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William Penn
William Penn's father was Sir William Penn. William Penn founded the English colony of Pennsylvania. He was also an entrepreneur and a Quaker. What kind of colony did Penn want? Watch the video to learn the answer.
GET READY!
HERE'S WHAT'S COMING UP TODAY
ON "UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN VALUES."
FOR EARLY AMERICANS, THE SHORES OF THE 13 COLONIES
PROMISED A NEW LIFE,
FREE FROM RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY AND INTOLERANCE.
THAT FREEDOM WOULD BRING COUNTLESS IMMIGRANTS
AND ESTABLISH TOLERANCE AS A BASIC AMERICAN VALUE.
Cook: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.
TODAY, PHILADELPHIA IS A MODERN CITY WITH RESTAURANTS,
THEATERS, AND BUSY STREETS.
BUT PHILADELPHIA IS ALSO AN OLD CITY
WITH AN IMPORTANT PLACE IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
PHILADELPHIA BEGAN AS A REAL ESTATE DEAL.
IN THE SPRING OF 1681,
KING CHARLES II OF ENGLAND
SIGNED THE CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA,
WHICH GAVE WILLIAM PENN THE RIGHT
TO ESTABLISH AN AMERICAN COLONY.
THE COLONY WAS NAMED PENNSYLVANIA
IN HONOR OF PENN'S FATHER.
WILLIAM PENN WAS A QUAKER
AND HAD FACED PERSECUTION IN ENGLAND
FOR HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
PENN WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE PENNSYLVANIA
A COLONY OF TOLERANCE.
HE CALLED HIS VISION THE "HOLY EXPERIMENT."
THIS MEANS PENNSYLVANIA WOULD BE A PLACE
WHERE EVERYONE COULD PRACTICE THEIR OWN RELIGION.
WHEN PENN ARRIVED IN AMERICA IN NOVEMBER 1682,
HE FOUNDED A SETTLEMENT AND NAMED IT PHILADELPHIA.
INSTEAD OF EXPANDING INTO AMERICA FOR MONEY AND WEALTH,
PENN DREAMED OF ESTABLISHING A PLACE
WHERE EVERYONE COULD PRACTICE RELIGION FREELY.
IT WAS A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT,
AND OTHERS SEEKING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE
BEGAN TO ARRIVE IN PHILADELPHIA.
BY 1765, PHILADELPHIA IS THE LARGEST CITY IN THE NEW WORLD.
IT'S PRETTY AMAZING, CONSIDERING IT WAS FOUNDED IN 1682,
AND BY 1765, IT'S THE LARGEST CITY ON THE CONTINENT.
Cook: THE FIRST GLIMPSE SETTLERS HAD OF THEIR NEW HOME
IN THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA WAS FROM THE DECK OF A SHIP.
THOUSANDS CAME HERE ON SHIPS LIKE THESE,
FULL OF HOPES AND DREAMS FOR FREEDOM
AND A NEW FUTURE IN A NEW LAND.
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
HAD BECOME THE OFFICIAL POLICY OF THE COLONY.
VISIT PENNSYLVANIA TODAY
AND YOU CAN SEE THE REMNANTS OF PENN'S ORIGINAL EXPERIMENT.
IN THE ROLLING HILLS WEST OF PHILADELPHIA,
THE AMISH PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION FREELY,
JUST AS THE QUAKERS DID WHEN THEY FIRST SETTLED HERE.
THE OLD WAYS OF THE AMISH COMMUNITIES
AND THE NEW WAYS OF THE REST OF PENNSYLVANIA
EXIST SIDE BY SIDE EVERY DAY.
DURING COLONIAL TIMES, WORD SPREAD AROUND EUROPE
TO COME TO PHILADELPHIA WITH OPTIMISM
AND TOLERANCE IN YOUR HEART,
AND THE CITY AND COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA WOULD WELCOME YOU.
Transcript
Benjamin Franklin
You have probably heard of Benjamin Franklin. He accomplished many things and played a vital role in America's history. He is also considered one of America's Founding Fathers. Franklin was the sixth president of Pennsylvania and a famous inventor. Watch this video to learn about some of his inventions.
[MUSIC PLAYING] It seems as if Ben was constantly creating and inventing and trying to understand how the world works. Like many inventors, Ben had problems that needed solutions. He wanted to swim faster, so he invented swimming fins.
[WATER SPLASHES]
When Ben was frustrated that his glasses didn't make everything clear to see, he created bifocal glasses with glass to see things in the distance on the top and glass for reading and viewing closeup objects on the bottom. Both of these inventors still serve us well today.
One invention that Ben was particularly proud about was a cast-iron, wood-burning stove known as the Franklin stove. It was designed to serve as a central heating source for homes and allowed buildings without fireplaces to be heated. Franklin did not get a patent on this idea for the stove. Instead, he gave it away. Ben wanted to share his ideas so that people could heat their homes and be warm in the winter.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
Wait, did you hear that? Did I hear thunder? Thankfully we have been around to help us make sense of our rumbling skies.
Oh, you need not worry. I know a thing or two about lightning. Back in my day, people did not know about lightning and viewed it with superstition and fear. Perhaps that's because lightning strikes were very dangerous and caused many fires and deaths.
I had a hunch that lightning was made of electricity. You see, I had noticed that electricity and lightning had a few things in common. They both created light, were attracted to metal, and had the same peculiar odor. In 1752, I designed an experiment to test my hypothesis.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
So on a cloudy day in June 1752, Franklin and his son William set out to test his theory. BEN took a string and attached one end to a kite and a brass key to the other William flew the kite into the cloud-filled sky, and after a few moments, the kite collected electricity from the storm clouds and conducted it down the string to the key. Franklin then touched the key and received a shock. This jolt was proof that lightning was indeed made of electricity.
In a second experiment, I connected the kite to an early form of battery called a Leyden jar. My theory was that lightning would strike the kite and the charge would get stored in the Leyden jar.
This experiment led Ben to create the lightning rod. The rod was made of metal and was attached to the highest point on a building. Lightning would hit the rod instead of the building, and the rod conducted the current electricity into the ground instead of the house. Franklin's lightning rods protected many homes and buildings from lightning strikes and are still used today.
[CLOCK TICKING]
Well, we have just learned some shocking information. Let's see how much we know. Question number one, which of the following civic institutions did Ben Franklin create? A, the state belief system, B, the modern highway system, C, the modern postal system, or D, the first public school system. The correct answer is C. Ben Franklin created the modern postal system.
Here's question number two. Which Ben Franklin's inventions was created without a patent so that its idea could be copied and shared freely? Was it A, the Franklin stove, B, bifocals, C, swimming fins, or D, the library system? If you answered A, you know that Ben Franklin created the Franklin stove without a patent so that people could copy his idea and keep their homes and buildings warm in the winter.
Let's try question number three. In what year did Ben Franklin conduct his famous experiment that proved that lightning was electricity? Was it A, 1706, B, 1752, C, 1802, or D, 1888? The correct answer is B. It was in 1752 that Franklin conducted his famous experiment that proved that lightning was electricity.
Transcript
Richard Allen
Richard Allen was born during the lifetime of Benjamin Franklin. He was one of America's most influential African American leaders. As a minister and educator, he founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. He offered a safe place for African Americans to worship, and he also taught reading and organized politics.
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