Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 86, the Dominion of New England.

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In our last episode, we looked at William Penn, Quakerism and the foundation of Philadelphia.

He received a charter for a vast area of land and he quickly got to work settling the area.

In 1681 he sent over the first group of his colonists, so that by the end of the year there were about a thousand settlers there, and he himself arrived in October.

He inspected the area and was pleased with what he saw and spent the winter at the Swedish town of Upland, which had now been renamed Chester.

From there, he moved up the Delaware River to the site of a capital for the province.

The previous year, Penn had sent ahead a group of commissioners to select a site,

and they chose one on the west bank of the Delaware River. They began to set up, and it was

progressing nicely when Penn arrived. The streets were paved out, lots were being sold and houses were

being built. It was a great location and would rapidly expand so that there were 600 houses

within two years. Penn named the location the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. By 1683, it is thought that the

population stood at 3,000 as the Quaker migration got underway. I should note that not all migrants to

Pennsylvania were Quakers.

There were also an element of Anglicans who would form a core of opposition to Penn within the colony.

However, the Quaker migration was a very interesting migration.

The Quakers were usually well off and maintained a frugal lifestyle. They brought plenty of

supplies with them when they crossed the Atlantic and found a healthy and fertile land. They also

benefited from a positive relationship with the local Indians, something which had previously been

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