William Penn’s Pennsylvania: A Legacy of Religious Freedom

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on William Penn’s Pennsylvania: A Legacy of Religious Freedom In a letter written August 25, 1681, William Penn (1644–1718) described his new colony to friend and fellow Quaker James Harrison (circa 1628–1687). He hoped that in the development of Pennsylvania “an example may be set up to the nations.” The colony would serve as a “holy experiment,” a place where people of different ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs would find a peaceful home. His...
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On the Road in Search of William Penn’s Holy Experiment

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on On the Road in Search of William Penn’s Holy Experiment When we think of historic sites in Pennsylvania, places such as the hallowed ground at Gettysburg, Philadelphia’s stately Independence Hall, or Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh, immediately come to mind. These places are normally associated with great military engagements or important political events. Yet when William Penn (1644–1718) ruminated about the things that would make Pennsylvania unique, he...
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Cultivating Piety: The Religious World of Joseph Price

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Cultivating Piety: The Religious World of Joseph Price Joseph Price (1752-1828) was a carpenter, coffin-maker, sawmill operator, innkeeper, turnpike supervisor, and farmer who lived in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County. His daily activities were governed, like most ordinary men living in the early American republic, by the relentless regularity of the agricultural calendar and the market economy. Price’s economic activities, recorded...
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Benjamin Franklin and His Religious Beliefs

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Benjamin Franklin and His Religious Beliefs Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), the Calvinist president of Yale College, was curious about Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and his faith. In 1790, he asked the nation’s senior statesman if he would commit his religious beliefs to paper. Franklin agreed. He was nearing the end of his life – he died six weeks later – and possibly believed this was as good a time as any to summarize the...
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