Law and civil interest: William Penn’s tolerationism

In many ways William Penn is a familiar figure to those interested in the history of religious tolerance and liberty of conscience. The story of a son of privilege who converted to a sect more often associated with the poor and unlearned, then followed his principles of religious liberty to the shores of America and founded a colony dedicated to those ideals, has fired the imagination of generations of scholars and citizens. Penn’s life and career have been explored by scholars from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. And yet, just a handful of years short of the 300th anniversary of Penn’s death, we still lack an overarching treatment of his political thought.