William Penn Receives Delaware: Adding to His Colony
William Penn received the lower counties — the area now comprising Delaware — from the Duke of York on August 24, 1682. Penn had already received Pennsylvania from Charles II the previous year and had been looking for a water route to the sea that didn't depend on other colonial powers. Delaware gave him the Delaware River mouth. He added it to Pennsylvania under a joint legislature. The two territories shared governance uneasily for decades. Delaware formally separated in 1704. Penn's Frame of Government gave both territories more religious freedom than anywhere else in the English colonies at the time. Delaware kept the framework. It became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
August 24, 1682
344 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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