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William Penn and Pan-Utopianism by Patrick William Cecil B.A. May 2007

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William Penn and Pan-Utopianism by Patrick William Cecil B.A. May 2007 William Penn and Pan-Utopianism By Patrick William Cecil B.A. May 2007, University of Colorado at Boulder A Thesis submitted to The Faculty of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts May 17, 2009 Thesis directed by David J. Silverman Associate Professor of History To My Sisters And Brother, Natalee, Cassie, and Russell, As We Set Out To Run Our Races Together ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank members of the History Department faculty at The George Washington University for their support during this endeavor. To Professor David Silverman, my thesis advisor, for working with me from the earliest days in the summer of 2008, for his advice in formulating a question, for his editing comments during the writing process, for noting the greater context surrounding William Penn’s hope for utopianism in the world, and for his encouragement to keep my shoulder to the wheel. My experience under the direction of Professor Silverman has made me a better historian, and for that I am grateful. And to Professor Richard Stott, for his willingness to act as a reader for my thesis. I am thankful for his comments regarding my thesis. My interests in William Penn and Quakerism originated from my childhood education, and several people and institutions deserve recognition and my deepest thanks. To Friends Christian School and Yorba Linda Friends Church, for the educational values and religious beliefs that are part of the foundation of my life today. And to my loving parents, Bill and Candi Cecil; without them I would have never had the privilege to attend a Friends institution. Their sacrifice allowed this research to be possible, and I will always remember and love them for that. iii Abstract William Penn and Pan-Utopianism William Penn lived during an era of great intellectual and social advancement, as well as a time plagued by warfare, religious intolerance, and absolutism. As Europe and its New World colonies suffered from the ill-affects of war, Penn and his contemporaries envisioned happier times wherein society would adopt utopian principles to secure peace, prosperity, and harmony. Over his lifetime, Penn continually sought after the establishment of a ‘city upon a hill.’ The purpose of this thesis is to examine Penn’s colony of Pennsylvania and three proposals that he offered for the establishment of a utopian society. From his earliest days as a Quaker, Penn argued for the toleration of dissecting Protestant sects and the protection of the rights of Englishmen. These principles carried over into the charter granted unto him for colony in North America, in which he established his “Holy Experiment” of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was the physical attempt at building a society for others to emulate. Though it eventually failed, Pennsylvania acted as the foundation for three other proposals in which Penn argued for multiple government entities working together to secure common goals of defense, economic prosperity, and a more just society. William Penn’s purpose in life was reflected in these attempts to establish a utopian society of toleration and peace. iv Table of Contents Dedication................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements…..........……………………………………...…...................... iii Abstract..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents...................................................................................................... v List of Footnote Abbreviations....................……...……………….......................... vi INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. WILLIAM PENN’S “HOLY EXPERIMENT”...................................... 9 2. PEACE IN EUROPE.............................................................................. 35 3. UNITY AMONG THE AMERICAN COLONIES, PART 1................. 63 4. UNITY AMONG THE AMERICAN COLONIES, PART 2................. 86 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................... 107 Selected Bibliography............................................................................................... 112 v List of Footnote Abbreviations Board Journal, Vol. 7 : Board of Trade Journals: 1675-1782 , Vol. 7, 1691 – 1695 (London: 1895). Board Journal, Vol. 9 : Board of Trade Journals: 1675-1782 , Vol. 9, 1696 – 1607 (London: 1895). Board Journal, Vol. 13 : Board of Trade Journals: 1675-1782 , Vol. 13, 1700 – 1701 (London: 1895). State Papers, Vol. 14 : Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies , ed. J. W. Fortescue, Vol. 14, January 1693 – May 14, 1696 (London: Mackie and Co. LD., 1903). State Papers, Vol. 15 : Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies , ed. J. W. Fortescue, Vol. 15, May 15, 1696 – October 31, 1697 (London: Mackie and Co. LD., 1904), text-fiche. State Papers, Vol. 18 : Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies , ed. Cecil Headlam, Vol. 18, 1700 (Hereford: Hereford Times Co. LTD, 1910), text-fiche. State Papers, Vol. 19 : Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies , ed. Cecil Headlam, Vol. 19, 1701 (London: His Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1910). Penn Papers, Vol. 1 : The Papers of William Penn , ed. Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn, Vol. 1, 1644-1679 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981). Penn Papers, Vol. 2 : The Papers of William Penn , ed. Richard S. Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn, Vol. 2, 1680-1684 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982). Penn Papers, Vol. 3 : The Papers of William Penn , ed. Marianne S. Wokeck, Joy Wiltenburg, Alison Duncan Hirsch, and Craig W. Horle, Vol. 3, 1685-1700 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986). Penn Papers, Vol. 4 : The Papers of William Penn , ed. Marianne S. Wokeck, Joy Wiltenburg, Alison Duncan Hirsch, and Craig W. Horle, Vol. 4, 1701 – 1718 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987). vi INTRODUCTION “Till the war drum throbbed no longer and the battle flags were furled In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.” - Lord Alfred Tennyson, “Locksley Hall” 1 In what is considered to be one of his greatest works, “Locksley Hall,” Lord Alfred Tennyson evokes the weariness of war, as well as hope for a peaceful world. Tennyson’s protagonist soldier envisions a utopian society in which mankind comes together to fashion a federated world government. Fellow Englishman William Penn, one of the most recognizable historical figures of the latter half of the seventeenth century, held similar aspirations for a utopian world in which various peoples and governments worked together to promote peace and prosperity. His colony of Pennsylvania was supposed to be his “Holy Experiment,” a society steeped in Christian brotherhood and love which would act as a model for all other nations. Penn’s model society failed in Pennsylvania, yet his vision lives on in his writings. On three separate occasions Penn called for organizations comprised of multiple governments working together for mutual defense, economic advancement, and peace. He made these 1 Lord Alfred Tennyson, “Locksley Hall,” l. 127 (1842), quoted in John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations , 17th ed. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2002), 482. 1 proposals, first in the 1693 publication of “An ESSAY towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe by the Establishment of an European D YET , P ARLIAMENT , or E STATES ”; second, in his 1696-1697 proposal entitled “A Briefe and Plaine Scheam How the English Collonies in the North Parts of America viz t. Boston, Conetticut, Road Island New York, New Jerseys, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina may be made more usefull to the Crowne, and one anothers Peace and safety with an Universall Concurrence”; and, third, his meeting with the governors of New York and Virginia in late 1700. Exploring these publications and the conference proceedings demonstrates that Penn’s vision for a utopian world did not diminish with the failure of the “Holy Experiment.” Rather, William Penn maintained his utopian quest, beginning from his earliest days as a Quaker and an outspoken proponent of liberty of conscience, through the establishment of his colony, and culminating with his three proposals. Pennsylvania acted as the foundation on which Penn based his three proposals because it featured liberty of conscience and the peaceful co-existence of different ethnicities within its borders. His “Essay,” “Scheam,” and meeting called for multi- lateral organizations to promote a similar vision. Historiography surrounding these subjects has yet to sufficiently link Penn’s vision for Pennsylvania and his visions for a broader “Holy Experiment.” Additionally scholars often fail to consider all three calls in tandem. When scholars do consider all three proposals in their argument, their investigation is unsatisfactory for two reasons. First, scholars do not analyze the three proposals in an equally extensive manner. Though one or two may be satisfactorily discussed, the remaining proposal or proposals are only briefly identified. The second 2 reason is that scholars fail to take the next step of comparing their findings to Penn’s original experiment, Pennsylvania.
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