William Penn's Beliefs

Values of early colonists didn’t approve of recreational or pleasurable events. For example, in early New England, recreational activities as well as sports were banned. One puritan principle that explains the banning was that they didn’t have time to partake in these activities due to their continued growth of improving their morals through spiritual espionage. Furthermore, Learning and working were placed in much higher regard than anything involving pleasure. There was no time in early Pennsylvania for such recreational activities. Quakers or the “Society of Friends’ had very similar beliefs. Quakers specifically William Penn explains honoring the Lord was the most important virtue to them. Beliefs and power progressively changed throughout …show more content…
He believed in a government that balanced personal freedom with restraint. This belief is explained by this quote “ liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery”. This balance, helped establish the first provincial government. As I stated above, praising the lord was extremely important to the Quakers, they even created a strict Sabbath “The Lords Day”. Quakers were to attend holy meetings as well as read scripture on this day. Penn also made it clear you should be incorporating praise to the lord into everyday, not just the Sabbath. Other principles insisted on would be living in moderation and straying away from anything luxury because it opposed Christianity. The new laws established by Penn were known as “The Great Law” which directly reflected Quaker principles. Penn then made two key provisions to “The Great Law” Known as “Blue Laws”. These provisions included, the banning of sports as well as recreational activities. Penalties for participating in such activities were paid for by shillings, as …show more content…
Therefore, if you owned a horse you were in a higher class than a male who did not. White males were thought to be in a higher class than African Americans. Some slaves were given more expansive roles. This created a higher class for slaves over those who participated in straining labor tasks. Gender wise, women were encouraged not to participate within sport. Women were also in a lower class than white males. We also learned throughout colonial history that laws progressed and power changed hands. The progression of laws might have had something to do with mass immigration, granting citizens personal freedoms, as well as power shifting hands. At first, sport was banned and subjected to a fine for those who didn’t follow the laws. However, it did progress into a situation where sport was more prevalent and even important to society. In todays society there are still social classes as well as some ethnicity and gender issues. Also, in today’s society sport presents a strong interest among