Penn asked to see King Charles II of England, who, as a result of an accumulated debt of back wages to his late father, owed a large sum of money to Penn's family. He proposed that the crown allow a massive migration of Quakers to the colonies. He knew of the hostility that the Quakers suffered in the nation and managed to reach an agreement with the king. In 1677, the group of Quakers got permission to emigrate and in 1681, the king granted him a vast territory to the west and south of New Jersey. This was the form of payment with which the king paid off the debt to the family and Penn was given a royal charter that named him "absolute owner" of the ceded land and indicated that he would have almost unlimited power in the new colony.
Horseback was still the fastest way over short distances on roads, but there was a well-established railway network in much of Europe and the United States. Steamboats were the fastest way to cross the water.
