freedom of conscience in its first clause:

Considering that it is impossible that any people or government should ever prosper where men render not unto God that which is God’s, as well as to Caesar that which is Caesar’s; and also perceiving the disorders and mischiefs that attend those places where [there is] force in matters of faith and worship; and seriously reflecting upon the tenure of the new
and spiritual government,. . .

Unlike the remaining colonies, William Penn actually owned Pennsylvania. And though quite religious himself, he never thought that Pennsylvanians should all believe as he believed. Pennsylvania stood alone as a colony founded on freedom of conscience. Among the 13 colonies, 11 of them had the equivalent of government sponsored religions. In other words, tax money was tithing for a church.

Pennsylvania stood apart from the other colonies in a number of important respects. Around this time, witchcraft hysteria broke out around Boston, leading to 20 executions by waterboarding. At the same time, Virginia became the first colony to legalize slavery, while Pennsylvania made slavery illegal. Slavery has never been legal in Pennsylvania.

For 94 years, Pennsylvania muddled along in that manner as a colony, under William Penn as a proprietor. In 1776 when Benjamin Franklin was the 23rd speaker of the general assembly, Pennsylvania was the first colony to organize itself under a constitution. Most of Pennsylvania s declaration of rights later became the Bill of Rights in the federal Constitution.

But for all its noble origins, Pennsylvania has had from time to time lapses in good government. Like the present. But even this too will pass.

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