• Preface


• Acknowledgments


• 1. William Penn in England and America: An Approach to Political Thought in Context


• 2. Emergence: 1668-1671


• 3. Debut: The Peoples Ancient and Just Liberties


• 4. Plot: Parliament, Popery, and Liberty, 1678-1681


• 5. Founding: Theory Meets Practice?


• 6. Revolution: Penn, 1685-88


• 7. Return: The 1690s


• 8. Legacy?


• Bibliography


• Index

Andrew R. Murphy is Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. His previous books include Prodigal Nation: Moral Decline and Divine Punishment from New England to 9/11 and Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America.

In Liberty, Conscience, and Toleration, Andrew Murphy shows that, despite widespread scholarly neglected, William Penn was a sophisticated political thinker who played a crucial role in the emergence of religious liberty and remains a singular, if often overlooked, figure in the history of liberty of conscience.