USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Commissioned by Thomas Penn, son of Pennsylvania’s founder, this painting depicts a legendary meeting between William Penn and members of the Lenni Lenape tribe at Shackamaxon on the Delaware River.

Detailed explanation-2: -The print was published in London in 1775, with the title William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsylvania in North America, 1681.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Treaty of Shackamaxon, also called the Great Treaty and Penn’s Treaty, was a legendary treaty between William Penn and Tamanend of the Lenape signed in 1682. Penn and Tamanend agreed that their people would live in a state of perpetual peace.

Detailed explanation-4: -In addition, Thomas Penn promised that the fastest runner would receive five pounds sterling and 500 acres of land. In the end, the runners of the Walking Purchase of 1737 procured 1, 200 square miles [more than 1 million acres] of Lenni Lenape land in Pennsylvania.

Detailed explanation-5: -Penn chose to acquire lands for his colony through business rather than conquest. He paid the Indians 1200 pounds for their land under the treaty, an amount considered fair.