William Penn: Political Writings

by Andrew R. Murphy (editor)

William Penn (1644-1718) – Quaker activist, theorist of liberty of conscience, and colonial founder and proprietor – played a central role in the movement for religious liberty on both sides of the Atlantic for more than four decades. This volume presents, for the first time, a fully annotated scholarly edition of Penn's political writings over the course of his long public career, tracing his thinking from his early theorisation of religious toleration and liberty of conscience in England, as a leading member of the Society of Friends during the 1670s, to his colonial undertaking in Pennsylvania a decade later, his controversial role in the years leading up to the 1688 Revolution, and the ongoing consequences of that Revolution to his future prospects. Penn's political writings provide an illuminating window into the increasingly sophisticated and influential movement for liberty of conscience in the early modern world.

390 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2021

About the author

Andrew R. Murphy is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

He received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has taught at Villanova University, the University of Chicago, and Valparaiso University.

His research focuses on the interconnections between religious and political thought and practice, most particularly in England and America.