My town is the home of the Phildelphia Eagles and home to the Liberty Bell and Declaration of Independence.
. From its beginning by Swedish settlers in the 1640’s, and the official founding as a city by William Penn in 1682, the streets of Philadelphia have flourished with business and bustling city activity.
William Penn a socially prominent convert to the persecuted Society of Friends (Quakers) resolved to provide a place in which all beliefs could flourish. His opportunity came when he asked King Charles II of England to pay off a debt to his father with a land grant in the Colonies. The King gladly turned over ownership of this tract of land north of Maryland land to satisfy the debt and rid England of an embarrassing rebel. The land was named Pennsylvania in honor of his father, an admiral in the English navy.
Penn’s idea was simple but revolutionary, persons of all faiths living in harmony and freedom. He also guaranteed personal freedoms by allowing every taxpayer a vote, a prisoner the right to be heard, the accused a trial by jury and taxation only by law. The name Philadelphia in Greek means “the city of brotherly love.”
Benjamin Franklin was one of the young city’s earliest and brightest stars. The young man strolled into the city with only a loaf of bread, made a fortune as a printer, and at his death was celebrated worldwide as a scientist, inventor, statesman, and diplomat. Franklin was instrumental in forming the first library and first post office in the colonies. He also was credited for founding the University of Pennsylvania and the invention of the bifocal lens for glasses.
Philadelphia still rings loudly of its colonial influence. As the home of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Betsy Ross House it is impossible to walk the streets and not feel pride in such a distinguished history, one that saw the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the writing of a Constitution 11 years later. In the summer you can get a feel for the miseries the framers endured, locked in rooms before air conditioning to keep their deliberations secret. Their suffering was richly rewarded, for they gave the new nation what has become the most farsighted, enduring, and imitated document in history. It has survived unimaginable technological and social change, essentially unaltered. The Liberty bell originally located in Independence Hall was moved on January 1, 1976 to its own pavilion several blocks away.
In 1790 when Philadelphia became the nation’s capitol a status it kept until 1800, when the government was moved to the still uncompleted Washington, DC.
Situated on the Delaware River, the city has always been one of the most important fresh water ports in the country. The location has supported a strong industrial and commercial life for the area. As the nation industrialized, the city became an important factor in that effort and supplied the nation with ships, iron, and locomotives. Until its recent closure the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the nation’s oldest and perhaps most distinguished for building and maintaining many of the country’s most famous ships.
The 19th Century left Philadelphia with the stamp of industrialization. Gone was the polished Colonial image, replaced by factories and a new wave of immigrants. The new people served the city well until recently, when much of the industry has moved away.
The city is turning towards tourism to fill the gap, a task to which it is well suited considering the many historic resources and diverse attractions available.
Just outside our city are many more historical places of interest. Northeast of the city is Washington Crossing Historic Park. This is the site that George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River to attack and capture Trenton New Jersey, then garrisoned by Hessian mercenaries. Hessian mercenaries were soldiers from Germany being paid by England to fight the Colonists. West of Philadelphia is Valley Forge National Historic Park. This 3600-acre park is the site of a 6-month encampment by the Continental Army. From December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778, General George Washington and 12,000 soldiers kept the British Army bottled up in Philadelphia.
