William Penn experienced first-hand the importance of religious freedom. The son of a friend of England’s King Charles II, he underwent a religious conversion after London’s Great Plague and Fire of 1665-1666.

Penn became a preacher for the Quakers and was ultimately imprisoned for his beliefs. It was during these nine months of confinement that he dreamed of a place where freedom of religion would be maintained. The colony of Pennsylvania became the fulfillment of his dreams.

Penn’s 1701 Charter of Privileges granting religious freedom to all citizens became the first Constitution for Pennsylvania. It set a new standard for religious liberty that profoundly impacted America’s history.

On July 4th, 1776 our great nation was given birth by a collection of heroic colonists. They had a vision for a new nation and a new form of government free from the tyranny of the monarchy.

Penn’s sentiments of religious liberty are captured in these words:

"I abhor two principles in religion and pity them that own them; the first is obedience to authority without conviction; and the other is destroying them that differ from me for God’s sake.”