1725
1700
1675
1650
1643
European Dutch
begin
settlement in
Pennsylvania
1654
Swedes lose their
colony to the
Dutch by force
1664
Dutch surrender
their colony
to England
1681
English King Charles II
provides land grant
(now states of
Pennsylvania and
Delaware) toWilliam
Penn
1682
“Great Law” and “Frame
of Government” laws
passed in Pennsylvania
1718
WilliamPenn dies. His
family manages
Pennsylvania colony
until AmericanWar for
Independence
1688
The first vote condemning
slavery in America is
recorded by the Germantown
Society of Friends
21
With our current lifestyles in Pennsylvania, it is easy to
forget that life as we know it today has not always been like
this. In fact, some historians estimate that Native Americans
inhabited Pennsylvania perhaps as long ago as 15,000 years.
Europeans have inhabited Pennsylvania for only 340 years and
counting! Froma European’s viewpoint, it may have been a
newworld and a newway of life, but the Native Americans
were already well established in Pennsylvania, much of North
America, and South America.
We need to in respect the fact that there weremany Native
American tribes located on this continent before European
settlers ever arrived. These tribes had their own languages,
beliefs, customs, and religions well organized before the
European settlers arrived. We should remember that it was
the settlers who disrupted the native inhabitants’ way of living.
Lesson 5 focuses on the first settlers of Pennsylvania
while Lesson 6 chronicles early European settlements in the
region. Lesson 7 details howWilliamPenn started the colony
of Pennsylvania, while Lesson 8 describes how Pennsylvania
became a religious haven for many Europeans, and in so
doing, established our state’s diverse cultural identity today.
