It’s been over 340 years since the colony of Pennsylvania was founded after England’s King Charles II granted a land charter to William Penn to repay a debt owed to Penn’s father. Charles II named the huge territory Pennsylvania—literally “Penn’s Woods” in the original royal charter of 14 March 1681 which is preserved today at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg.  With that grant, William Penn became the largest private landowner in the world at the time.

Pennsylvania was a proprietary colony, meaning the proprietor held title to the land—over against a royal colony in which the British monarch held title. As proprietor, Penn appointed all officials; created courts, heard appeals and could pardon offenders; made laws and issued decrees; raised and commanded militias; and established churches, ports, and towns. The Penn family sold plots of land to prospective settlers and afterwards collected annual quit rents from the property owners.