Two Treatises: William Penn

Before 1750, the undocumented British policy of salutary neglect greatly impacted the methods through which American colonists regulated their daily lives. Through mercantilist thought processes, Britain created the colonies merely for gain of the mother terrain itself. Therefore, it did not give them any specific attention and allowed them to simply rule itself by personal means—and this idea makes up salutary neglect. The colonies used their own assemblies, such as the House of Burgesses, to govern themselves.

Quakers- those who condemned extravagance, sought to restore Christianity to its early simple spirituality; William Penn made Pennsylvania a refuge for his fellow Quakers who refused to pay taxes or serve in the military for the Church of England.

The foods that were brought back to the Old World such as, potatoes and corn proved a vital and necessary resource to the Europeans. Another short-term effect of the Columbian exchange was the migration of African slaves to the Americas. The majority of the Africans that were enslaved were caught in village raids or were war captives. They were caught by other Africans and sold to the European slave traders for money and other prized possessions. For slaves, the voyage known as the Middle Passage was a terrifying and perilous journey, with a death rate potentially as high as 50%.

In 1681, Penn and 11 other Quakers brought the Proprietary rights to east New Jersey. King Charles II owed Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn, and in return Penn persuaded the king to grant him a “vast province on the west bank of the Delaware River” (Samuel, 2000). It was named Pennsylvania, which means Penn’s woods, after his father. Penn decided that his colony was going to be different from the rest of the colonies in that they were going to be a Quaker based colony. He believed in a “divine right of government” and formed the government of Pennsylvania as a “holy experiment” in governing. This type of government is considered being ahead of its time as it set forth a representative form of government. The penal system was designed to reform not just punish, and “all prisoners except capital prisoners were entitled to bail, work houses were substituted for dungeons and the death penalty was limited to murder and treason”. Also, Penn instituted public education and designed Philadelphia and other towns to promote health and fire safety. Being that Penn was in charge of the colony, he was given the opportunity to practice the Quaker Peace Testimony. He realized that a lot of the land that he was living on

The passing of the English Bill of Rights ushered in a new age for England, giving the power of the Monarchy to the Parliament, and banning the Monarch from adjourning Parliament or going against the opinion of its majority. The Bill lists that many tyrannical actions that had previously been made by many kings, such as levying money and suspending/revoking laws were illegal without the consent of Parliament (Document 3), essentially giving Parliament control of the direction of English law. The English Bill of Rights was ratified by William in 1689, which directly stated multiple times that the ruler’s power was to be checked by Parliament, thus inhibiting them from exercising full power over the people, preventing tyranny. He states in Document 2 that he and his wife Mary will “concur in everything that may procure the peace and happiness of [the] nation, which a free and lawful Parliament shall determine… [and support] the securing of the whole nation the free enjoyment of all their laws, rights, and liberties,

Great Britain felt the need to deploy more troops to the US after French war. In doing so this brought the British into financial strain. With a number of huge debts to pay the Crown and Parliament focused its attention to the American colonies in seeking financial gain. Great Britain’s Crown and Parliament forced upon the American colonies laws in the form of Acts that benefited its own countries identity and not that of the American people. The American colonists were justified in declaring their independence from Great Britain mainly due in part from many acts unjustly instilled upon them such as the Sugar Act of 1764, Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767.

One reason the colonists were able to experience democracy and self rule as new founded Americans, was because of the large distance between them and Great Britain. By the ocean (Atlantic) being there it made it extremely difficult for the British to have strong control control over the colonists and their freedoms. Edmund Burke, a member of the House of Commons and a supporter of the colonies, stated in 1766 that “…The eternal Barriers of Nature forbid that the colonies should be blended or coalesce into the Mass…of this Kingdom.” (Document B). The “tyrant three thousand miles away” (Document D) attempted to have tighter control over the colonies by enabling the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, and the Declaratory Act and speed up the

For a better part of the eighteenth century, the American colonists expressed vexation and disapproval of the "coercive " acts, which the British Government perpetrated on the colony through series of legislative acts by the British Parliament. Prior to the acts that the colonists in America termed as atrocious and oppressive, they were willing to cooperate and reaffirm loyalty to the King of England. Some of the legislations and declarations that colonists participated in was the sustenance of British soldiers in the colony, payment of import tariffs and other forms of taxes to support the British central government. These are but a few, the reasons as to why colonists objected to the mode of British rule in America. Another concern was the "Rights violations" by the English government regarding economic progress and representation. Because of these grievances, British colonists in America stepped up agitation through violation of the "tyrannical" Acts and petitions through the Continental Congress. The essay explores the grievances that Colonists in America held against the British government, in riposte to "My Dear America Cousin" letter.

Britain was a dominant power in the early 17th century and colonized America in 1607. Unlike the majority of the colonies the British governed, America was given salutary neglect due to the arduous journey between America and Britain. Salutary neglect is the process of self governing, within colonies, away from the command of the motherland. The Americans cherished the neglect by the British as they established their own law and taxation system. However, this neglect soon ended when the colonists along with the British went to war against the French and Native Americans.

By 1765, at a Stamp Act Congress, all but four colonies were represented as the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” was passed. They were determined to let Parliament know that they were equal to British citizens, that there would be no “taxation without representation,” and all efforts to stop tax on colonists would continue (Kennedy, etal 2011.) Although Lord Rockingham, the predecessor of Grenville, sought to repeal of the Stamp Act, this in no way meant Parliament was conceding their control. In fact, while the Stamp Act was repealed, another called the “Declaratory Act of 1766,” gave Parliament the authority to make laws binding the American Colonies, “in all cases whatsoever.” In 1767, George III passed the Townshend Acts to collect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and, tea. Recognizing that tea was a favorite among the Americans, it ensured greater revenue the British government. Again, the colonists’ rights for representation were ignored and they started to boycott British goods and ultimately, smuggle tea. When the Quartering Act was passed, which specified that colonists were to give room and board to British troops, tension began to rise. For two years, the colonists tolerated British troops on their soil and their dissatisfaction with the British Parliament and King George III became evident through many violent riots, abusiveness of tax collectors and destruction of property. According to Kennedy, etal (2011), Parliament, continually met with

Completely unlike Massachusetts, a strong selling point of the colony Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn, was its acceptance and tolerance of all religions. Penn, born into Anglican family, found himself attracted to the Quaker faith. Quakers did not believe that any higher authorities, whether civil or religious, needed to be in control of religious affairs; thus they refused to pay support the Church of England. Additionally, the Quakers saw everyone as a “child of God”, meaning equal, and refused to bow down to any higher authority. Because of Penn’s Quaker affiliation, he implemented these ideals and beliefs in Pennsylvania. Mentioned before, Pennsylvania offered freedom of worship for all religions; the only oppression coming from

In March of 1681, William Penn was given the ownership of a large piece of land which we today call Pennsylvania (Document A). As a teenager in the 1660s, Penn was kicked out of Oxford for expressing his religious views and not attending the religious services that were required. He then joined a radical religious group known as the “Quakers” who were persecuted in England Only 13 years before he was granted Pennsylvania, Penn was held captive for his religious beliefs and the King requested that Penn publicly deny his beliefs. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, established a colony based on the idea of religious liberty, equality, and self-government which served as the foundation of America’s constitutional rights in a secular government wherein all citizens have the rights to freely practice their religious beliefs; these ideas still impact the government’s inaction concerning citizens’ religious practices.

After having years of benign British neglect, and after capably governing themselves, the people in the American colonies were not pleased when the British Parliament decided after the end of the successful end of the French Indian War in 1763 to become more engaged in the American colonists’ affairs. The British government wanted to protect the American colonies from future Indian and other attacks.

The founder of Pennsylvania was William Penn. William Penn was a religious Quaker. William was born in England. William penn had thirteen kids and two wives. William Penn led the Quakers. William Penn was born in 1644. A Quaker is is a christian religion.William Penn went to a christian college. In the 1970’s William Penn had became important to the Quakers.

The British had the power to enact various laws in Parliament outside of America which significantly effected life and trade in the 13 colonies. But the British Laws were used like a 'one-way street' - the Acts of Parliament benefited the British but not the colonies and, to compound this, the Americans were not afforded the same rights as the British people, nor did they have any representatives in the British Parliament to present their points of view.