 In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony.Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape to be on good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for his colony.Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm tree at Shackamaxon, in what is now the city's Fishtown neighborhood.