European colonization (in magenta) and
New Sweden (in blue) in the 17th century; New Sweden was later absorbed by New Netherland and then the
British in the
Second Anglo-Dutch War. Long-term European
exploration of the Americas commenced after the 1492 expedition of
Christopher Columbus, and the 1497 expedition of
John Cabot is credited with discovering continental
North America for Europeans.
European exploration of North America continued in the 16th century, and the area now known as Pennsylvania was mapped by the French and labeled ''L'arcadia'', or "wooded coast", during
Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage in 1524. Even before large-scale European settlement, the Native American tribes in Pennsylvania engaged in trade with Europeans, and the
fur trade was a major motivation for the European colonization of North America. (around £2,100,000 in 2008, adjusting for retail inflation) that the king owed to
Penn's father. Pennsylvania was one of the two major
Restoration colonies. Penn founded a
proprietary colony that provided a place of religious freedom for
Quakers. Charles named the colony
Pennsylvania ("Penn's woods" in Latin), after the elder Penn, which the younger Penn found embarrassing, as he feared people would think he had named the colony after himself. Penn
landed in North America in October 1682, and founded the colonial capital,
Philadelphia, that same year. In addition to English Quakers, Pennsylvania attracted several other ethnic and religious groups, many of whom were fleeing persecution and the religious wars.
Welsh Quakers settled a large tract of land north and west of Philadelphia, in what are now
Montgomery,
Chester, and
Delaware counties. This area became known as the "
Welsh Tract", and many cities and towns were named for points in Wales. The colony's reputation of religious freedom and tolerance also attracted significant populations of
German,
Scots-Irish, Scots, and French settlers. Many of the settlers worshiped a brand of
Christianity disfavored by the government of their homeland, including
Huguenots,
Puritans,
Calvinists,
Mennonites, and
Catholics, who migrated to colonial-era Pennsylvania to exercise their religion freely. Other groups, including
Anglicans and Jews, migrated to Pennsylvania, while Pennsylvania also had a significant African-American population by 1730. Additionally, several Native American tribes lived in the area under their own jurisdiction. Settlers of
Swedish and
Dutch colonies that had been taken over by the British continued to live in the region. To give his new province access to the ocean, Penn had leased the proprietary rights of the King
Charles II's brother,
James, Duke of York, to the "three lower counties" (now the state of
Delaware) on the Delaware River. In Penn's
Frame of Government of 1682, Penn established a combined assembly by providing for equal membership from each county and requiring legislation to have the assent of both the
Lower Counties and the
Upper Counties. The meeting place for the assembly alternated between Philadelphia and
New Castle. In 1704, after disagreements between the upper and lower counties, the lower counties began meeting in a separate assembly. Province of Pennsylvania and
Delaware continued to share the same royal governor until the
American Revolutionary War, when both Pennsylvania and Delaware became states. The western portions of Pennsylvania were among disputed territory between the colonial British and French during the
French and Indian War (the North American component of the
Seven Years' War). The French had established numerous fortified sites in Pennsylvania, including
Fort Le Boeuf,
Fort Presque Isle,
Fort Machault, and the pivotal
Fort Duquesne, located near the present site of
Pittsburgh. Many Indian tribes were
allied with the French because of their long trading history and opposition to the expansion of the British colonies. The conflict began near the present site of
Uniontown, Pennsylvania when a company of Virginia militia under the command of
George Washington ambushed a French force at the
Battle of Jumonville Glen in 1754. Washington retreated to
Fort Necessity and surrendered to a larger French force at the
Battle of Fort Necessity. In 1755, the British sent the
Braddock Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne, but the expedition ended in failure after the British lost the
Battle of the Monongahela near present-day
Braddock, Pennsylvania. In 1758, the British sent the
Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. The French won the
Battle of Fort Duquesne, but after the battle the outnumbered French force demolished Fort Duquesne and retreated from the area. Fighting in North America had mostly come to an end by 1760, but the war continued until the signing of the
Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Britain's victory in the war helped secure Pennsylvania's frontier, as the
Ohio Country came under formal British control. Although
New France was no more, the French would deal their British rivals a major blow in the
American Revolution by
aiding the rebel cause. During the
French and Indian War, Pennsylvania settlers experienced raids from Indian allies of the French. The settlers' pleas for military relief were stymied by a power struggle in Philadelphia between Governor
Robert Morris and the Pennsylvania Assembly. Morris wanted to send military forces to the frontier, but the Assembly, whose leadership included
Benjamin Franklin, refused to grant the funds unless Morris agreed to the taxation of the proprietary lands, the vast tracts still owned by the Penn family and others. The dispute was finally settled, and military relief sent, when the owners of the proprietary lands sent 5,000 pounds to the colonial government, on condition that it was considered a free gift and not a down payment on taxes. Shortly after the end of the
French and Indian War, Indians attempted to drive the British out of
Ohio country in
Pontiac's Rebellion. The war, which began in 1763, saw heavy fighting in western Pennsylvania. The native forces were defeated in the
Battle of Bushy Run. The war lasted until 1766, when the British made peace. During the war, the king issued the
Proclamation Act. The act barred Americans from any settling west of the Appalachians, and reserved that
territory for the Native Americans. Fighting between Native Americans and Americans in present-day Pennsylvania continued in
Lord Dunmore's War and the
Revolutionary War. Native American tribes ceased to pose a military threat to European settlers in Pennsylvania after the conclusion of the
Northwest Indian War in 1795. By the mid-18th century Pennsylvania was basically a middle-class colony with limited deference to the small upper-class. A writer in the
Pennsylvania Journal in 1756 summed it up: :The People of this Province are generally of the middling Sort, and at present pretty much upon a Level. They are chiefly industrious Farmers, Artificers or Men in Trade; they enjoy and are fond of Freedom, and the
meanest among them thinks he has a right to Civility from the greatest. ==American Revolution==