The Pennsylvania Archives and Research Opportunities in the Era of the American Revolution

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Pennsylvania Archives and Research Opportunities in the Era of the American Revolution Over the years the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has amassed a rich treasure of source materials for re­search and writing on Pennsylvania history.* The archival, manuscript, and microfilm holdings of the Pennsylvania State Archives are certainly significant as they relate to doing research on the era of the American Revolution, 1763 to 1790. It is unfortunate that these research re­sources...
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They Left with the British: Black Women in the Evacuation of Philadelphia, 1778

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on They Left with the British: Black Women in the Evacuation of Philadelphia, 1778 Black women were a small but important segment of the eighteenth-century Pennsylvania laboring classes. As slaves, as indentured servants, or as free persons of color, their options were extremely limited, but they could and did make decisions that affected their lives. The evacuation of Philadelphia by the British in 1778 during the Revolutionary War reveals the kinds of limited choices which...
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John Dickinson, Reluctant Revolutionist

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on John Dickinson, Reluctant Revolutionist Students of American history will recognize John Dickinson as the Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress who had the temerity to speak against separation from Great Britain and the obstinacy to refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence. Paradoxically, Dickinson had been an early leader of the patriot cause in Pennsylvania, author of the “Farmers’ Letters”...
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The Flight of the Brigantine Eagle

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Flight of the Brigantine Eagle Captain Ashmead had cause to be concerned as he focused his glass on the two sailing ships some distance off his port bow. Moments before, he had been watching a sail some eight miles off his stern to the northeast, when his lookout called out the sighting of two sails almost dead ahead. Their riggings identified the two as a brig and a schooner, and motion atop its foremast reveal­ed the brig...
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Spain’s Diplomats in Philadelphia

Posted by on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off on Spain’s Diplomats in Philadelphia When, on July 2, 1776, the Congress at Philadelphia voted for independence, Spain adopted toward the British Colonies an attitude that could be described today as “recognition of billigerency,” until the Spanish Crown declared war on Great Britain in June, 1779. Although at the beginning of the Revolution there were no formal relations between the two countries, Spain not only...
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Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land In the mid-nineteenth century, the Liberty Bell – capped by an eagle from Peale’s Museum – was enshrined in Independence Hall.   Each year thousands of Americans, as well as foreigners, travel to Philadelphia to visit the dozens of historic sites, structures and complexes associated with the nation’s independence. For many, their first stop is a small glass pavil­ion...
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A Quaker Testimony to the American Revolution

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Quaker Testimony to the American Revolution On a cool, pleasant early autumn morn­ing in the year 1834, John Price Wetherill made his way hastily down the vacant streets of Philadelphia towards the city’s western edge. Most of the respectable people were already seated in their churches, listening to the angelic sound of a choir or the piercing exhortation of a min­ister. Little did Wetherill care on this Sunday morning about...
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Independence Hall, The Birthplace of a Nation

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Independence Hall, The Birthplace of a Nation September 1824 was a busy month for Phila­delphians. The Mar­quis de Lafayette returned to America for the first time since the Revolution­ary War, and it was rumored that the high point of his tra­vels would be a visit to Penn­sylvania’s venerable State House. Naturally, much of the preparation for his visit cen­tered on the old red brick building where the events of the Revolution had...
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Howard L. Barnes, Dean of Philadelphia’s Amateur Historians

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Howard L. Barnes, Dean of Philadelphia’s Amateur Historians Howard L. Barnes claims that Frankford is the oldest settlement in Philadelphia. Historians in neighboring Germantown dispute him, contending theirs to be the oldest community in the Quaker city area. How­ ever, no one has proven him wrong – nor can one, especially when he produces the original land deed of his beloved home­town, which dates to 1660. That would make Frankford not only the...
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James Wilson, Forgotten Founding Father

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on James Wilson, Forgotten Founding Father Carlisle buzzed that night with festivities. On the streets of the usually quiet little Cumberland County town bonfires blazed while spirited political speeches rang out on every corner, all in celebration of Pennsylvania’s vote to ratify the new Constitution of the United States. The Federalists had finally won their cause, and it was time to savor the victory. But not everyone was in a...
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