Declaration of Independence Archives - Page 2 of 4

Historic Sites of the Revolution

Posted by George Dowdell on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Pennsylvania is unusually rich in historic sites associated with the American Struggle for nationhood two centuries ago. The Bicentennial observance underscores the importance of this treasury of the state’s historic heritage. The deep involvement of Pennsylvania people and land in the Revolutionary War is reflected by these historic sites maintained by government as well as organizations...
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The Revolution Affects Pennsylvania Communities

Posted by Donald Kent on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Every county and community in the Commonwealth was in some way involved or connected with the American Revolution and Pennsylvania’s attainment of statehood. Certain places associated with famous events in the struggle for independence come to mind immediately: Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York for civil affairs, and Brandywine, Germantown, Whitemarsh, Valley Forge, and Washington’s...
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The Consequences of the American Revolution in Pennsylvania

Posted by Roland Baumann on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off One of the more interesting and controversial aspects of the American Revolution concerns its consequences upon colonial institutions and society in general. Was the society left almost unchanged by a movement fundamentally conservative in its causes, or was it profoundly altered by a revolution radical in its results, if not in its origins? Specifically, what happened to the society of...
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Chester County Welcomes Thee

Posted by Robert Carlson on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off The history of Chester County constitutes a significant part of the history of Pennsylvania, both province and commonwealth, and of the history of the United States of America. At the beginning of our nation’s Bicentennial and on the threshold of our state’s and our county’s tricentennial celebrations, Chester County looks proudly upon its past accomplishments and with...
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A Historical Sketch of Indiana County

Posted by Clarence Stephenson on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Indiana County was named for the native Indians. During historic times the two principal tribes were the Delawares and Shawnees. Being reluctant to give up their lands, the Indians struggled desperately to keep out the tide of European settlers. Perhaps the first white settler to enter Indiana County was James LeTort, an Indian trader, about 1726-27. A place called “Letart’s...
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John Dickinson, Reluctant Revolutionist

Posted by M. Kuhr on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off 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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Lehigh County: The Land and Its People

Posted by Daniel Gilbert on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Lehigh County encompasses the western half of the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania. Bounded on the east by the Lehigh River, the main geographical feature of the larger valley, and on the north by the Blue Mountain range, the land is a mosaic of limestone plain, sinks and rolling hills. While the southern region of the county lies astride the so-called South Mountain and the hills of the...
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Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land

Posted by William Kashatus on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off 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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Independence Hall, The Birthplace of a Nation

Posted by William Kashatus on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off 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 William Kashatus on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off 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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