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Native
Americans of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was inhabited
by a number of Native American tribes before the
arrival of the Europeans. The Delawares (or Leni
Lanape) were an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lived
at the basin of the Delaware River. This tribe merged
with the Algonquian-speaking Mahicans, a tribe related
to the Mohegans of Connecticut. These Mahicans inhabited
the upper Hudson Valley of New York, and joined
up with the Delawares after being driven from the
Hudson Valley area by settlers. The Connoys and
Nanticokes also merged with the Delawares.
The Susquehannocks
were another Algonquian-speaking tribe, who lived
along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania and
Maryland. Their population, like many other native
tribes at the time, was devastated by European diseases.
Those who didn't die from disease were killed in
1763 at a Lancaster County massacre of a small Indian
camp.
The Shawnees, again
an Algonquian-speaking tribe, came to Pennsylvania
from the west in the 1690s. They settled near Easton
as well as along the Susquehanna River. Gradually,
they began moving back west to the Wyoming and Ohio
Valleys to join other Shawnees. During the French
and Indian War the Shawnees allied with the French,
and later during the Revolution, allianced themselves
with the British. Descendants of the Shawnees now
inhabit Oklahoma.
Another tribe, the
Eries, lived along the south shore of Lake Erie
until being eradicated by the Iroquois in 1654.
Early Exploration of Pennsylvania
Historians are unsure
if the early voyages of the English, Spanish or
French ever led them to the Pennsylvania area, but
it is known that Captain John Smith ventured up
the Susquehanna River and visited the Susquehannock
Indians in 1608.
In 1609, Henry Hudson,
an Englishman in the Dutch service, sailed into
the Delaware Bay and claimed the area for Holland.
Trading posts were later established in the area
by the Dutch in 1647. Although the Dutch had visited
the area earlier and set up these trade posts, it
was the Swedes who were the first to firmly settle
the area. In 1638, the Swedes established the colony
of New Sweden which would endure for nearly twenty
years. With competing interests in the area, the
Dutch and Swedes eventually came into conflict over
the territory, and in 1655 the governor of New Netherlands
seized New Sweden and made it a part of the Dutch
Colony. The territory was once again seized in 1644,
this time by the English in the name of the Duke
of York.
William Penn and the Quakers
William Penn was born
in England in 1644 of high social position. After
receiving a good education he shocked his family
by converting to the Society of Friends, better
known as the Quakers. The Quakers believed that
everyone had an "inner light" of Christ, which was
a considerably radical viewpoint at the time. The
Quakers held many other beliefs that were considered
equally radical, such as their belief that children
were born innocent, in other words, without original
sin. Women were also given more rights in the Quaker
religion. Most notably, the women were not considered
to be subordinate, and in some instances, Quaker
women even preached. These unorthodox beliefs led
to the persecution of the Friends in England. William
Penn's connections with the Duke of York (who later
became King James II) enabled him to secure a land
grant for a colony that would become a refuge for
persecuted Quakers in the New World. Penn's petition
was granted and the Charter of Pennsylvania was
signed on March 4, 1681 by the King. The new state
adopted a constitution which, called for a Great
Law, a humanitarian code that guaranteed liberty
of conscience and opened up Pennsylvania for settlement
to other persecuted people of Europe.
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By
Rickie Lazzerini
Historian
BA History
University of California, Santa Barbara
Index
of Historical Reviews
© 2004 Rickie Lazzerini,
All Rights Reserved
This page may be freely linked to but may not
be reproduced
in any form without prior written consent from
the author.
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