Run-Up to the Revolution: Philadelphia’s Response to the Taxation Crisis

Posted by on Aug 23, 2021 in | Comments Off on Run-Up to the Revolution: Philadelphia’s Response to the Taxation Crisis Colonial America in the 18th century was a dynamic environment — constantly shifting, changing and growing as its population increased and governments and institutions developed to support it. More merchants progressively established shops in cities such as Philadelphia, Boston and New York, selling a dizzying array of necessities and luxury goods both domestic and imported. These goods,...
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The Manumission of Samuel Stephens

Posted by on Mar 19, 2021 in | Comments Off on The Manumission of Samuel Stephens In 1783 Stuart George Dallas and his wife Elizabeth, formerly of the island of Jamaica, filed a manumission contract in Philadelphia for enslaved 12-year-old Samuel “Sammy” Stephens. George Bryan of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ordered a writ of habeas corpus for Samuel Stephens to be brought before him on July 1, 1786. The manumission contract, pictured here, is preserved in the Pennsylvania...
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The Call for the Constitution

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Call for the Constitution Ratification of the United States Consti­tution came about quickly in Pennsylva­nia. In less than three months the state was able to call a ratifying convention, conduct a special election, assemble delegates in Philadelphia and, ultimately, ratify the proposed frame of government. At a time when travel between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh could consume as much as two difficult weeks, the speed...
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The Consequences of the American Revolution in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Consequences of the American Revolution in Pennsylvania 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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An Act Appointing Deputies to Convention to Revise Federal Constitution

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Act Appointing Deputies to Convention to Revise Federal Constitution On December 30, 1786, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania appointed Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, James Wil­son, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Gou­verneur Morris, and Jared Ingersoll to serve as dele-gates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin, then serving as president of Pennsylvania, was added to the list of delegates by a special act on March 28, 1787...
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