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PRINTER'S NO. 2634
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
579
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY BARBIN, CUTLER, MURT, DUSH, PETRARCA, MILLARD,
DEASY, NEILSON, SCHLOSSBERG, KORTZ, BAKER, PASHINSKI,
DONATUCCI, CONKLIN, DiGIROLAMO, HENNESSEY, GREINER,
CALTAGIRONE, LONGIETTI, HELM, READSHAW AND BOBACK,
OCTOBER 25, 2017
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
OCTOBER 25, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Designating October 28, 2017, as "Charter of Privileges Day" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, William Penn was born into nobility in 1644, as the
only son of British war hero Admiral William Penn; and
WHEREAS, William Penn became a Quaker minister, lawyer and
writer who was imprisoned five times for his religious
convictions; and
WHEREAS, In 1668, at 24 years of age, William Penn met Josiah
Coale and discussed establishing a utopia in America; and
WHEREAS, William Penn began to write pamphlets and debated
religious leaders, contending that religion should free itself
from outward observances and confessions of faith and focus on
obedience to God in one's heart; and
WHEREAS, For this, William Penn was imprisoned without trial
for eight months in the Tower of London at the urging of the
Bishop of London; and
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WHEREAS, William Penn used his time of imprisonment to write
the seminal book of Quaker virtues, "No Cross, No Crown"; and
WHEREAS, In 1675, William Penn wrote "England's Present
Interest Considered," which promoted religious liberty as the
driver of economic prosperity; and
WHEREAS, In 1676, William Penn, as trustee of New Jersey,
guaranteed religious liberty in "The Charter of Fundamental Laws
of West New Jersey"; and
WHEREAS, On March 4, 1681, King Charles II of England granted
William Penn a charter for land in the Province of Pennsylvania
in payment for a large debt the king owed to Penn's father; and
WHEREAS, In April 1682, William Penn, as Proprietor of the
Province of Pennsylvania, authored the "Frame of Government of
Pennsylvania," which guaranteed religious freedom; and
WHEREAS, In August 1682, William Penn arrived aboard the
Welcome with passengers of diverse nationalities and faiths who
joined in his "Holy Experiment," where men might worship God
according to their own conscience; and
WHEREAS, During his first stay in the Province of
Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1684, William Penn demonstrated the
ideals of human dignity, individual rights and self-government
in dealing with Native Americans, the Provincial Assembly,
freemen, planters and adventurers; and
WHEREAS, In 1697, William Penn first called for colonial
unification; and
WHEREAS, During his second stay in the Province of
Pennsylvania from 1699 to 1701, William Penn authored the
"Charter of Privileges"; and
WHEREAS, This governing document, effective October 28, 1701,
guaranteed privileges to future generations that included
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establishing religious liberty, ensuring the Provincial
Assembly's right to elect its own officers, promoting tripartite
government and securing the right of freemen to vote without
property requirements; and
WHEREAS, The charter further guaranteed America's first
freedom, freedom of religion from government; and
WHEREAS, Known as America's "Magna Carta" of religious
liberty, the charter was the most famous of all colonial
constitutions and served as Pennsylvania's Constitution until
the American Revolution; and
WHEREAS, In 1751, the Provincial Assembly commissioned a
foundry in England to forge a bell to properly commemorate and
celebrate the 50th anniversary of William Penn's "Charter of
Privileges"; and
WHEREAS, After being recast twice by Pass and Stow, the bell
was hung in the State House in Philadelphia and inscribed with
the prophetic words from Leviticus 25:10: "Proclaim liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof"; and
WHEREAS, On July 8, 1776, the bell, later renamed the Liberty
Bell, proclaimed the Declaration of Independence at the founding
of a new nation; and
WHEREAS, Benjamin Franklin wrote the first constitution of
the independent state in September 1776 and chose as
Pennsylvania's first freedom the liberty of conscience of
religious profession and worship; and
WHEREAS, The guarantee of liberty of conscience served as the
moral foundation of our Republic of Virtue; and
WHEREAS, Our founding documents, the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States, were
adopted in Philadelphia; and
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WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United
States and writer of the Declaration of Independence, recognized
William Penn's influence upon the nation, noting that he was
"without doubt, the greatest lawgiver the world has produced";
and
WHEREAS, Voltaire, a French philosopher and advocate of
religious toleration, praised William Penn by saying that he
"might with reason, boast of having brought down upon earth the
Golden Age, which in all probability, never had any real
existence but in his dominions"; and
WHEREAS, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United
States, bestowed honorary citizenship upon William Penn as the
first great hero of American liberty, one of only eight foreign
nationals to be so honored; and
WHEREAS, The Liberty Bell, which celebrates William Penn's
"Charter of Privileges," continues to proclaim liberty
throughout the world; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate October
28, 2017, as "Charter of Privileges Day" in Pennsylvania.
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