Pennsylvania
Cumberland Valley Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Founded 1681 by William Penn as a Quaker Commonwealth. Birthplace of THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1681 William Penn received a royal charter and founded Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" — a Quaker commonwealth built on religious tolerance and fair dealing. Less than a century later, its chief city, Philadelphia, would host the two gatherings that gave the nation its founding words: the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution of the United States in 1787. This commemorative marker distills that arc from colonial founding to national birth.
Why it matters
Few places can claim to be the cradle of both American independence and its enduring frame of government — Pennsylvania was the stage for both.
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Related people
- · William Penn
Related events
- · Declaration of Independence
- · Constitutional Convention
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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This state-line marker distills Pennsylvania's founding story into a single boast worth unpacking. In 1681 King Charles II granted William Penn a vast tract of North American land, which Penn envisioned as a haven for his fellow Quakers and a 'holy experiment' in religious tolerance and representative government. A century later, Philadelphia became the crucible where the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and where delegates drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
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