That meant treating all people as equals and honoring all religions. It also meant that anyone could be elected as a leader. In most other colonies, people could believe in any religion, but they could not vote or hold office unless they were a member of the majority church. In Pennsylvania, all religions were equal.

The colonizing of America also spread to the south. The farming economies of these areas came to depend on slavery as a source of labor. It would also lead, two centuries later, to a civil war that nearly tore the nation apart. Slavery in the southern colonies will be our story next week.

You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

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