Province of Pennsylvania

The Province of Pennsylvania was granted on March 4, 1681, when King Charles II awarded the territory to the Quaker William Penn as a proprietary colony, settling a large debt the crown owed Penn's late father. Penn established a government under his own Frame of Government, with a governor, Provincial Council and Provincial Assembly, convening the first legislature at Chester in 1682 and signing a peace treaty with the Lenape at Shackamaxon the same year; the colony's governing charter was revised as the Charter of Privileges in 1701. Pennsylvania's territory expanded through further land transactions with Native nations, including the 1737 Walking Purchase and the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. The province ended with the Declaration of Independence, becoming the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. As a proprietary colony granted to and governed by the Penn family under crown authority, it is grouped here among Kingdoms and Principalities, the closest available classification for such a grant pending a dedicated colonial-provinces category.