Forgotten Founder: Thomas Paine and American Independence

Posted by William Kashatus on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Forgotten Founder: Thomas Paine and American Independence Philadelphia was the largest, wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in all the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution. As the major commercial hub for British North America, the city’s economy was based on trade and commerce and bolstered by shipbuilding, textiles and other industries. Philadelphia was also a hub for political activism, with town meetings and pamphlets disseminating...
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The Arrest of Philip Skene

Posted by Richard Saylor on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on The Arrest of Philip Skene The British ship Sally entered the port of Philadelphia on June 7, 1775, after leaving London weeks before. Aboard the ship was a British officer who was also a land speculator in the colony of New York and a soon to be suspected spy — Maj. Philip Wharton Skene (1725–1810). The Revolutionary War had just begun and already intrigue, speculation and suspicion were spreading wildly throughout...
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Rush by Stephen Fried

Posted by Christopher Bilodeau on Apr 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on Rush by Stephen Fried Rush Revolution, Madness, and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father by Stephen Fried Crown, 608 pp., hardcover $30 Benjamin Rush is difficult to write about, although at first glance that makes no sense. He was an interesting man who lived during interesting times, someone who knew prominent people and became prominent himself. He had opinions on everything and everyone, with an...
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Craft Brewing: Another Revolution in Pennsylvania

Posted by Lew Bryson on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on Craft Brewing: Another Revolution in Pennsylvania The history of brewing beer in Pennsylvania has seen heights of success and pits of disaster. The commonwealth grew from colonial home-brewing roots to become a recognized industrial center, home to some of the most notable brewers in America before the disaster of Prohibition. After bouncing back with Repeal, Pennsylvania clung to its established favorites longer than any other state, savoring...
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The Making of a Miracle

Posted by Peggy Robbins on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Making of a Miracle Early in 1788, George Washington wrote his friend the Marquis de Lafayette that there had been a “miracle” in Phila­delphia. Considering the many efforts and failures be­tween 1765 and 1787 to estab­lish an enduring form of government, first for individ­ual states and then for all­ – fundamental laws, orders of government, plans of union, resolutions, declarations,...
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Chronology of Events Relating to Pennsylvania During the Year 1776

Posted by Louis Waddell on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Chronology of Events Relating to Pennsylvania During the Year 1776 January 1776   1 Defeat of the American assault on Quebec involves heavy losses of troops from Pennsylvania. 2 The Second Continental Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, pro­tests against brutality employed by the British Army in the war against the colonies. The Pennsylvania Committee of Safety, operating in Phila­delphia, begins to vote recommendations for officers to command the 4...
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John Dickinson, Reluctant Revolutionist

Posted by M. Kuhr 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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Benjamin Franklin, Image Maker

Posted by William Kashatus on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Benjamin Franklin, Image Maker The history of our Revolution,” John Adams once sniffed, “will be one contin­ued lye from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Frank­lin’s electrical rod smote the earth and out sprung General Washington, fully clothed and on his horse. Franklin then proceeded to electrify them with his rod and thence for­ward these three – Franklin, Washington...
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Independence Hall, The Birthplace of a Nation

Posted by William Kashatus 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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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by Brent Glass on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message The two hundredth anniver­sary of Joseph Priestley’s arrival in Pennsylvania presents a time to reflect on the life and work of an individual who was truly a unique citizen of our state, nation, and the world. During his lifetime, Priestley was the representative man of the Age of Enlightenment in England and America. His discovery of oxygen in 1774 established his reputation worldwide as...
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