William Penn’s “Holy Experiment”: Quaker Roots, Radical Toleration, and the Birth of Pennsylvania

• Asia Tabb
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Asia Tabb is the Host and Producer for WITF’s The Spark.
  
  She began her start in radio when she joined legendary radio/ host producer, Doc Christian. She worked closely with Doc for her role on “The Gospel Express, on WHOV 88.1 FM and was a host for “Unrestricted Praise” at Praise FM.
  
  Previously she was an anchor in Shreveport, Louisiana at KTAL/KMSS. Asia also worked as a Multi-Media Journalist at WHP-TV here in Harrisburg, PA.
  
  Asia got her break into news at KTVO in Ottumwa, Ia. While the 2020 caucuses were gearing up. Asia followed many candidates through their campaign trail from Senator Cory Booker, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and 46th President of the United States Joe Biden.
  
  Asia was born and raised in Norfolk, Va. She graduated from Old Dominion University in 2018 with a major in Communications.
  
  Asia is extremely friendly so don’t be afraid to say hi if you see her out and about.

A statue of William Penn stands at Welcome Park in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Aired; June 5th, 2025.

Listen to the podcast to hear the full interview. 

Long before founding Pennsylvania, William Penn Jr. was just “a guy in England,” according to historian Daniel K. Richter. But his story—and the colony he helped establish—was anything but ordinary.

On The Spark, Richter, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, explained the lesser-known complexities behind the creation of Pennsylvania. He began by noting that the colony was actually named after William Penn Sr., a naval hero during England’s mid-17th century civil wars. “The colony was named after the older William Penn, not the younger William Penn,” Richter said.

The younger Penn, though, was the visionary. A member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, Penn embraced a radical belief system that clashed with the aristocratic world he came from. “Quakers believed in the inward light—that God speaks directly to people through their conscience,” said Richter. “No one is to tell you what you’re supposed to believe.”

This principle of liberty of conscience became the foundation of Penn’s “holy experiment”: a colony defined by religious toleration, free from political control over faith, and notably, without a standing military. “What kind of government doesn’t have guns?” Richter remarked. “Quakers don’t believe in coercion of any kind.”

Penn also brought an unusual approach to land dealings with Native Americans. “He insisted that nobody could settle on land in Pennsylvania unless that land had been bought fair and square from Native people,” Richter said, emphasizing Penn’s dual claim to legitimacy: both from the English crown and through treaties with Indigenous communities.

Despite the lofty ideals, Penn’s land grant from the king was riddled with conflict. “He had all these people challenging his right to even own that land,” Richter explained, citing overlapping claims from Maryland, New York, and remnants of Dutch colonies. The famous Mason-Dixon Line wouldn’t resolve some of those disputes until decades later.

Still, Penn saw opportunity. “Penn actually comes up with a slogan,” said Richter. “‘I clear the King’s and the Indian’s title’… meaning, all you do, land purchaser, is pay the scrivener and the surveyor.”