WHEREAS, Shortly after landing in Pennsylvania, William Penn
brokered the Treaty of Shackamaxon, commonly referred to as
Penn's Treaty; and
WHEREAS, Penn's Treaty was historic not just in its
occurrence, but in the mutual respect shown between Penn and
Native American tribes; and
WHEREAS, The famous French historian, philosopher and writer
Voltaire noted that Penn's Treaty was the only treaty with
Native Americans "never sworn to or broken"; and
WHEREAS, Many of the liberties and rights that we enjoy today
can be traced to William Penn's efforts; and
WHEREAS, William Penn had strong faith in a representative
form of government, public education without regard to race,
creed, gender or ability to pay and respect for the civil
liberties of all persons; and
WHEREAS, William Penn initiated the first call for a "united
states" in his 1697 "A Plan for Union for the English Colonies
in America"; and
WHEREAS, William Penn established the first constitutions,
including religious liberty and tolerance, self-government and
taxation only through representation, in modern history; and
WHEREAS, On October 28, 1701, William Penn's third revision
to Pennsylvania's Constitution was adopted, "Charter of
Privileges"; and
WHEREAS, The "Charter of Privileges" so firmly established
and grounded Pennsylvania as a keystone to the other colonies
that it evolved into the outline and later adoption of our
American liberties, the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, In 1751, the General Assembly commissioned a foundry
in England to forge a bell to properly commemorate and celebrate
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