NYCHEA History Fair

Can you guess who Mikro presented on? Here are the clues he gave. They get a lot easier at the end...

I was born on October 14, 1644.

Thomas Jefferson called me "one of the greatest lawgivers ever known."

My father was an admiral in the British Navy. He fought in several wars against the dutch.

I got in big trouble for my religious beliefs. I was kicked out of school. I even went to jail. My family sent me away to France to keep me out of trouble.

I believed in tolerance and religious freedom for all.

After my dad died, King Charles the Second owed my father's estate a lot of money. I suggested that he give me land instead of money to pay the debt.

I was the only individual ever given a Royal Charter for a colony in the New World.

I designed the government for my colony which I called my "Holy Experiment." I set up a legislature and served as the Governor.

The colony was named after my dad, not me, by the King.

I did not just take land from the native americans. I treated them with respect and even learned their languages so I could negotiate with them. I insisted that they be treated fairly and they were, until well after my death.

I was a Pacifist. I did not believe in fighting or waging war.

I did not get to spend much time in my colony. I had to go back to England because of a disagreement with a neighboring colony about our borders.

While I was there I got in trouble again and it was many years before I was free to leave.

I died in England and was buried there.

I designed the "City of Brotherly Love"

I was a Quaker.

The colony I founded was called Pennsylvania, which means Penn's woods.

My face is used to advertise a popular brand of oatmeal.


Who am I?



The answer is:


William Penn.

After all the kids did their presentations, the ones who had memorized the Gettysburg Address went up to recite it. Mikro was incredibly nervous. He was able to feed lines to the kids who went before him, but struggled when his turn came. Nevertheless, he pushed through it and managed to get it all out. He now walks around the house reciting it flawlessly at random intervals.

I guess I learned something too-- even my extreme extrovert, who often clamors for a stage and an audience, can occasionally have performance anxiety. This is news to his completely introverted, stage fright stricken mother, who wrote the school plays and painted the scenery and tried to avoid ever actually playing a role on stage out of abject terror.