William Penn was granted by King Charles II of England to establish a colony in America in 1681. The King granted Penn the land for two reasons; so he could repay the debt he owed William Penn's father Admiral Penn, and secondly so he could get rid of William Penn. William Penn was very annoying to King Charles, you see William Penn was a Quaker which meant he didn't bow to the King, fight in wars or pay taxes so you could see where the annoyance came from. William Penn was thrown in jail by King Charles II in 1668 because the King thought that a few years in prison would straighten out Penn so he wouldn't preach the Quakers' ideals. Although being thrown in prison didn't discourage William Penn even after his release he went right back to preaching the Quakers' beliefs. So with Quakers not welcome in England, William Penn proposed the idea of starting a colony in America with religious freedom for everyone. In 1681 King Charles granted Penn a large area of land between the Puritan colonies of New England and the Angelican colonies of the South. Penn advertised his colony all around Europe saying that his colony would have religious freedom for everyone. This was known as the Great Law of 1682 the promise of acceptance to all faiths. William Penn named the colony Pennsylvania in honor of his father Admiral Penn, Pennsylvania roughly translated means Penn's woods.

                 (below) William Penn 

                                                 (above) Map of Pennsylvania

                         (above) Pennsylvania's flag