Colony of Pennsylvania

Province of Pennsylvania
Colony of England (1681–1707) Colony of Great Britain (1707–76)
1681–1783
Flag Coat of arms
A map of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Capital		Philadelphia
Languages		English, Pennsylvania German, Unami, Susquehannock, Munsee
Government		Proprietary colony, Semi-autonomous Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
•	1681-1685	Charles II
•	1685-1688	James II
•	1689-1702 (Mary died 1694)	William III & Mary II
•	1702-1714	Anne
•	1714-1727	George I
•	1727-1760	George II
•	1760-1776	George III
Royal Governor
•	1681-1783	List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania
Legislature		Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
History
•	Land grant to William Penn	March 4, 1681
•	Treaty of Paris (1783)	September 3, 1783
Currency		Pound sterling, Spanish dollar
Succeeded by Pennsylvania
Today part of		United States

The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in English North America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II. The name Pennsylvania, which translates roughly as "Penn's Woods", was created by combining the Penn surname (in honor of William's father, Admiral Sir William Penn) with the Latin word sylvania, meaning "forest land." The Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies, the other being the Province of Carolina. The proprietary colony's charter remained in the hands of the Penn family until the American Revolution, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was created and became one of the original thirteen states.

The colonial government, established in 1683 by Penn's Frame of Government, consisted of an appointed Governor, the proprietor (William Penn), a 72-member Provincial Council, and a larger General Assembly. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government, but had little power.

Succeeding Frames of Government, also known as the Charter of Privileges, were produced in 1683, 1696 and 1701. The fourth Frame (Charter of Privileges) remained in effect until the American Revolution. At that time, the Provincial Assembly was deemed too moderate by the revolutionaries, who ignored the Assembly and held a convention which produced the Constitution of 1776 for the newly established Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, creating a new General Assembly in the process.