Patrick Spero, Marguerite Bartlett Hamer Dissertation Fellows

spero@sas.upenn.edu

 “From Contested Land to Commonwealth:The Transformation of Pennsylvania, 1730-1800”

When William Penn received his charter in 1681, the boundaries of his proprietary land seemed certain.  Penn’s woods were to reach from the Delaware River to five degrees latitude west, and although the western boundary was uncharted, Penn was confident the land would someday be his to incorporate, apportion, and improve.  Even today a common misconception remains that Pennsylvania’s existence and territorial configuration were something of a fait accompli.  The history of the province’s expansion and ultimate consolidation into a coherent polity in the early republic tells a different story, however.  It is a story of conflict, competition and uncertainty that was transformed by the destruction of the proprietorship and the creation of a new political order in the early republic.

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