Chapter 5
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81
of Christ Church as early as 1717. Free
African-Americans started a church in
Philadelphia in 1787. This church is the
oldest land owned by African-Americans
in our nation.
At this time in history, slavery was
allowed. However, many people in our
colony were against slavery. This makes
sensewhenyou thinkback to the ideas upon
which Pennsylvania was started— religious
freedom and people as equals. The Quakers
led the “fight” against slavery. In fact, in
1780, Pennsylvania became the first state
(we were a state by then) to pass a law
abolishing slavery!
Abolish
means to stop
or end. By 1790, the African-American
population in our statewas 10,000 people.
People of the Jewish faith began to settle
in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. They
came to our colony from many nations.
Theywere usually treated badly and harshly
in the country in which they lived. They
settled in our colony’s cities. Remember, in
the 1700s, cities were very small.
Another large group of people to settle in
our colony came from many different
European and African nations. They were
called
indentured servants
. Indentured
servantswerepeoplewho couldnot afford to
pay the price for the trip across the ocean.
The captainof the shippaid theirway. Then,
he sold them to people in the colony. These
people were not slaves. They worked for
seven years for people who paid the captain
for their trip andwere released.
As time went on, people from many
different nations came to Pennsylvania.
Earlier immigrants were mostly from
England, Ireland, and Germany. Later, there
was a need for workers in our coal mines.
People came from other European countries
such as Italy, Poland, and Russia. Through-
out its history, Pennsylvania has welcomed
people from different countries with
different religious beliefs. Our colony had
the greatest mixture of people. Each group
made our colony like a colorful puzzle.
ReviewQuestions
1. Write one sentence for each of the followingwords.
a. ethnic
b. prejudiced
c. diversity
d. immigrant
2. What job didmost of the early settlers perform in Pennsylvania?
3. What religious group set up the colony of Pennsylvania?
4. Inwhat year was this religion started?
5. How did the Brethrens get the nicknameDunkards?
6. Name one unusual thing about the Ephrata Cloisters.
7. Whywas the law of 1780 so significant?
8. Name at least the threemain religious faiths that settled Pennsylvania.
9. What does indentured servantmean?
