by AngelaCharles

Created on: April 23, 2008   Last Updated: December 05, 2008

When William Penn journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean, he brought with him his Quaker vision on what a community should be. It was a vision encompassed by equality, religious freedom and brotherly love. It was this very philosophy that gave him the name for one of our first cities, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, comes from the Greek word philos, meaning "love" and adelphos, meaning "brother", giving us the city of brotherly love.

In 1682, Penn left England after becoming discouraged with his inability to change England to the Utopian society that he envisioned. Prior to leaving, Penn had been imprisoned six times for his radical views on religion and equality. It was with great persuasion that Penn was able to convince King Charles II to deed a territory in the New World to him. It was that territory that became our 2nd state, Pennsylvania. King Charles II suggested the name Pennsylvania, in memory of Penn's father, who had been an Admiral in the English Navy. Penn was so successful in creating his vision of a Utopian society that not only did his ideals form Pennsylvania, but also became the foundation for this great nation.

It was in Penn's own city of Philadelphia where Thomas Jefferson and his comrades wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, using the same philosophies that William Penn created to govern Pennsylvania, "That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -"Declaration of Independence, 1776.

It amazing, over 300 years after Penn founded the City of Brotherly Love, the philosophy of equality and brotherly love still ring through the cobblestone streets in harmony with the Liberty Bell. Philadelphia is so diverse in its ethnicities and cultures that it has been called a "melting pot" by some, but to me it will always be the City of Brotherly Love.

Works Cited
Fischer, J. (n.d.). About.com. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies: http://philadelphia.about.com/od/historydocuments/a/ declaration.htm
Philadelphia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2008, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia
Powell, J. (n.d.). The Freeman. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from Quaker: http://www.quaker.org/wmpenn.html

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