Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Charter to Pennsylvania: 3/10/1681

26-year-old William Penn received from King Charles II the charter to Pennsylvania on MARCH 10, 1681, as repayment of a debt owed to his deceased father Admiral Sir William Penn, who captured Jamaica and defeated the Dutch navy.

A student at Oxford, William Penn was expelled for having his own prayer services in his dorm room instead of attending the Anglican chapel. Penn converted to Quakerism and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. His colony was a "holy experiment" for persecuted Europeans, one of the few original colonies to accept Mennonites, Amish, Catholics and Jews.

Emphasizing his plan of Christian tolerance, William Penn named the city "Philadelphia," Greek for "Brotherly Love." History records that since William Penn insisted on treating the Delaware Indians honestly, paying a fair sum for the land, Philadelphia was spared the Indian attacks and scalpings that other colonial settlements experienced.

Before arriving, William Penn wrote to the Delaware chiefs: "My Friends, There is one...God...and He hath made...the king of the country where I live, give...unto me a great province therein, but I desire to enjoy it with your...consent, that we may always live together as...friends."

American Minute with Bill Federer

2 comments:

  1. Neither the citizenship of the parents nor dual nationality has any effect on Natural Born Citizen status. All that is required is that the person be a citizen at birth, meaning one that was not naturalized.

    That is why such prominent conservative Senators who are also lawyers as Orren Hatch and Lindsay Graham say that a Natural Born Citizen is simply one who was born in the USA:

    Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said:

    “Every child born in the United States is a natural-born United States citizen except for the children of diplomats.” (December 11, 2008 letter to constituent)

    Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), said:

    “What is a natural born citizen? Clearly, someone born within the United States or one of its territories is a natural born citizen.” (Senate Judiciary Committee hearing hearing on OCTOBER 5, 2004

    The Wall Street Journal put it this way:

    "Some birthers imagine that there is a difference between being a “citizen by birth” or a “native citizen” on the one hand and a “natural born” citizen on the other. “Eccentric” is too kind a word for this notion, which is either daft or dishonest. All three terms are identical in meaning."

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  2. 4 Supreme Court Cases define "natural born citizen":
    http://www.thepostemail.com/2009/10/18/4-supreme-court-cases-define-natural-born-citizen/

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