Editing Philadelphia (section)

===Colonial era===
[[File:The Birth of Pennsylvania 1680 cph.3g07157.jpg|thumb|[[William Penn]] (holding paper) and [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] depicted in ''The Birth of Pennsylvania 1680'', a portrait by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]]]]
[[File:Treaty of Penn with Indians by Benjamin West.jpg|thumb|William Penn's 1682 [[Treaty of Shackamaxon]] with the [[Lenape]] tribe depicted in ''[[Penn's Treaty with the Indians]]'', a 1772 portrait by [[Benjamin West]]]]
[[File:Map of the Original City of Philadelphia in 1682 by Thomas Holme.jpg|thumb|A 1683 portrait of Philadelphia by [[Thomas Holme]], believed to be the city's first map|alt=A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia, by Thomas Holme]]

Europeans first entered Philadelphia and the surrounding [[Delaware Valley]] in the early 17th century. The first settlements were founded by [[Dutch colonization of the Americas|Dutch colonists]], who built [[Fort Nassau (South River)|Fort Nassau]] on the [[Delaware River]] in 1623 in what is now [[Brooklawn, New Jersey]]. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their [[New Netherland]] colony. In 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of [[New Sweden]] at [[Fort Christina]], located in present-day [[Wilmington, Delaware]], and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the [[Susquehannock]]s in their war against [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] colonists.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jennings |first=Francis |year=1984 |title=The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire: The Covenant Chain Confederation of Indian Tribes with English Colonies from Its Beginnings to the Lancaster Treaty of 1744 |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=0-393-01719-2 |oclc=9066383}}</ref> In 1648, the Dutch built [[Fort Beversreede]] on the west bank of the Delaware, south of the [[Schuylkill River]] near the present-day [[Eastwick, Philadelphia|Eastwick]] section of Philadelphia, to reassert their dominion over the area. The [[Swedes]] responded by building [[New Sweden#Forts|Fort Nya Korsholm]], or New [[Korsholm]], named after a town in Finland with a Swedish majority.

In 1655, a [[Dutch armed forces|Dutch military]] campaign led by New Netherland Director-General [[Peter Stuyvesant]] took control of the Swedish colony, ending its claim to independence. The Swedish and [[Finnish people|Finnish]] settlers continued to have their own [[militia]], religion, and court, and to enjoy substantial autonomy under the Dutch. An English fleet captured the New Netherland colony in 1664, though the situation did not change substantially until 1682, when the area was included in [[William Penn]]'s charter for Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Citation |author-last1=Brookes |author-first1=Karin |author-first2=John |author-last2=Gattuso |author-first3=Lou |author-last3=Harry |author-first4=Edward |author-last4=Jardim |author-first5=Donald |author-last5=Kraybill |author-first6=Susan |author-last6=Lewis |author-first7=Dave |author-last7=Nelson |author-first8=Carol |author-last8=Turkington |editor-first=Zoë |editor-last=Ross |title=Insight Guides: Philadelphia and Surroundings |edition=Second (Updated) |year=2005 |publisher=APA Publications |pages=[https://archive.org/details/insightguidephil00zoer/page/21 21–22] |isbn=1-58573-026-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/insightguidephil00zoer/page/21 }}</ref>

In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt, [[Charles II of England]] granted Penn a [[charter]] for what would become the [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania colony]]. Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local [[Lenape]] in an effort to establish good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for the colony.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Insight Guides: Philadelphia and Surroundings |page=21 }}</ref> Penn made a [[Treaty of Shackamaxon|treaty of friendship]] with Lenape chief [[Tamanend|Tammany]] under an elm tree at [[Shackamaxon]], in what is now the city's [[Fishtown, Philadelphia|Fishtown]] neighborhood.<ref name=weigley>{{Cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |editor-first=RF |editor-last=Weigley |title=Philadelphia: A 300-Year History |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |year=1982 |location=New York and London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig/page/4 4–5] |isbn=0-393-01610-2 |oclc=8532897 |display-editors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig/page/4 }}</ref> Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for 'brotherly love', derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] terms {{lang|grc|[[wikt:φίλος|φίλος]]}} {{Transliteration|grc|phílos}} ('beloved, dear') and {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἀδελφός|ἀδελφός]]}} {{Transliteration|grc|adelphós}} ('brother, brotherly'). There were a number of cities named ''[[Philadelphia (disambiguation)#Ancient|Philadelphia]]'' ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:Φιλαδέλφεια|Φιλαδέλφεια]]}}) in the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] during the Greek and Roman periods, including modern [[Alaşehir]], mentioned as the site of an early Christian congregation in the [[Book of Revelation]]. As a [[Quakers|Quaker]], Penn had experienced [[religious persecution]] and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely. This tolerance, which exceeded that of other colonies, led to better relations with the local native tribes and fostered Philadelphia's rapid growth into America's most important city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Avery |first=Ron |title=A Concise History of Philadelphia |publisher=Otis Books |year=1999 |location=Philadelphia |page=[https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0000aver/page/19 19] |isbn=0-9658825-1-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0000aver/page/19 }}</ref>

Penn planned a city on the Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a [[grid plan]] to keep houses and businesses spread far apart with areas for gardens and [[orchard]]s.

The city's inhabitants did not follow Penn's plans, however, and instead crowded the present-day [[Port of Philadelphia]] on the Delaware River and subdivided and resold their lots.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |editor-first=RF |editor-last=Weigley |title=Philadelphia: A 300-Year History |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |year=1982 |location=New York and London |pages=7, 14–16 |isbn=0-393-01610-2 |oclc=8532897 |display-editors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig/page/7 }}</ref> Before Penn left Philadelphia for the final time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing it as a city. Though poor at first, Philadelphia became an important trading center with tolerable living conditions by the 1750s. [[Benjamin Franklin]], a leading citizen, helped improve city services and founded new ones that were among the first in the nation, including a [[Union Fire Company|fire company]], [[Library Company of Philadelphia|library]], and [[Pennsylvania Hospital|hospital]].

A number of [[philosophy|philosophical societies]] were formed, which were centers of the city's intellectual life, including the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (1787), the [[Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University|Academy of Natural Sciences]] (1812), and the [[Franklin Institute]] (1824).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=35&chapter=2 |title=Explore PA History website |publisher=Explorepahistory.com |access-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215022801/http://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=35&chapter=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> These societies developed and financed new industries that attracted skilled and knowledgeable immigrants from Europe.