The Pennsylvania Colony Flourishes
In Lesson 7, we learned howWilliamPenn outlined a working government for his
new colony. Penn also spent a great deal of time planning Philadelphia, visualizing a
city with wide streets and beautiful parks. The city was located in an ideal place along
the Delaware River, which flowed into the Delaware Bay and through to the Atlantic
Ocean. The port of Philadelphia was protected from the ocean, but had waters deep
enough to handle ocean ships. With its favorable location, Philadelphia continued to
grow and prosper. Hearing of religious freedomand cheap land, many European
settlers poured into Pennsylvania. By themid-1700s, Philadelphia was the American
colonies’ largest city. It also became amajor trade center for the colonies.
Year after year, settlers bought more land from the Native Americans. However,
some of the land was acquired through less than honorable ways. In 1737 peaceful
times with the Native Americans ended with a sale of land that became known as the
Walking Purchase
. The Delaware Indians had agreed to sell a strip of land that
covered asmuch territory as aman could walk in a day and a half. However, the
settlers cleared a path through the forest before the walk took place. The walker
covered far more ground than the Native Americans wanted to sell. The Native
Americans felt they had been tricked, and for many years, there were battles between
the Delawares and the settlers. This “crooked” deal occurred after WilliamPenn’s
death, but two of Penn’s sons were responsible. They definitely did not treat the
Native Americans with the same respect and fairness that their father had.
LESSON
9
AC
LASHOF
T
WO
E
MPIRES
IN
P
ENNSYLVANIA
KEY
WORDS
pelts
empires
profitable
provoke
frontiersman
KEY
PLACES
Fort Duquesne
Great Meadows
Fort Necessity
Fort Pitt
KEY
EVENTS
Walking Purchase
Battle of Jumonville
Glen
French and IndianWar
Battle of Bushy Run
F
OCUS
Q
UESTIONS
1. Why did Philadelphia grow and
prosper during the colonial years?
2. What business was responsible in
settling Pennsylvania’s wilderness?
3. What was the French and IndianWar?
KEY
PEOPLE
GeorgeWashington
General Braddock
General Forbes
Chief Pontiac
Colonel Bouquet
Land purchased from
Native Americans
1682-1736
Walking Purchase 1737
Boundary claimed by the Penns
Boundary that
Native Americans
wanted
The artist’s
rendering at right
shows what life
might have looked
like in the
Philadelphia, the
largest city in the
English colonies.
42
Understanding Pennsylvania
