US Trends

william penn founded pennsylvania, because he wanted a colony where

William Penn founded Pennsylvania because he wanted a colony where people—especially Quakers—could enjoy broad religious freedom, live in peace, and have a more just, representative government than in England.

Direct answer (quick)

Textbook-style, you can complete the sentence like this:

“William Penn founded Pennsylvania because he wanted a colony where people of different religions could worship freely and live in peace with one another and with Native Americans.”

In many school materials this is shortened to:
“...because he wanted a colony where Quakers and other religious groups could worship freely.”

Key points behind his goal

  • He was a Quaker who had been jailed and persecuted in England for his beliefs, so he wanted a safe haven for Quakers.
  • He envisioned a “holy experiment”: a community based on religious tolerance, equality, and fair treatment of Native Americans.
  • He also hoped to prove that a colony with religious freedom and representative government could still be orderly and prosperous.

How this shows up in multiple-choice questions

Common multiple-choice completions of
“William Penn founded Pennsylvania because he wanted a colony where…” include:

  • “...Quakers could practice their religion freely.”
  • “...people of different religions could worship without persecution.”

Any answer that captures “religious freedom/tolerance for Quakers and others” is the correct idea. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.