Credit: WITF, Inc.
Transcript:
Background music:High Spirited Music, Inspirational, flowing.
Narrative:
In 1644, William Penn was born into the family of a British Navy Admiral. When Penn was 37 years old, as a settlement of debt to his deceased father, King Charles II granted him 45,000 square miles of land in the British Colonies.
Video:
Still Images of William Penn. Image of William Penn receiving Charter from King Charles II.
Narrative:
This new land, called "Penn's Woods" in honor of his father, was a haven for Penn and his fellow Quakers. Here, they could live without the fear of religious persecution.
Video:
Still images of Charter. Video of a man praying in Quaker Meeting House.
Narrative:
Moreover, Penn opened his colony to people of all religious faiths and beliefs. Many made Pennsylvania their home.
Video:
Images of the Quaker Meeting House. Settlers outside village houses.
Narrative:
Penn's relationship with both the colonists and the Lenape Indians was unique, encouraging peace and co-existence. He established a new capital city and called it Philadelphia, meaning the "City of Brotherly Love."
Video:
Images of Lenape Indians and Treaty signing. Still Images of Philadelphia house and map.
Narrative:
To further the prosperity of his new colony, Penn founded a Friends Public School in 1689 to provide Philadelphia's school children with the essentials of literacy and morality.
Video:
Images of William Penn.
Narrative:
Penn's colony was also the first to promise settlers such liberties as "a voice in government, the right of trial by jury and the liberty of conscience." Later, these became the groundwork for the United States Constitution.
Video:
Early maps of Philadelphia. Image of colonial courtroom and government session.
Narrative:
In June of 1700, Penn and his second wife, Hannah, moved to Pennsbury, a sanctuary up the river from Philadelphia.
Video:
Images from Pennsbury Manor.
Narrative:
Unfortunately, they were only able to enjoy their time at Pennsbury for just over a year, returning to England in 1701. Within 14 years of leaving Pennsbury, Penn suffered a series of strokes and died in 1718. His spirit and policies still ring true today in Pennsylvania, where we live with the freedom William Penn envisioned.
Video:
Still image of William Penn. Video image of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
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