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Our Pennsylvania Story
L E S S ON 1 6
Pennsylvania’s First Settlers
Get toKnowMe
1. colony
2. settlers
3. religion
4. indentured servants
Some countries of Europe started colonies inNorthAmerica. A
colony
is a place or
area that is settled by people. The Dutch (people fromHolland) and the Swedes (people
from Sweden) settled along both sides of the Delaware River. William Penn, the founder
of our state, camewith English
settlers
more than 40 years later. By then, England had
taken control of the region.
The Dutch and Swedes left us some of their ideas. The Swedes showed other settlers
how to build log cabins. They also brought the first cows to Pennsylvania. The Dutch
brought sleighs and ice skates to our colony. Thewords cookie andwaffle came from
Dutch names.
William Penn joined the Quaker
religion
. The Quakers believed all peoplewere equal
whether theywere rich or poor. They believedwar was wrong.
The Quakers had one other important belief. They believed that people should be free
to choose their religion.
William had papers printed telling about his new colony. He invited people of many
countries to come live in Pennsylvania. The peoplewho came to Pennsylvaniawere promised
freedom of religion and cheap land.
Thousands of people came to
Pennsylvania fromGermany and
Switzerland. These German-speaking
peoplewere divided into twomain
groups. The “church people” were the
founders of three large churches in our
country – the Lutheran, Reformed, and
Moravian. The “plain people” were the
Mennonites, Church of the Brethren,
River Brethren, and Amish. All of these
German-speaking peoplewere called
Pennsylvania Dutch.
Many PennsylvaniaDutch sell their goods at
farmersmarkets, such as Reading Terminal
Market in Philadelphia.
