NOTES ON THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 .^^ 
 
NOTES ON THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 By ROBERT J. McLAUGHLIN, A. M, 
 
 John Welsh School, Philadelphia 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Waither Print, Third Street and Girard Avenue 
 
 1913 
 
Copyright, 1913 
 
 By Robert J. McLaughlin 
 
 Published, August, 1913 
 
 //O 
 
 ©CI.A350819 
 
NOTES ON THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 I. Early Explorers and Settlers. 
 
 The earliest European settlers of Pennsylvania were the 
 Swedes and the Dutch. Henry Hudson, in his daring voy- 
 age in the ''Half Moon," in 1609, entered the Delaware 
 Bay, thus establishing the Dutch claim to this region. The 
 river and the bay took their name from Lord Delaware, a 
 governor of Virginia who entered the bay the next year. 
 In 1616, Captain Hendrickson, a Dutch navigator, explored 
 the Delaware River as far as the mouth of the Schuylkill. 
 His vessel, the "Onrust" or "Restless," had been built on 
 the Hudson, taking the place of his original ship from 
 Holland. The Dutch in 1623, under Captain Mey, settled 
 on the Jersey shore of the Delaware, nearly opposite where 
 Philadelphia now stands. This Captain Mey is now best 
 remembered by the cape that bears his name. From this 
 settlement the Dutch went into Pennsylvania, establishing 
 a valuable trade in beaver-skins. 
 
 The early rivals of the Dutch Avere the Swedes. Peter 
 Minuit, having resigned as governor of New Netherland, 
 had given his services to the Swedes. He and his Swedish 
 colonists reached America in 1638, erecting Fort Christina 
 where Wilmington now stands. New Sweden spread rap- 
 
idly into Pennsylvania. Johan Printz, the third governor, 
 arriving in 1642, selected Tinicum Island, twelve miles 
 below Philadelphia, as his headquarters, calling the settle- 
 ment New Gottenberg. In 1643, the Swedes also founded 
 a small town at Upland, now called Chester, where their 
 first courts met, and where the first highway was built. 
 The Swedes w^ere energetic colonists, raising wheat, rye, 
 and tobacco, and trading in furs. Their prosperity aroused 
 the Dutch ; and under Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch gov- 
 ernor of New Netherland, they determined to restore the 
 region to Holland. His ships, with six hundred men, 
 arrived in 1655, and New Sweden surrendered without re- 
 sistance to the Dutch rule. 
 
 Note. — 01(1 Swedes' Church, or the Gloria Dei, near Front and 
 Christian Streets^ Philadelphia, is a monument to the original Swedish 
 church here, built in 1669. 
 
 2. The English Settlement of Pennsylvania. 
 
 (a) The English, alarmed at the success of the Dutch, 
 determined to end their rule in America. England based 
 her claim to the region on the discoveries of the Cabots 
 in 1497, and she considered the Dutch as intruders. Soon 
 after Charles II. became king, he granted the region from 
 the Delaware to the Connecticut to his brother, James, the 
 Duke of York. In 1664, an English fleet arrived at New 
 Amsterdam, the chief Dutch settlement, and New Nether- 
 land passed without resistance into English hands, the 
 larger part becoming New York. Then the English sent 
 two ships to the Delaware, and Swedes and Dutch sub- 
 mitted to English rule. 
 
 (b) The idea of founding a colony in America for per- 
 secuted Quakers originated with George Fox, a poor shoe- 
 
maker preacher. In 1648, he founded the sect whose fol- 
 lowers called themselves Friends, the name, Quakers, being 
 given in derision by foes. These people were opposed to 
 fighting, either by individuals or by armies ; they objected 
 to taking oaths, and to all pomp and show ; they would not 
 take off their hats before any man, believing in the equality 
 of all. They refused to worship with the Church of Eng- 
 land, and their meetings were often dispersed by soldiers; 
 an act of Parliament called them a ''mischievous and dan- 
 gerous people." Hundreds of them died in prison rather 
 than give up their beliefs. It was this English persecution 
 which drove them to America. Those who went to New 
 England w^ere either banished or hanged by the Puritans, 
 and the Quakers found their first refuge in New Jersey. 
 It was some of these settlers who told William Penn of the 
 beautiful "Indian country on the west side of the Dela- 
 ware," the land that was to be Pennsylvania. 
 
 (c) William Penn was the son of Admiral Penn, a per- 
 sonal friend of King Charles II. While the young Penn 
 was studying at the University of Oxford, he adopted 
 Quaker views; and for his resistance to the laws of the 
 university he was expelled. After a tour in France and 
 Italy, he returned to England, with his ideas of Quakerism 
 almost forgotten. His father sent him to Ireland, and here 
 he again adopted the Quaker ideas, much to his father's 
 anger. Soon after his return to England, he wrote in 
 defence of Quakerism, and was imprisoned for some 
 months. On his father's death, Penn became a rich man, 
 yet he still continued his connection with the persecuted 
 Quakers. He had inherited a claim against the English 
 government for £16,000. In 1680, Penn asked the king 
 to give him a tract of land in America in settlement of this 
 
debt, and the king was glad to do so, Penn thus becoming 
 the proprietor of the new province. He first suggested 
 New "Wales as the name, and later Sylvania, from the Latin 
 word ''sylva," meaning a forest. To this the king pre- 
 fixed "Penn," giving the name Pennsylvania. 
 
 Note. — Penn had almost absolute control over the land so granted 
 to him. For it he was to pay the king t"wo beaver-skins a year and 
 one-fifth of all the gold and silver found there. 
 
 (d) Penn sent his cousin, Colonel AVilliam Markham, to 
 take possession and act as deputy-governor. He himself 
 came over in 1682 on the ship ''Welcome," and landed at 
 New Castle, Delaware. Reaching Upland two days later, 
 he changed the name to Chester. Here he called a pro- 
 visional Legislature and spent some time in framing laws. 
 He visited the site of his future city of Philadelphia be- 
 tween the Delaware and the Schuylkill River, purchasing 
 the land from three Swedish brothers. In the early 
 months of 1683, the streets of the new town were laid out. 
 The nine streets that ran east and w^est were named for 
 forest trees, such as Spruce, Pine, Chestnut, Walnut, Sas- 
 safras (now Race Street), etc. Mulberry Street became 
 Arch Street on account of its arched bridge at Front Street. 
 High Street, on account of its markets, became known as 
 Market Street. The streets running north and south were 
 named numerically, as Second Street, Third Street, etc. 
 The first winter, 1682-1683, saw few houses, and the peo- 
 ple lived mainly in caves along the river front. From the 
 first the city grew rapidly, and before long it became the 
 great city of the colonies. 
 
 Penn aimed to make the Indians his friends. In' June, 
 1683, he made his famous treaty with them under a large 
 elm-tree on the shore of the Delaware. Penn and his at- 
 
tendants were unarmed. After receiving some presents, 
 the Indians gave the wampum belt and pledged eternal 
 peace. 
 
 Note 1. — This elm-tree became very famous. A British general 
 stationed a guard to protect it, when the English occupied Philadel- 
 phia, in 1777. It was destroyed by a storm in 1810, but its site is 
 marked by a monument, now surrounded by a little park. 
 
 Note 2. — Penn, after the treaty under the Shackamaxon elm, pur- 
 chased land at various times from the Indians. The most famous of 
 these was the '^ Walking Purchase," by which he was to receive a 
 tract of land extending as far from the Delaware Kiver as a man 
 could w^alk in three days. Penn, accompanied by a few friends and a 
 small company of Indians, walked about thirty miles in a day and a 
 half. The remaining day and a half were walked out in 1733, by 
 orders of Thomas Penn. Three fast walkers were obtained^ the prizes 
 offered for speed being five hundred acres for each. A path was 
 marked to guide them, and food was placed along the way at inter- 
 vals. By noon of the second day, the fastest walker, a hunter named 
 Marshall, had walked over sixty miles. The indignant Indians refused 
 to give up the land until Thomas Penn, by valuable presents, secured 
 the help of the Iroquois chiefs. Ordered by them to give up the land, 
 the unfortunate Delawares had to submit. 
 
 Note 3. — In the summer of 1683, William Penn built a brick house 
 which he called the Letitia House, naming it after his daughter. 
 This house was located at Second and Market Streets, and there he 
 lived until he left for England in 1684. It now stands in Fairmount 
 Park. 
 
 Penn's country house, at Pennsbury, near Bristol, was a palatial 
 residence, surrounded by fine grounds. This house cost a great sum, 
 but Penn lived in it only from 1699 to 1701. The roads were so bad 
 that Penn generally traveled to the city by boat when he was at 
 Pennsbury. 
 
 (e) In the government of the colony Penn showed great 
 liberality. He drew up a constitution, or "Frame of Gov- 
 ernment" in England, and it was published in 1682. The 
 government was vested in a governor, appointed by the 
 proprietor, and in the freemen of the Province, who were 
 to elect a Provincial Council and a General Assembly. 
 Penn called the first meeting of the General Assembly in 
 Chester in December, 1682. As no Council had been 
 chosen, the Assembly met alone and adopted a number of 
 
8 
 
 laws which were embodied in the ''great law or body of 
 laws of the Province of Pennsylvania, "and this ''Great 
 Law" is still to a great extent part of the law of the 
 State. • It allowed complete freedom of worship; it gave 
 the right of voting to property-owners and tax-payers; it 
 limited the death penalty to the two crimes of murder 
 and treason, and this at a time when in England two hun- 
 dred offenses were punishable by death. 
 
 Penn left for England in 1684. In 1701, he abandoned 
 the old "Frame of Government" and gave the people a 
 new constitution, called the "Charter of Privileges." 
 This gave greater powers to the General Assembly, which 
 was still to be elected by the people. It made the Pro- 
 vincial Council a body to be appointed by the proprietor, 
 its duty being to advise the governor and to act as a court 
 of appeal. By this "Charter of Privileges," the "three 
 lower counties," or Delaware, had a separate Assembly 
 granted them. This "Charter" continued in effect till the 
 Revolution. 
 
 Note J. — In 170], Penn gave Philadelphia the charter by which it 
 became a city, Edward Shippen being its first mayor. 
 
 Note 2. — All the Quakers did not settle in Philadelphia. Many on 
 landing settled on farms and in various small settlements in south- 
 eastern Pennsylvania. A considerable number were in comfortable 
 circumstances, and they met with no such hardships as the Pilgrims 
 endured. 
 
 Note 3. — Penn's colony brought him no riches. He returned to 
 England in 1684, remaining there for fifteen years. In this period 
 he had many difficulties to meet as the friend of the exiled James II. 
 In 1699 he returned to Pennsylvania, bringing with him his second 
 wife, Hannah Callowhill. He became again the governor of the colony, 
 continuing so until he left for England in 1701, to defend his rights 
 as proprietor of Pennsylvania. His affairs in England were in a very 
 bad condition. Lawsuits, the expenses caused by one of his sons, and 
 the claims of his agent. Ford, had involved him deeply in debt. At 
 Ford 's death, his heirs brought their claim into court, and Penn went 
 to the debtors ' prison rather than submit to their demands. He stayed 
 
9 
 
 there about nine months. When the Ford heirs reduced their claim 
 to about one-half, Penn's friends paid the money, and set him free. 
 He died of paralysis in 1718. 
 
 j^ote 4. — Although most of the English settlers in Pennsylvania 
 were Quakers, there were many in Philadelphia who belonged to the 
 Church of England. They built the original of the present Christ 
 Church in 1695, on Second Street, above Market. The old church was 
 replaced by a new one, whose corner-stone was laid in 1727, and this 
 building is one of the city 's historic relics. The tower with the steeple 
 Avas completed in 1754, at a cost of over £3,000, and in this steeple 
 hangs the famous chime of bells that cost £560. The steeple once 
 held a crown; but in 1787, a bishop's miter with thirteen stars was 
 put there. Washington worshipped here, as did Benjamin Franklin, 
 Robert Morris, John Adams, and many other great men of the Rev- 
 olution. A rector of Christ Church, Rev. Jacob Duche, was chaplain 
 of the First Continental Congress in 1774. When the British cap- 
 tured Philadelphia in 1777, Duche abandoned the American cause and 
 urged Washington to do likewise. He fled to England, but later re- 
 turned to Philadelphia. 
 
 In Christ Church cemetery, at Fifth and Arch, lie buried the re- 
 mains of Philadelphia's greatest citizen, Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 3. Other Nationalities in Pennsylvania. 
 
 (a) The Welsh were among the early settlers. Most of 
 them were Friends; they, too, had been persecuted by 
 England, and they came to Pennsylvania to secure free- 
 dom. A few remained in Philadelphia, but most of them 
 settled in the Welsh Barony, later called the Welsh Tract, 
 a country section extending back from the Schuylkill. 
 Others went still further west, settling in Lancaster 
 County. Such names as Bryn Mawr (meaning "the great 
 hill"), Merion, Montgomery, Haverford, and Welsh 
 Mountains show the extent of their settlements. At first 
 they were unable to understand the English language; 
 they soon ceased to be separate, however, and merged into 
 the colony as one of its valued elements. 
 
 (b) The Scotch-Irish began to come to Pennsylvania 
 shortly after the year 1700. They came in great numbers, 
 forming more than half of the population of colonial 
 
10 
 
 Pennsylvania. These settlers were the descendants of the 
 Scotch who had occupied the northern part of Ireland in 
 the seventeenth century. Pennsylvania attracted them be- 
 cause of its fertile soil and its religious freedom. They 
 did not agree well with the German settlers in the eastern 
 part of the State, and most of them went westward. The 
 counties of Cumberland, Adams, and Franklin were largely 
 settled by them. In 1768, when the land beyond the 
 Allegheny Mountains was opened to settlers, many of them 
 seized the opportunity, and invaded the western wilder- 
 ness. The Scotch-Irish were energetic and brave, and well 
 adapted to conquer the difficulties of frontier life. They 
 fought and conquered the Indians, turned the forest into 
 farms and towns, and were an important element in the 
 development of the State. 
 
 (c) The Germans were the first, after the Friends, to 
 emigrate to Pennsylvania. Penn and Fox had visited 
 Holland and Germany, and their ideas were welcomed by 
 many. Among these were the Mennonites, a people like 
 the Quakers in their opposition to war, and in their use 
 of plain, simple dress and speech. These Mennonites, 
 persecuted in the regions along the Ehine, were glad to 
 find peace in Pennsylvania. In 1683, Francis Daniel Pas- 
 torius, a learned German, master of seven languages, es- 
 tablished the German settlement of Germantown, now a 
 suburb of Philadelphia. The original settlement was made 
 by a little company of forty-one Mennonites. The people 
 were extremely poor, but their industry soon brought 
 prosperity. They were skilled weavers of linen, and their 
 goods found a ready market. They practiced other in- 
 dustries, such as lacemaking, printing, etc. Among their 
 industrial establishments was the first paper-mill in 
 
11 
 
 America, built in 1690 on a branch of Wissahickon Creek, 
 near Philadelphia, by "William Rittinghuysen, a Mennon- 
 ite minister from Holland. 
 
 After 1700, the English government circulated in Ger- 
 many descriptions of the wealth and beauty of America in 
 order to induce German immigation. Its efforts were suc- 
 cessful, and great numbers came to Pennsylvania. By 
 1750, the Germans here numbered about 90,000, forming 
 one-third of the entire population. They settled the val- 
 leys of the Lehigh, the Schuylkill, and the Susquehanna, 
 founding the towns of Bethlehem, Easton, Allentown, 
 Reading, Lebanon, and Lancaster. These people were ex- 
 cellent farmers, and their steady thrift and persistent in- 
 dustry contributed largely to make the colony of Penn> 
 sylvania successful. They did their duty in the Revo- 
 lution also, helping with their Scotch-Irish neighbors in 
 winning independence for the nation. 
 
 Note 1. — Pastorius was one of four Germans to protest against 
 slavery in 1688. The Friends adopted his idea and became the anti- 
 slavery leaders. 
 
 Note 2. — The German sects who came to Pennsylvania to secure re- 
 ligious freedom, such as the Mennonites, the Tunkers, and the Mora- 
 vians, were all opposed to display and to war. The Moravians, the 
 followers of Count Zinzendorf, settled Bethlehem in 1741. They lived 
 in communities, and ' ' carried on about thirty trades for the benefit 
 of the church. ' ' Many worked as missionaries among the Indians. 
 
 Note 3. — The descendants of the German settlers in the agricultural 
 district of eastern Pennsylvania, ''commonly spoken of as the 'Penn- 
 sylvania Dutch,' are numerous to-day, and the German language of 
 two centuries ago is still spoken, though with an odd mixture of Eng- 
 lish words." 
 
 4. Settlement of the Largest Towns and Cities of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 While Philadelphia was the chief centre of colonial 
 trade, many other towns developed from the continued 
 
12 
 
 immigration into the colony. In most cases, it was the 
 mineral wealth of the State that led to their development. 
 Pittsburgh, originally Fort Duquesne, was taken by the 
 English in 1758, and rebuilt as Fort Pitt. The city began 
 in 1760, and the next year it had about one hundred houses. 
 Its growth was slow until the opening of the Northwest 
 Territory, when Pittsburgh became a centre of trade for 
 the new settlements. The abundance of coal and iron in 
 its neighborhood made it a great manufacturing city, during 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 Bethlehem, one of the oldest of the German settlements, 
 was settled by Moravians in 1741. Its situation on the 
 main line of travel between Boston and Philadelphia, made 
 it an important colonial city. The adjoining South Beth- 
 lehem has now extensive iron and steel works. Other 
 German settlements were Reading, the fourth largest city 
 of the State, founded in 1748; Wilkes-Barre, a great 
 anthracite coal centre, founded in 1783; Allentown, 
 founded in 1751, and developed by its iron industries; 
 Lancaster, founded in 1730 in a fertile region now pro- 
 ducing much grain and tobacco; Lebanon, founded in 
 1750 ; and Easton, founded in 1738. 
 
 Scranton, third in size of the cities of the State, was 
 founded in 1840, taking its name from the Scrantons, who 
 manufactured iron there. The coal from the surrounding 
 region and the steel and iron manufactures have developed 
 this city. 
 
 Erie was laid out in 1795, its development being due 
 to commerce on the Great Lakes and with Pittsburgh. 
 
 In the Susquehanna Valley, the two largest cities are 
 Harrisburg and York. Harrisburg, the capital of the 
 State, was founded by John Harris, and became a city in 
 
13 
 
 1785. York was settled in 1741 ; it lies in a rich agricuL 
 tural district, many of whose needs are met by the city's 
 manufactures. 
 
 Two cities of later development are Johnstown, the seat 
 of the enormous Cambria Iron Works, and Altoona, forty 
 miles distant, whose chief manufactory is the great car 
 and locomotive works of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
 
 5. Later Colonial History. 
 
 (a) Of the numerous governors of colonial Pennsylvania, 
 Sir William Keith is perhaps the best known, from his 
 connection with Benjamin Franklin. It was Keith who 
 induced the Assembly to issue well-secured paper money, 
 which relieved trade conditions in 1723. A prominent 
 leader in the colony's history at this period was the 
 learned James Logan, originally William Penn's secre- 
 tary. 
 
 (b) Greatest of all the men of the colony was Benjamin 
 Franklin. Early in life he had built up an excellent busi- 
 ness as printer, engaging in the colony's political affairs 
 at the same time. The paper which he conducted from 
 1729, the ''Pennsylvania Gazette," had great influence 
 throughout the colonies. So, too, had his almanac, pub- 
 lished under the name of Richard Saunders ("Poor Rich- 
 ard's Almanac") from 1732, for twenty-five years. 
 
 Franklin became a member of the Assembly in 1751. 
 He was sent as a delegate to the convention held at Albany 
 in 1754, to consider some plan of defence against the 
 French and Indians. His plan of a governor-general, to 
 be appointed by the king, and of a council composed of 
 representatives chosen by the colonial Assemblies, failed 
 of adoption. 
 
14 
 
 Franklin's clear mind served the colony well, when the 
 Pennsylvania Assembly sent him as its agent to protest 
 before the English government regarding the refusal of 
 the proprietors, Thomas and Richard Penn, to pay taxes. 
 He won the colony's cause, and remained in England as 
 general colonial agent until 1762. 
 
 (c) The French and Indian War checked Pennsylva- 
 nia's prosperity for a while. The Ohio Valley was desired 
 by the French and the English. Virginia sent Washing- 
 ton to request the commanders of the forts in northwest- 
 ern Pennsylvania to withdraw their forces; but this was, 
 of course, refused, and war resulted. The main engage- 
 ment in Pennsylvania occurred near Fort Duquesne, 
 which the French had seized in 1754. Braddock, with 
 about two thousand men, marched slowly from Virginia 
 toward Fort Duquesne in 1755. He would take no advice 
 from Washington, and was conquered near the fort by a 
 little force of nine hundred French and Indians. 
 
 Later, an expedition under Forbes and Washington 
 occupied Fort Duquesne in 1758, renaming it after Pitt, 
 the greatest English statesman of that day. 
 
 (d) Pontiac's War was the most serious Indian war in 
 Pennsylvania. This wily Indian was chief of the Ottawas, 
 a tribe living along the Great Lakes. He formed a great 
 alliance of the Indians of the Lake region and the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley; and in 1763, they attacked Pennsylvania's 
 western forts. For a time, the Indians threatened to de- 
 vastate all the region west of the Susquehanna. A little 
 army under Colonel Bouquet, however, cleared the colony 
 of its Indian foes in 1763, and the next year the war Avas 
 ended in the Ohio country. 
 
15 
 
 6. Boundary Disputes. 
 
 The disputes regarding the boundaries of Pennsylvania 
 were long and bitter. Connecticut, by its charter, was 
 given a grant extending "from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific." Connecticut, therefore, asserted a claim to 
 nearly all of the upper half of Pennsylvania. 
 
 A Connecticut settlement was made in Wyoming Valley 
 in this disputed section, but it was destroyed by Indians 
 in 1763. Settlers from each colony determined to hold the 
 land, and hostilities continued for two years. The dispute 
 was settled in 1782, by a commission appointed by Con- 
 gress. It awarded the land to Pennsylvania. 
 
 Virginia claimed Pittsburgh and the western end of the 
 State, and the matter was not settled till 1779. 
 
 The dispute with Maryland dated from the beginning 
 of Penn's grant, and it lasted more than eighty years. 
 Lord Baltimore claimed a belt extending across the State 
 and including Philadelphia. Finally, in 1763, two Eng- 
 lish astronomers, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were 
 employed to draw the present southern boundary line. 
 These, after four years' labor, completed the boundary for 
 over two hundred miles, giving the famous Mason and 
 Dixon's line. 
 
 Note 1. — Mason and Dixon cut a path twenty-four feet wide through 
 the forest, marking the boundary line in its centre. A stone marked 
 each mile; every fifth milestone bore on the north the arms of the 
 Penns, and on the south, the arms of Lord Baltimore. Indian oppo- 
 sition made the work difficult, and prevented its entire completion by 
 Mason and Dixon. Other surveyors completed the line in 1782. 
 
 Note 2. — The boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware was 
 surveyed by David Eittenhouse, the Pennsylvania astronomer. He also 
 marked out the northern boundary, along the forty-second parallel, in 
 1785-1787. 
 
16 
 
 7. Education. 
 
 Education received much attention in Pennsylvania. 
 The first school was opened in Philadelphia in 1683, with 
 Enoch Flower as teacher. The first grammar school was 
 established in Philadelphia in 1G89. It was maintained 
 by Friends, but was free to the poor. Christopher Dock, 
 noted for his kindness and his devotion to his work, taught 
 school in the old IMennonite log church of Germantown, 
 from 1740 for many years. 
 
 Primary education grew slowly ; for in 1833 only 24,000 
 pupils attended the public schools. Governor AVolf, in his 
 message of 1833, urged the need of an improved system of 
 public schools, and the law of 1834 established a general 
 system of free, common-school education. The Senate of 
 Pennsylvania repealed the law in 1835, but the House, 
 induced by the eloquence of Thaddeus Stevens, refused 
 to agree, and the public schools of to-day became possible. 
 From then on they spread over the State. 
 
 The school term has gradually lengthened from three 
 months in some of the rural districts to ten months. The 
 buildings have improved from rude, unpainted buildings 
 with rough benches to the modern type of comfortable 
 buildings. The text-books and the character of the teach- 
 ing have also made great advancement, the latter being 
 due to the direct training given by the State and the cities 
 to those intending to become teachers. 
 
 Higher education in Pennsylvania owes much of its de- 
 velopment to Franklin. The present University of Penn- 
 sylvania began in 1749, when the ''Academy and Charit- 
 able School of the Province of Pennsylvania," on Fourth 
 Street, below Arch, was founded by Franklin and others. 
 
17 
 
 In 1755, this school was called "The College, Academy 
 and Charitable School of Philadelphia;" in 1779, it be- 
 came the University of the State of Pennsylvania, and 
 in 1791, the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Note. — Pennsylvania has now more than thirty colleges. Besides 
 the University of Pennsylvania, the State has, among others, the Uni- 
 versity of Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh; Lafayette College, at Easton; 
 Lehigh University, at South Bethlehem; Dickinson College, at Car- 
 lisle; Bucknell University, at Lewisburg; Haverford College, at 
 Haverford; Bryn Mawr College (for women), at Bryn Mawr; La 
 Salle College, at Philadelphia; the Theological Seminary of St. Charles 
 Borromeo, at Overbrook; Washington and Jefferson College, at Wash- 
 ington; and Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster. 
 
 8. Colonial Life. 
 
 (a) The main occupation in colonial Pennsylvania was 
 
 farming. There were no patroons as in New York, nor 
 
 great planters as in the South, most of the farmers living 
 
 on small farms which they cultivated in person. The 
 
 Quakers as a class opposed slavery ; . hence there were but 
 
 few negro slaves in the colony. The farmer usually began 
 
 with a log cabin in a forest clearing; this developed into 
 
 the farm with its fields and orchards. From the flax and 
 
 wool produced on the farm, the farmer 's wife usually 
 
 made the cloth for the family's clothing. Grain, fruit, 
 
 and cattle were raised in abundance, and these, with flour 
 
 from the grist-mills and lumber from the saw-mills, were 
 
 their chief sources of wealth. 
 
 Note. — Dr. Benjamin Rush describes the German farmers of colonial 
 days with ■'' extensive fields of grain, full fed herds, luxuriant mead- 
 ows, orchards promising loads of fruit, together with spacious barns 
 and commodious stone dwelling-houses.'' 
 
 (b) In the towns and cities, commerce was the chief 
 occupation, the manufacturing being on a very small scale. 
 Workmen connected with various trades found ample oc- 
 
18 
 
 cnpation in the cities. The products of the surrounding 
 farms and flour-mills were sold in the city shops, besides 
 manufactured articles imported from England. 
 
 Philadelphia was a very attractive town in colonial days. 
 The houses were usually substantial, two-story dwellings, 
 often surrounded b}^ gardens. The houses were heated by 
 open fireplaces, where logs were burnt; they were lighted" 
 by tallow candles. 
 
 The shops in many of the dwellings had as signs, a 
 basket, a beehive, etc., to indicate what was for sale. 
 Great trading-houses developed in the city, carrying on 
 commerce with distant ports, using in many cases ships 
 built in Philadelphia shipyards. The city soon became the 
 chief trade centre of the colonies, with a population of 
 40,000 at the time of the Revolution. 
 
 Note. — The State House of Philadelphia is located on Chestnut 
 Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Its foundations were laid 
 in 1732, part of it being. completed for the Assembly's use in 1735. 
 When finished, the building was the finest of its kind in the colonies. 
 After the Declaration of Independence was announced in 1776, the 
 building took its present name of Independence Halh 
 
 The oast room is known as Independence Chamber. The table on 
 which the Declaration of Independence was signed stands in this room, 
 as does also the chair in which John Hancock sat as president of the 
 Second Continental Congress. In this room. Congress met from 1775 
 to 1783. Here the design of the nation's flag was adopted by Con- 
 gress, June 14, 1777. Here, in 1787^ the Federal Convention, with 
 Washington as presiding officer, drew up the Constitution for the new 
 nation. 
 
 The most interesting object in Independence Hall is the Liberty 
 Bell. The committee appointed in 1751 to secure a bell for the State 
 House tower decided to have it cast in London. The motto, selected 
 for the bell l)y l^aac Norris, was ''Proclaim liberty throughout all 
 the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The bell Avas brought 
 over from England in 1752, and soon began its patriotic career, ring- 
 ing out the news of the great events in the history of the colonies' 
 struggle for liberty. 
 
 The bell tolled 'last at the funeral of Chief Justice Marshall, in 
 1835, a great split in the side silencing its tones forever. Yet it still 
 
19 
 
 speaks of liberty to the millions who come to view this cherished relic 
 of the Eevolution. 
 
 Congress Hall is a separate building, situated at the corner of Sixth 
 and Chestnut Streets; it was erected in 1788 and 1789. Here the 
 Congress of the United States met from 1790 to 1800, when Philadel- 
 phia was the national capital, the Senate meeting on the second floor, 
 and the House of Eepresentatives on the first floor. Washington took 
 the oath of office here, after his second election as president; here 
 John Adams was inaugurated on March 4, 1797; here, in December, 
 1796, Washington delivered his Farewell Address to the people of the 
 United States. 
 
 9. Pennsylvania during the Revolution. 
 
 (a) England had restricted colonial manufacture and 
 commerce. The effort on her part to tax the colonists 
 without their consent caused the war known as the Revo- 
 lution. The Stamp Act, laying a stamp tax on all public 
 and private documents, led to resistance in Pennsylvania 
 as elsewhere. When the stamps arrived in 1765, the peo- 
 ple refused to use them or to buy British goods while the 
 law remained in force. This loss of trade led England to 
 repeal the law in 1766. Other taxes followed in 1767, and 
 pamphlets were written against Parliament's idea of 
 ''taxation without representation." John Dickinson, a 
 lawyer of Philadelphia, wrote the famous ''Letters of a 
 Pennsylvania Farmer," which had a great influence in 
 causing the people of the colonies to resist the English 
 taxes. He showed that if England taxed the colonies to 
 pay colonial governors and judges, these officers would no 
 longer be dependent on their own colonial Assemblies, but 
 would be forced to obey the king and Parliament. 
 
 In 1770, all taxes were removed except the small tax 
 on tea, of three pence per pound. This tax was insisted 
 on by the obstinate George III. to prove his right to tax 
 the colonists. One of the tea ships came to Philadelphia 
 
20 
 
 in 1773. When this ship, "Polly," arrived, a popular 
 meeting was held in the. State House j^ard; the captain 
 was ordered to take his cargo of tea back, and the next 
 day he and the tea sailed for England. , 
 
 Note. — Paul Tievere was sent from Boston in 1775, to bring the 
 news of the battle of Lexington. The State House bell announced 
 the news of the battle to the 8,000 people assembled near by. It was 
 clear that the war had begun. 
 
 (b) Every colony except Georgia sent delegates to the 
 First Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia in 
 1774. The fifty-five delegates assembled in Carpenters' 
 Hall, and continued in session for about two months. The 
 Congress passed a Declaration of Rights, demanding the 
 right of the colonists to levy their own taxes and make 
 their own local laws in the colonial Assemblies. It also 
 recommended the stopping of all commercial intercourse 
 with England. It called a second Congress to meet in 
 May, 1775. 
 
 Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was president of the Con- 
 gress. Washington, John Dickinson, Patrick Henry, 
 Samuel Adams, and John Adams were some of its leading 
 members. 
 
 Note 1. — Lord Chatham said that ''for solidity of reasoning, force 
 of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under such a complication of 
 circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to 
 the general Congress at Philadelphia. ' ' 
 
 Note 2. — Carpenters' Hall is located in the roar of the south side 
 of Chestnut Street, between Third and Fourth Streets, Philadelphia. 
 It was owned by an organization of master carpenters, and was occu- 
 pied first in 1771, although unfinished then. The First Continental 
 Congress met here in 1774. During the Kevolution, the basement was 
 used as a storehouse for American ammunition. The first Bank of the 
 United States occupied the building from 1791 to 1797. From 1817, 
 the Second Bank of the United States occupied it for five years. At 
 present the Carpenters' Company owns the hall, keeping it and its 
 historic relics on view for visitors. 
 
21 
 
 (c) John Penn was governor of Pennsylvania from 
 1763 to 1776 excepting during his absence in England, 
 from 1771 to 1773, when his brother Richard held the posi- 
 tion. Both were respected by the people, but the end of 
 the rule of the Penns came in 1775, when the Assembly 
 superseded Governor Penn by a Council of Safety. This 
 body remained the executive power for about a year. A 
 constitution for the new State of Pennsylvania went into 
 effect in the autumn of 1776. This provided for a legisla- 
 tive body called the General Assembly, whose members 
 were to be elected by the people. The executive power 
 was vested in a president, with an advisory council of 
 twelve members called the Supreme Executive (^ouncil. 
 
 (d) The Second Continental Congress met in Phila- 
 delphia in May, 1775, with John Hancock, of Boston, as 
 president. Its sessions lasted with occasional adjournments 
 until 1781. It was the head of the government during the 
 Revolution. The most prominent delegate from Pennsyl- 
 vania was Benjamin Franklin, who had lately returned 
 from England. 
 
 This Congress organized the American Continental Army, 
 and passed measures to raise funds to support it; it also 
 appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the 
 army. 
 
 On June 7, 1776, a resolution Avas offered in the Con- 
 tinental Congress by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, pro- 
 posing colonial independence. A committee of which 
 Thomas Jefferson was chairman was then appointed to 
 draw up a Declaration of Independence. Lee's resolution 
 on colonial independence was adopted on the second day 
 of July, and two days later, July 4, 1776, Congress adopted 
 
22 
 
 Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, which gave the 
 reasons for the separation. 
 
 Note 1. — Thomas Paine was a political writer who had come to 
 Philadelphia from England. He worked with Franklin, Eush, Eit- 
 tenhouse, and other patriots to aid in securing the independence of 
 the colonies. His pamphlet, ''Common Sense," appeared in January, 
 1776. It urged separation from England, and exercised great influ- 
 i-nce on the minds of the colonists. 
 
 Note 2. — In Lee's resolution, offered in Congress on June 7, 1776, 
 were tae words: 
 
 "Besolved, That these united colonies' are, and of right ought to 
 be free and independent States, that they are absolved from all 
 allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection be- 
 tween them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally 
 dissolved. ' ' 
 
 Of course, to offer this resolution would mean death as a punish- 
 ment for treason if the colonies shou.^ fail in their fight. 
 
 The committee of Congress selected on June 11, 1776, to draft a 
 Declaration of Independence consisted of Thomas Jefferson, of Vir- 
 ginia; John Adams, of Massachusetts; Benjamin Franklin, of Penn- 
 sylvania; Eoger Sherman, of Connecticut; and E. E. Livingston, of 
 iNew York. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, 
 in a house at the southwest corner of Seventh and Market Streets, 
 Philadelphia. It was presented to Congress on June 28th. On July 
 1st, Congress voted on Lee's resolution for colonial independence. 
 Dickinson opposed it, believing the people not yet ready to fight for 
 independence; but the majority of Pennsylvania's delegates favored 
 independence. Delaware's vote was changed for independence by 
 Caesar Eodney 's eighty-mile ride on horseback. On July 2, 1776, 
 Congress adopted Lee 's resolution almost unanimously, and this date 
 is the real independence day. On July 4, 1776, Congress adopted 
 Jefferson's Declaration, which gave the reasons for their act of July 
 2d. On July 8th, the Declaration of Independence was read in the 
 State House yard. The document was signed by the members on 
 August 2d. The Pennsylvania signers were Benjamin Franklin, Eob- 
 ert Morris, Dr. Benjamin Eush, and George Clymer, of Philadelphia; 
 (leorge Eoss, of Lancaster; James Smith, of York; James Wilson, 
 of Cumberland; George Taylor, of Northampton, and John Morton, 
 of Chester County. President Hancock and Secretary Thompson 
 signed it on July 4, 1776, Hancock saying: ''There! John Bull can 
 read my name without spectacles, and may now double his reward 
 of five hundred pounds for my head. ' ' 
 
 Napoleon said of this act of Congress: "The finger of God was 
 there. ' ' 
 
2S 
 
 (e) The British Invasion of Pennsylvania.— ^Washing- 
 ton, after retreating from New York across New Jersey, 
 found safety for his army in Pennsylvania. The victory 
 at Trenton at the close of 1776 saved Philadelphia for the 
 time, and Congress returned from Baltimore. Money to 
 support Washington's soldiers was now raised by Robert 
 Morris in Philadelphia, who, on New Year's morning, 1777, 
 sent him $50,000, secured by borrowing from friends. 
 
 Howe was determined to secure the patriots' capital, 
 and in the summer of 1777 he invaded Pennsylvania. He 
 defeated Washington and Lafayette at Chadd's Ford on 
 Brandywine Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania, and two 
 weeks later entered Philadelphia in triumph. This caused 
 a panic in the city. The Liberty Bell was taken to Allen- 
 town and hidden; Congress fled to Lancaster and then to 
 York. Washington retired to a camp on Skippack Creek, 
 fourteen miles from Germantown, where most of the British 
 were encamped. He surprised the enemy by his attack on 
 October 4th. A fog caused some confusion in the Ameri- 
 can lines, as did their unsuccessful attempt to take the Chew 
 House, a strong stone house which the British had seized. 
 Washington was obliged to retreat, leaving the British mas- 
 ters of the city. Late in December, Washington went into 
 winter quarters at Valley Forge, twenty miles from Phila- 
 delphia. Food and clothing were scarce, and the sufferings 
 of the patriots were severe during that terrible winter. 
 Only about 5,000 were fit for duty. 
 
 Meanwhile Howe's army lived in ease in Philadelphia, 
 the officers devoting much time to pleasure. Franklin said, 
 ''Howe did not take Philadelphia — Philadelphia took 
 Howe." When Clinton was given Howe's place as com- 
 mander, the officers arranged the famous mischianza in 
 
24 
 
 honor of General Howe, in May, 1777. After a regatta on 
 the Delaware, the procession marched to the country-seat 
 of Thomas Wharton, in the southern part of Philadelphia, 
 where a tournament was held. The ball in the evening 
 completed the revelry. 
 
 Shortly after this pageant, the British evacuated the 
 city, June 18, 1778. 
 
 Note 1. — Just before the evacuation, three peace commissioners, 
 sent by the British government, arrived in Philadelphia. They offered 
 to agree to all American demands, if the colonists would abandon the 
 idea of independence. Congress refused to consider their offers. 
 General Joseph Eeed, one of the delegates from Pennsylvania, was 
 ott'ered £10,000 if he would work with the commissioners to secure 
 peace. He replied, **I am not worth purchasing; but such as I am, 
 the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it. ' ' 
 
 Note 2. — In June, 1778, the Wyoming massacre occurred in Penn- 
 sylvania. A party of Tories and Indians from New York, led by 
 Colonel Butler, invaded Wyoming. A small force of farmers was 
 gathered to oppose them, but the brave band was conquered, many 
 being cruelly put to death by the savages. The Indians soon began 
 to plunder and destroy the settlement, and most of the helpless sur- 
 vivors fled into the wilderness. 
 
 Note 3. — The remainder of the war was fought outside Pennsyl- 
 vania. One event indirectly connected with the city was Arnold's 
 treason against the government. General Benedict Arnold had been 
 left in command of the city for some time after the British evacua- 
 tion. His marriage to the beautiful Peggy Shippen and his mansion 
 on the Schuylkill caused him to live beyond his means, and his ex- 
 travagance and mismanagement angered the people. His reprimand 
 by Washington made him yearn for the revenge he tried to get by 
 his treason at West Point. 
 
 The year 1781 brought the end of the war with the triumph of 
 Yorktown, and the Avatchman called out the glad news through the 
 city streets, ''Past two o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken." 
 
 10. The Concluding Part of the Eighteenth Century. 
 
 (a) The State Constitution that went into effect in 
 November, 1776, lasted till 1790. When the British held 
 Philadelphia, Lancaster was the State capital, but in 1778 
 Philadelphia again became its capital. 
 
25 
 
 The Revolution ended the rule of the Penn family. 
 In 1779, the State bought their unsold land in Pennsylvania 
 for about $650,000 ; their private estates here remained, of 
 course, in the family's possession. 
 
 (b) The first national bank in America, called the 
 Bank of North America, was established in Philadelphia. 
 On the recommendation of Robert Morris, the charter was 
 granted by Congress in December, 1781. It aided the 
 government in meeting its money obligations, and saved 
 the Continental Army from disbanding. 
 
 Note. — Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury in Wash- 
 ington's administration, recommended to Congress the establishment 
 of the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. It was chartered 
 in 1791 for twenty years. The bank was refused a charter at the 
 expiration of this time in 1811; in 1812 it became the Bank of 
 Stephen Girard. In 1816, Congress chartered a second Bank of the 
 United States for twenty years, and it soon controlled the monetary 
 affairs of the nation, since it held the funds of the government. By 
 Jackson's opposition, no new charter was given in 1836. 
 
 (e) The Articles of Confederation were the supreme 
 law of the nation from 1781 to 1789. They left the States 
 independent and gave little power to the national Congress, 
 which consisted of only one body. Congress could not com- 
 pel obedience to its laws, nor could it compel the raising 
 of Federal taxes. To end the disorder resulting from such 
 a weak government, a Convention was called to meet in 
 Philadelphia to revise the Articles. 
 
 Among the delegates sent by Pennsylvania were Benjamin 
 Franklin, James Wilson, Robert Morris, and Gouvemeur 
 Morris. Washington was president of the Convention. 
 The delegates saw that the Articles could not be revised, and 
 they drew up instead the present Constitution. 
 
 To secure the ratification of the Constitution by the States 
 was a slow process. In Pennsylvania, the eastern section 
 
26 
 
 favored it, while the western counties opposed it. The 
 convention decided in favor of the new document, giving 
 Pennsylvania's vote for the ratification. 
 
 The agitation regarding the new national Constitution 
 brought about a desire for a new State Constitution, which 
 was adopted in 1790. It provided for a Senate and a House 
 of Representatives; the governor was to be elected by the 
 people and he was to appoint the judges. All white males 
 over twent3-one had the right to vote. This constitution 
 lasted till 1838. 
 
 Note 1. — The first governor elected was Thomas Miffin. 
 
 Note 2. — The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1838 made many of 
 the positions elective to which the governor had formerly appointed; 
 it abolished all. lite offices, and required a Senate confirmation for the 
 governor's nominations of judges. In 1873, another State Consti- 
 tution was adopted. This gave the right of suffrage to all male 
 citizens instead of only to ' ' white freemen ; " it also increased the 
 number of members in the Legislature, and made its sessions bien- 
 nial. 
 
 Note 3. — Philadelphia remained the State capital till 1799, the 
 Legislature meeting in Independence Hall. The State capital was 
 at Lancaster from 1799 till 1812, and at Harrisburg from 1812 on. 
 
 Philadelphia was the national capital from 1790 to 1800. Con- 
 gress met in the building at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, 
 while the Supreme Court sat in the building at Fifth and Chestnut. 
 President Washington lived in a house belonging to Robert Morris, 
 
 (d) The Whiskey Insurrection in 1791 arose among 
 the Scotch-Irish farmers of Western Pennsylvania. They 
 could find no ready market for their grain owing to bad 
 roads, and they distilled it into whiskey. When Congress 
 in 1791, in order to raise revenue laid a tax on this whiskey, 
 the people revolted. They assaulted the government col- 
 lectors, and their armed resistance prevented the collection 
 for several years. In 1794, Washington sent an army of 
 
15,000 and the people submitted. The leaders of the in- 
 surrection were convicted of treason, but were pardoned by 
 Washington. 
 
 (e) Yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia in the sum- 
 mer of 1793, brought there by white refugees from Hayti. 
 Thousands fled from Philadelphia in terror, and business 
 was at a standstill. The plague raged for one hundred 
 days. A special hospital was established, and here the 
 wealthy Stephen Girard gave his services as nurse for sixty 
 days, showing the highest courage and philanthropy. 
 Among the brave physicians of the time none surpassed 
 the famous Dr. Benjamin Rush in his devotion to duty. 
 The number of deaths from this plague was about five thou- 
 sand, or one-ninth of the population. 
 
 Note. — In 1797, there was a return of the plague. It took many- 
 years for science to conquer this disease. 
 
 II. The War of 1812. 
 
 The city of Erie was the only part of Pennsylvania where 
 any actual fighting occurred in this war. The British had 
 a number of vessels on Lake Erie, and the United States 
 government decided to build a fleet at Erie. Captain Oliver 
 H. Perry was sent to Erie to direct this construction in 
 1813. The battle between the two fleets occurred near the 
 western end of the lake, enabling Perry to send his proud 
 message, ''We have met the enemy and they are ours." 
 
 The war greatly interfered with the State's ocean com- 
 merce, British ships capturing various merchant vessels. 
 This war by preventing importation of foreign manufac- 
 tures, stimulated American ones, and gave Pennsylvania 
 first rank as a manufacturing State for many years. 
 
12. The Development of Modes and Routes of Trans- 
 portation. 
 
 (a) Colonial inland commerce in eastern Pennsylvania 
 was carried on by means of wagons that moved slowly over 
 the poor roads. In the West, trains of pack-horses carried 
 the goods through the forests. Thus, the iron made in 
 the Juniata Valley was sent to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh 
 by groups of horses, divided into sections of twelve or 
 fifteen. The Conestoga wagon with its linen cover, its 
 broad wheels, and its six or more horses, came into use 
 about 1760. Such a wagon could transport four tons. They 
 became very numerous, and were of great importance to 
 commerce. 
 
 The first stone turnpike in the United States extended 
 between Philadelphia and Lancaster. It was called the 
 Lancaster Pike, and was built between 1792 and 1794. In 
 the year 1806 it was carried to Pittsburgh. Many emigrants 
 and much commerce passed over this highway. 
 
 In 1811, the national government began the construction 
 of the National Road, a fine highway, running west from 
 Cumberland; Maryland, to Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
 thence into Ohio'. Of this road, seventy-five miles were in 
 Pennsylvania. Up to 1830, good solid roads were built in 
 every direction through the State; after that date, the 
 building of railroads began. 
 
 Passengers in colonial days were transported by stage- 
 coach. New York was a two-day journey from Philadel- 
 phia in the days of the stagecoach. In 1801, a line of 
 stagecoaches was established from Philadelphia to Pitts- 
 burgh, the trip taking seven days. 
 
 (b) River commerce dates almost from the beginning of 
 colonial history. After the Revolution, much attention was 
 
29 
 
 given to improving the streams for purposes of navigation. 
 With the invention of the steamboat, their value was greatly 
 increased. John Fitch, a native of Connecticut, after re- 
 peated trials, built a steamboat which made regular trips 
 on the Delaware, between Philadelphia and Burlington, in 
 1790. The invention was not satisfactory, . and the boat 
 was finally abandoned. 
 
 Fulton with his ''Clermont" in 1807 was the first to 
 succeed with steam navigation. Steamboats traversing the 
 rivers of Pennsylvania, soon swelled the commerce of Phila- 
 delphia and Pittsburgh, the trade of the latter city in the 
 Ohio and Mississippi Valleys reaching immense proportions 
 by this means. 
 
 (c) Another development of commerce came with the 
 building of canals. The Schuylkill Canal joined Philadel- 
 phia and Pottsville in 1825; it connected with the Union 
 Canal from the Susquehanna to the Schuylkill near Reading 
 in 1827. In 1829, a canal was built across Delaware con- 
 necting the Delaware with Chesapeake Bay. Later, by the 
 opening of the Delaware and Raritan Canal across New 
 Jersey, a canal route was made from New York to Philadel- 
 phia to Baltimore. In 1840, there were about one thousand 
 miles of canals in Pennsylvania ; the building of railroads, 
 however, soon caused a great reduction in canal trafiic. 
 
 Note. — -To rival the Erie Canal and reduce the cost of freight be- 
 tween Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, an arrangement of railroad and 
 canal was devised. A railroad was built between Philadelphia and 
 Columbia. From here, a canal extended up the Susquehanna to the 
 Juniata, and up the Juniata to Hollidaysburg. A portage railroad, 
 thirty-six miles long, crossed the Alleghanies to Johnstown, station- 
 ary engines drawing the cars up the mountain and lowering them 
 by an endless wire rope. From here a canal, following the Cone- 
 maugh and Alleghany Rivers, was built to Pittsburgh, a distance of 
 one hundred and four miles. This great Pennsylvania Canal was 
 
30 
 
 completed in 1834, and was of great commercial importance. In 
 1857, the main line of the canal was bought by the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad Company, but it was soon abandoned, none of it being now 
 in use. 
 
 (d) The first railroad in Pennsylvania to convey pas- 
 sengers and freight was the Germantown Road; the first 
 passenger train that left Philadelphia was drawn by horses, 
 but in November, 1832, a locomotive was put on. In 1834, 
 a railroad Avas built from Philadelphia to Columbia, and 
 from then on, railroads increased rapidly. By 1860, the 
 railroad had displaced the stagecoach and the canal boat, 
 saving much time and greatly aiding in the development 
 of commerce. 
 
 13. The Development of Pennsylvania's Industries. 
 
 (a) Agriculture has always been a leading occupation 
 of the State, owing to its fertile soil and temperate climate. 
 The increased demand for food stuffs resulting from the 
 increased population made farming profitable. The use of 
 improved farming methods, and the use of modern agricul- 
 tural machinery have developed agriculture greatly. 
 
 (b) Commerce developed with the improvement of the 
 roads, the invention of the steamboat, the building of 
 canals, and the growth of railroads. One authority says: 
 ''The growth of American shipping from 1789 to 1807 is 
 without parallel in the history of the commercial world." 
 The early exports were chiefly agricultural products; but 
 with the later development of manufacturing and mining, 
 other products were exported. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh 
 became the State's great trading centres, each controlling 
 an immense volume of trade. 
 
31 
 
 (c) During the colonial period there was but little manu- 
 facturing. This industry became important after the Fed- 
 eral Constitution gave the government the power to lay a 
 protective tariff. In 1789, hosiery, hats, and cotton and 
 woolen goods were manufactured. By 1790, one-fourth of 
 the men in Philadelphia were engaged in manufacturing. 
 The Embargo Act and the Non-Intercourse Act, preceding 
 the "War of 1812, with the war itself, stimulated American 
 manufactures, since European goods were almost impossible 
 to obtain. The protective tariff acts of 1824 and 1828 
 greatly stimulated manufacturing. After 1840, with the 
 development of her coal and iron supplies, Pennsylvania 
 became after New York, the chief manufacturing State of 
 the nation. 
 
 (d) There was some little mining in colonial days. Iron 
 was early mined in Pennsylvania. Forges were in operation 
 in various parts of the colony, and wrought iron cannons 
 were made here for the Continental Army. In 1786, there 
 were seventeen forges or furnaces around Lancaster. The 
 Phoenix Iron Works at Phoenixville were started in 1790. 
 The first foundry at Pittsburgh was established in 1803. 
 The use of coal in the blast furnaces, about 1840, made 
 Pittsburgh one of the world's great iron centres; the vast 
 bituminous coal supply of the region around it and the 
 river transportation of ore, fuel, and finished products 
 caused the great development of this industry. The richest 
 iron ore of the State comes from the Cornwall mines, near 
 Lebanon, but four other States surpass Pennsylvania in the 
 amount of ore mined ; Pittsburgh, McKeesport, Johnstown, 
 and other adjacent cities get most of their iron ore from 
 Michigan. The Pittsburgh district produces most of the 
 iron and steel manufactured, though there are extensive iron 
 
32 
 
 and steel works in South Bethlehem, Steelton, Reading, 
 Scranton, Allentown, Easton, and Phoenixville. 
 
 The vast deposits of bituminous coal lying west of the 
 Alleghanies were early discovered, and the coal was used in . 
 forges and furnaces. Pittsburgh became the centre of the 
 industries dependent on this fuel. 
 
 Anthracite coal was discovered in the Wyoming Yalley 
 in 1766. In 1791, a hunter named Philip Ginter found 
 ''stone coal" near Mauch Chunk. Ginter 's discovery led to 
 the formation of a great coal company. The blockade of 
 the War of 1812, which caused the development of Ameri- 
 can manufactures, created the need for the new fuel. Little 
 was sold before 1820, when the first canal brought the coal 
 to the eastern cities of the State; later, the railroads car- 
 ried it, the Philadelphia and Reading Road being chartered 
 in 1833. The anthracite coal region lies in Lackawanna, 
 Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill, and Northumberland Counties, 
 Scranton and Wilkes-Barre being the chief cities developed 
 by the anthracite coal industry. 
 
 (e) Lumbering was an important industry even in colo- 
 nial days; later the ship-yards of Philadelphia, Erie, and 
 Pittsburgh used large quantities of lumber. With the in- 
 crease in factories and railroads, a greater demand for 
 lumber was created. The chief city concerned in this in- 
 dustry is Williamsport on the West Branch of the Sus- 
 quehanna; its immense lumber boom to hold the logs sent 
 down the river each spring can hold 300,000,000 feet of 
 lumber. Another important lumber centre is Lock Haven. 
 
 (f) Petroleum is an important production of Pennsyl- 
 vania. The industry dates from 1859, when Edwin L. 
 Drake "struck oil," after sinking a pipe to the depth of 
 
33 
 
 sixty-nine feet, near Titusville. This city, Oil City, and 
 Bradford were the chief oil centres. The oil is now trans- 
 ported to the great cities of the East by the pipe line ; the 
 length of pipe-line transporting the oil production of Penn- 
 sylvania is about 25,000 miles. 
 
 Pennsylvania ranks sixth among the oil-producing States. 
 
 Note. — ''The trunk line to Philadelphia begins at Colgrove, Mc- 
 Kean County, its six-inch pipe extending over a distance of 235 
 miles. ' ' 
 
 (g) The slate quarries of Northampton, Lehigh, and 
 
 Berks Counties are important. The first quarry was 
 
 opened about the year 1812. Slatington is the centre of 
 
 this industry. 
 
 Note.— The nickel mines in Lancaster County were once important, 
 as was the zinc mine of Lehigh County. The limestone deposits and 
 the brownstone quarries of the State are important. One-half of all 
 the cement made in the United States comes from Pennsylvania, and 
 two-fifths of the glass, Pittsburgh being the centre of glass manu- 
 facture. 
 
 14. The Antislavery Question. 
 
 (a) Between 1850 and 1860, the antislavery party grew 
 rapidly in Pennsylvania. Its beginnings were stormy. In 
 1833, a convention met at Philadelphia to form the Ameri- 
 can Antislavery Society, and riots resulted between the 
 whites and the negroes. A serious riot broke out in 1838, 
 when the Society's building, Pennsylvania Hall, was being 
 dedicated. The mob set the building on fire, completely de- 
 stroying it. 
 
 Public opinion gradually changed in favor of the anti- 
 slavery party. For years, the slaves escaping from the 
 South were helped by Pennsylvanians to gain freedom, par- 
 ties being passed by night from one hiding-place to another. 
 
34 
 
 until they reached Canada. This system from its secrecy 
 was called "The Underground Railroad." When Congress 
 passed a new Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, it became a crime 
 to assist a fugitive slave. This irritated the North, and in- 
 creased the opposition to slavery. 
 
 Note 1. — Thomas Garrett, a Wilmington Friend, is said to have 
 aided 2,700 slaves to escape. 
 
 A noted case occurred in 1855^ when a Southern planter with three 
 slaves passed through Philadelphia. The agent of the Abolition 
 Society, Passmore Williamson, held the owner till the slaves escaped. 
 The case was taken to court, but Williamson was finally released 
 when he showed that the slaves were beyond his control and could not 
 be produced in court. 
 
 Note 2. — About this time^ the districts around Philadelphia were 
 joined with it. The original city limits were from Vine to South 
 Street, and between the two rivers. In 1854, the surrounding inde- 
 pendent districts of Southwark, Moyamensing, Spring Garden, North- 
 ern Liberties, Kensington, Richmond, Belmont, Germantown, Mana- 
 yunk, etc., became part of Philadelphia; its boundaries were made 
 to include the entire county, all being under one city government. 
 
 (b) The Republican party, formed in 1856, was opposed 
 to the extension of slavery. Its first National Convention 
 was held in Philadelphia, in June, 1856. The Republicans 
 lost their first election, James Buchanan, the Democratic 
 candidate, being elected. This president was the only one 
 ever selected from Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Brown's raid and his execution in 1859 added to 
 the antislavery feeling. He had made Chambersburg his 
 base of operations before going to Harper's Ferry. His 
 death enraged the Abolitionists and this feeling contributed 
 to the growth of the Republican party. 
 
 In 1860 it elected Andrew G. Curtin as governor of Penn- 
 sylvania, and Abraham Lincoln as president of the nation. 
 
 (c) Pending Lincoln's inauguration, Buchanan did no- 
 thing. While the States were seceding, he made no opposi- 
 
35 
 
 tion, believing that lie had no right to force a State to 
 remain in the Union, and being dominated by Southern 
 influence. 
 
 In January, 1861, Curtin, the ''War Governor," began 
 his administration, and on March 4th Lincoln was inaug- 
 urated. When he called for the first volunteers on April 
 15, 1861, Pennsylvania responded generously, recruits pour- 
 ing into Harrisburg by the thousands. This State's total 
 contribution to the Federal armies amounted to 380,000 
 men. 
 
 Camp Curtin near Harrisburg was a great military sta- 
 tion all through the war. The extra volunteers after the 
 first call were organized by Curtin into a reserve corps, to 
 be drilled and equipped for any later emergency. These 
 Pennsylvania Reserves were called for by Lincoln after the 
 defeat at Bull Run, and they made fine soldiers. Curtin 
 kept on organizing troops throughout the war, supporting 
 Lincoln with all his powers. He aided the wounded, and 
 secured the establishment of schools for the care and educa- 
 tion of soldiers' orphans. 
 
 Note 1. — Lincoln, on the way to his inauguration, made a speech 
 in Independence Hall on February 22d. In it he said, ''I would 
 rather be assassinated on this gpot than surrender that sentiment in 
 the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the 
 people of this country, but hope to the world, for all future time. ' ' 
 On the evening of that day, hearing of a plot to kill him in Balti- 
 more, he went secretly from Harrisburg to Washington. 
 
 Note 2. — The people of Pennsylvania showed much hospitality to 
 the soldiers passing through their towns and cities. In Philadelphia, 
 all through the war, the Union and Cooper-shop volunteer refreshment 
 saloons gave the passing soldiers something to eat and drink, nearly 
 a million soldiers being thus welcomed. Philadelphia also held a 
 great fair in Logan Square, by which $1,500,000 was raised for the 
 benefit of sick and wounded soldiers. 
 
 This fair was held under the auspices of the United States Sani- 
 tary Commission, an organization formed to give aid to soldiers and 
 sailors. It maintained hospitals for them, and distributed clothing 
 and other supplies for the soldiers' comfort. 
 
36 
 
 (d) Pennsylvania was much exposed to Southern raids 
 because of its nearness. In 1862, General Stuart made a 
 cavalry raid into Pennsylvania. His men encamped around 
 Chambersburg, but the raiders returned to Virginia without 
 doing any great damage. Early 's raiders in 1864 appeared 
 before Chambersburg, demanding a payment of $200,000 in 
 gold to save the town from burning. As the money was 
 not paid, the city was burned, causing a loss of three million 
 dollars' worth of property and making three thousand peo- 
 ple homeless. 
 
 (e) The greatest event of the war in Pennsylvania was 
 the battle of Gettysburg. In 1863 this was a small town of 
 twenty-five hundred inhabitants, located in an agricultural 
 section in southern Pennsylvania. Near its western limits 
 lies Seminar}^ Ridge; on the east is Cemetery Ridge, with 
 its three elevations known as Round Top, Little Round Top, 
 and Gulp's Hill. General Reynolds, of the Union Army, 
 was killed as the battle opened. The first day's fight raged 
 till late in the afternoon, the Confederates, at its conclusion, 
 liolding Seminary Ridge, and the Union forces. Cemetery 
 Ridge. 
 
 General Hancock had been sent in advance by Meade, and 
 additional Union and Confederate troops marched all night 
 to join in the battle. General Meade arrived about one 
 o'clock on the morning of July 2d. He and Lee spent the 
 morning of that day in preparation, the battle not beginning 
 until the afternoon. General Sickles, of the Union left wing, 
 was driven back by General Longstreet. The Confederates 
 struggled desperately to gain Little Round Top, but the 
 Union forces held it by great valor. 
 
 The third day, July 3d, was marked by a terrific artillery 
 contest between the two armies; for two hours, more than 
 
37 
 
 two hundred cannons continued their deadly work. When 
 this duel ended, Lee sent General Pickett with 15,000 men 
 to attack the Union centre. After fearful slaughter by 
 Hancock's infantry, the advancing Confederates were de- 
 feated, and the battle was over. The effect of the battle 
 was to ruin the Confederacy. From then on it lost its 
 power. 
 
 Note 1. — In the battle of Gettysburg, Lee had 70,000 men, and 
 Meade about 93,000 ; the Union loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, 
 was about 23,000; that of the Confederates, about 20,000. 
 
 In the charge led by General Pickett^ the Confederates tried to 
 march across a field a mile wide exposed to the Union batteries. 
 Hancock bravely continued to direct his men after he was shot, and 
 the Confederates after great loss of life withdrew. 
 
 Note 2. — The battlefield of Gettysburg was made into a national 
 cemetery with numerous Union monuments. It was dedicated on 
 November 19, 1863. On this occasion President Lincoln delivered 
 his famous Gettysburg address. 
 
 15. The Period since the War. 
 
 (a) Railroad construction was carried on extensively 
 after the war, and this led to speculation. As a result, a 
 panic occurred in 1873. One of the earliest failures was 
 that of the great Philadelphia banking house of Jay Cooke 
 and Company. This firm had greatly aided the govern- 
 ment during the Civil War in helping it to borrow money. 
 Other banks failed, factories were closed, and distress was 
 general. Prosperity was not restored until 1879. 
 
 (b) Severe labor troubles occurred at this time, many 
 strikes marking the friction betw^een capital and labor. 
 The worst in the series was a great railroad strike in 1877, 
 riots being numerous and violent. At Pittsburgh, the 
 fighting was serious and the loss of property great; the 
 
38 
 
 disorder extended to many other parts of the State before 
 peace was restored. 
 
 The last great anthracite coal strike occurred in 1902. 
 It caused a scarcity of coal and led to intervention by 
 President Roosevelt, who persuaded the two sides to arbi- 
 trate their dispute before a commission appointed by him. 
 
 Note. — The Mollie Maguires were a secret society that terrorized 
 the anthracite coal region for years. At last, in 1876, largely 
 through the efforts of President Gowen, of the Philadelphia and 
 Beading Eailroad, and of James McParlan, a young detective, nine- 
 teen of the Mollies were convicted and hanged, and the order stamped 
 out. — Adapted from Burnham 's ' ' Short History of Pennsylvania. ' ' 
 
 (c) The Centennial Exposition, held at Philadelphia in 
 1876 to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of 
 Independence a century before, was the first of America's 
 great fairs. In Fairmount Park a number of buildings 
 were erected including the Main Exhibition Building, Ma- 
 chinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, Me- 
 morial Hall for art, and various State and foreign build- 
 ings. The Exposition was of value in showing foreigners 
 our progress and in showing us our defects in art as com- 
 pared with certain European nations. 
 
 Note ]. — On July 4, 1874, was laid the corner-stone of the new 
 City Hall of Philadelphia. This building is the largest public build- 
 ing in America, having 634 rooms. The tower is 547 feet high. The 
 building, with its furnishings, cost about $25,000,000. 
 
 Note 2. — The bicentennial celebration of the arrival of William 
 Penn was celebrated in Philadelphia in 1882. The ''Welcome's" 
 duplicate came up the river, and a tableau showed Penn 's landing. 
 A parade of 20,000 men illustrated the progress of the nation dur- 
 ing the two hundred years. 
 
 (d) Pennsylvania lias long been a Republican strong- 
 hold, the people giving large majorities for the candidates 
 advocating a high protective tariff; since 1861, Governor 
 Pattison was the only governor not of the Republican party. 
 
39 
 
 Among the State's later governors were John F. Hart- 
 ranft, 1873-1879 ; Henry M. Hoyt, 1879-1883 ; Robert E. 
 Pattison, 1883-1887 and 1891-1895; James A. Beaver, 
 1887-1891; Daniel H. Hastings, 1895-1899; "William A. 
 Stone, 1899-1903; Samuel W. Pennypacker, 1903-1907; 
 Edwin S. Stuart, 1907-1911 ; and John K. Tener. 
 
 Among Pennsylvanians prominent in national affairs 
 were Edwin M. Stanton, who was Lincoln's Secretary of 
 War; Thaddeus Stevens, who was a leader in Congress 
 during the Civil War ; Simon Cameron, who was a United 
 States senator from 1867 to 1877 ; Matthew S. Quay, who 
 served as national senator most of the time from 1877 to 
 1904; Samuel J. Randall, who was Speaker of the House 
 from 1876 to 1881 ; Wayne MacVeagh, who was attorney- 
 general in Garfield's cabinet; John Wanamaker, who was 
 postmaster-general in Harrison's cabinet; and Charles 
 Emory Smith. 
 
 (e) The disastrous Johnstown flood occurred in May, 
 1889. The Conemaugh, swollen by the floods, caused the 
 breaking of a dam on the South Fork, a branch stream, 
 ten miles above the manufacturing city of Johnstown. This 
 released the waters of the great reservoir, and the mad 
 stream rushed on Johnstown and the adjoining places, 
 causing the loss of 2,200 lives. The people of the State 
 and nation responded nobly with aid, a relief fund of 
 more than a million dollars being raised; this was dis- 
 tributed by a Relief Commission appointed by Governor 
 Beaver. 
 
 Note. — A famous snow-storm in eastern Pennsylvania occurred on 
 March 11, 1888. This great blizzard interfered seriously with travel 
 in all directions for several days. 
 
40 
 
 (f) The new State capitol was practically completed in 
 1906, forming one of the most beautiful buildings in the 
 country. 
 
 The building itself cost $4,000,000; the expenditure of 
 $9,000,000 on its general equipment led to wide-spread in- 
 dignation. The matter Avas investigated by a committee 
 of the Legislature ; and as a result, the State recovered part 
 of its money, and three of those concerned in the fraud 
 we're imprisoned. 
 
 ]S[ote 1. — In 1905, in Governor Pennypacker 's administration, the 
 Pennsylvania Mounted Police were organized. This body of two hun- 
 dred and twenty-eight men has proved of great value in suppressing 
 various riots throughout the State. 
 
 Note 2. — Some places of historic interest in Philadelphia are Gloria 
 Dei Church, on Swanson Street, below Christian, the oldest church 
 building in the city ; St. Peter 's Episcopal Church, at Third and Pine, 
 where Commodore Stephen Decatur is buried; St. Mary's Church, 
 Fourth Street, above Spruce, where Commodore John Barry is buried; 
 Christ Church, on Second Street, above Market, where Washington, 
 Adams, and Franklin had pews, and where Robert Morris is buried; 
 Christ Church Burying-Ground, at Fifth and Arch, where Benjamin 
 Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Commodore Bainbridge, and Peyton 
 Randolph are buried; Independence Hall, Chestnut Street, below 
 Sixth; Carpenters' Hall, Chestnut Street, below Fourth; site of the 
 Shippen mansion, 218-222 South Fourth, once the home of Peggy 
 Shippen, Arnold's wife; site of Washington's residence, 530-536 
 Market Street; sites of Franklin's residences, 325 Market Street and 
 316 Market Street; sites of Robert Morris's residences, Sixth and 
 Market and 720 Chestnut; site of the house in which Jefferson wrote 
 the Declaration of Independence, 700 Market Street; Betsy Rosa 
 House, 239 Arch Street, where was made the first American flag; the 
 Bank of North America, the first bank in America, 305 Chestnut 
 Street; office of the first Bank of the United States, 120 South Third 
 Street, and the Chew Mansion, or Cliveden, at Germantown Avenue 
 and Johnson Street. 
 
 Some places of general interest are Girard College, an institution 
 founded by Stephen Girard 's will for the education of male orphans, 
 on Girard Avenue, west of Twentieth Street; the Philadelphia Mu- 
 seums, with a fine geographical library and exhibits of the world's 
 products, on Thirty-fourth Street, below Spruce; the Drexel Insti- 
 tute, a famous technical school, at Thirty-second and Chestnut Streets; 
 Cramp's shipyards, at Beach and Ball Streets; Baldwin's Locomotive 
 
41 
 
 Works, at Broad and Callowhill Streets; the Academy of Natural 
 Sciences, the oldest institution of its kind in America, at Nineteenth 
 and Eace Streets; the United States Mint, the largest and finest in 
 the world, on Spring Garden Street, between Sixteenth and Seven- 
 teenth Streets; Memorial Hall, with its pictures, and Horticultural 
 Hall, with its plants and liowers, in Fairmount Park; Bartram's Gar- 
 den, near Fifty- fourth Street and Woodland Avenue; the University 
 of Pennsylvania, near Thirty-third and Walnut Streets; and the 
 United States Navy Yard, on League Island, at the foot of Broad 
 Street. 
 
 i6. Brief Biographies. 
 
 John Barry (1745-1803) was a distinguished naval com- 
 mander of the Revolution. He was born in Ireland and 
 came to Philadelphia when about fifteen years old. He 
 became a sailor, and later a captain of a trading vessel. 
 On the outbreak of the Revolution, he was given command 
 of the ''Lexington," with which he captured several 
 British vessels. He and his men helped to row the boats 
 across the icy Delaware when Washington surprised the 
 Hessians at Trenton. In command of the ''Raleigh," in 
 1778, he was attacked by two British ships ; after a battle, 
 he ran his ship ashore and escaped to land. In command 
 of the "Alliance," in 1781, he captured two British ships 
 after a sharp engagement. In 1794, Barry was made com- 
 mander of the new navy, which protected American com- 
 merce with the West Indies during the difficulty with 
 France in 1798. "The Father of the American Navy" 
 died in Philadelphia a few years later. 
 
 John Bartram (1699-1777) was one of the earliest of 
 American botanists. He was brought up on a farm, and 
 his great love for plants caused him to begin his famous 
 botanical garden. It is situated in Philadelphia near Fifty- 
 fourth Street and Woodland Avenue. By the aid of friends, 
 
42 
 
 he travelled in the eolonies, gathering and studying botani- 
 cal specimens. He died in Philadelphia, just after the 
 British had captured the city during the Revolution. 
 
 Andrew Carnegie (1837-) settled in Allegheny when 
 he came to this country from Scotland at the age of ten; 
 he began life there by working in a cotton factory. In 
 1861 he made a fortune in oil; then he founded a rolling- 
 mill, becoming the largest manufacturer of steel rails and 
 iron in the world. From his enormous wealth, he has 
 made liberal gifts of public libraries and other institutions 
 to Pittsburgh and various other cities. 
 
 Stephen Decatur (1779-1820) was born in Maryland. 
 His family had left Philadelphia during the British occu- 
 pation, but returned in 1779. He entered the navy as a 
 young man, and soon distinguished himself. In 1804, in 
 the harbor of Tripoli, he burned the American frigate 
 ''Philadelphia," which the Tripolitans had captured. He 
 served with credit during the War of 1812. In 1815, he 
 conquered the Algerine pirates, compelling the dey of Al- 
 giers to make a satisfactory treaty of peace with the United 
 States. In 1820, he was killed in a duel with Commodore 
 James Barron. 
 
 John Dickinson (1732-1808), though born in Maryland, 
 is best known by his public services in Pennsylvania. He 
 studied law in Philadelphia and London, and became a 
 leading lawyer in Philadelphia. He took an active part in 
 the politics of Pennsylvania. His famous ''Letters of a 
 Pennsylvania Farmer" roused the colonists by showing 
 them that if England taxed them to support colonial offi- 
 
43 
 
 cers, the colonial Assemblies would have no control over 
 them. He was a member of the First Continental Con- 
 gress in 1774, and of the Second Continental Congress. 
 In July, 1776, he opposed the Declaration of Independence, 
 because he considered it premature. Later he served as 
 a private soldier in the Continental Army. He was presi- 
 dent of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania from 1782 
 to 1785. In the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he aided 
 greatly by his skill and wisdom, for he was a man of 
 superior culture. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the greatest 
 men America ever produced. Born in Boston of poor 
 parents, his schooling was limited. He really was self- 
 educated. Apprenticed to his brother, he learned printing, 
 and at seventeen left for Philadelphia, beginning his own 
 career. When twenty-three, he became editor and pro- 
 prietor of a newspaper, the ''Pennsylvania Gazette," and 
 three years later he began his famous "Poor Richard's 
 Almanac," which he continued for twenty-five years. He 
 early entered politics. In 1754, he was a delegate to the 
 Albany Convention, suggesting a plan of union. (Describe 
 it.) The Pennsylvania Assembly sent Franklin as agent 
 to England, and while there, he opposed the passage of the 
 Stamp Act of 1765. When summoned before Parliament 
 the next year, his clear reasoning showed them the folly 
 of the Stamp Act and aided in its repeal. On his return 
 home to Philadelphia in 1775, he was chosen delegate to 
 the Second Continental Congress, serving as a member of 
 the committee that framed the Declaration of Indepndence. 
 Being sent as ambassador to France, his wisdom and ability 
 won the French, and an alliance between France and 
 
44 
 
 America was formed in 1778. This alliance really secured 
 our independence, by the aid that France gave us at that 
 critical period. Franklin also aided in forming the treaty 
 of 1783, which ended the Revolution. Over eighty years 
 old, the nation still needed him, and he was a prominent 
 member of the Convention that framed the Constitution in 
 1787. The services of Franklin cannot well be overesti- 
 mated. 
 
 Stephen Girard (1750-1831), a French emigrant, reached 
 Philadelphia as a young man in 1776, becoming there a 
 grocer and a w^ine bottler. He prospered by his skill and 
 industr}^ establishing a fleet of merchant vessels known in 
 eveiy port, and becoming a millionaire. 
 
 He show'ed rare heroism during the yellow fever epidemic 
 in Philadelphia in 1793, nursing the sick in person, and 
 aiding in every way possible. 
 
 On the expiration of the charter of the United States 
 Bank, Girard took it, forming ''The Bank of Stephen 
 Girard," in 1812. He rescued the nation from ruin in 
 181-1 by loaning about five million dollars to the almost 
 bankrupt government, when no one else would take such a 
 risk. He died in 1831, leaving the bulk of his immense 
 fortune for a college for orphan boys, thus establishing one 
 of Philadelphia's noblest charities. 
 
 Note. — Girard College was opened in 1848. Here about sixteen 
 hundred boys are kept and educated. The charity is limited to 
 ' ' poor Mhite male orphan children. ' ' The college grounds, containing 
 forty-one acres, are located at Twentieth Street and Girard Avenue. 
 The main building is a remarkably fine specimen of Greek archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857), the distinguished Arc- 
 tic explorer, was born in Philadelphia. He was graduated 
 from the medical department of the University of Penn- 
 
45 
 
 sylvania. He served as surgeon in the navy, and visited 
 many parts of the world. In 1850, he joined an Arctic 
 expedition sent out in search of Sir John Franklin. In 
 1853, he commanded a second expedition in search of the 
 lost explorer. Kane's ship, the "Advance," spent two 
 winters in the frozen North, with the temperature often 
 forty degrees below zero. He succeeded in reaching the 
 most northern point attained by the explorers of that time. 
 The second spring Kane and his men left the frozen ''Ad- 
 vance," and after a journey of nearly three months by 
 sledge and open boat, they reached a settlement in safety. 
 Kane explored more than a thousand miles of the coast of 
 Greenland. He became a national hero by his daring and 
 resolute labor in the Arctic regions. 
 
 James Logan (1674-1751) came to America as William 
 Penn's secretary in 1699. He was a fine scholar, knowing 
 Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, German, and was skilled in 
 various sciences. He collected at his country-seat at Sten- 
 ton, near Philadelphia, a library of three thousand volumes, 
 now in the Philadelphia Library. He was never the actual 
 governor of the colony, but he exercised great influence 
 over its affairs as the friend of the Penn family. He was 
 very friendly with the Indians and was often consulted by 
 them. 
 
 Robert Morris (1734-1806) was a distinguished Ameri- 
 can statesman and financier. This rich Philadelphia banker 
 and merchant took the side of the struggling colonists 
 against England. He was a member of the Second Conti- 
 nental Congress, signing the Declaration of Independence. 
 In 1777, just after the battle of Trenton, in answer to 
 Washington's request, Morris sent him fifty thousand dol- 
 
46 
 
 lars, thus enabling Washington to keep his ill-paid army 
 together. 
 
 Morris gave over a million dollars to aid the army in the 
 final campaigns, and his money helped to win Yorktown 
 and independence. 
 
 In 1781 he was Superintendent of Finance, serving for 
 three years. He was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
 vention of 1787, aiding in the formation of that instrument. 
 
 After the war, owing to a business failure, he lost his 
 fortune and was cast into a debtors' prison for four years, 
 neglected by the government for which he had done so 
 much. 
 
 Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) was an American reformer. 
 She belonged to the Society of Friends, and soon after her 
 marriage came to Philadelphia. She opposed slavery and 
 travelled extensively to lecture against intemi^erance and 
 slavery. She was a prominent member of the Antislavery 
 Society from its organization in 1833 ; she proved herself 
 a steady friend of the negro. To the end of her days she 
 was active in public matters, being an early leader in the 
 woman's suffrage agitation. She was a woman of uncom- 
 mon intelligence and of high moral character. 
 
 Francis D. Pastorius (1651-1719) was born in Germany. 
 He was brilliantly educated in the classical and modern 
 languages, and in law. The Pietists desiring to secure land 
 in Penn's new colony made Pastorius their agent. In 
 1683, after a voyage of ten weeks from Germany, Pastorius 
 arrived in Pennsylvania, secured a grant from Penn, and 
 with a number of German immigrants made the settlement 
 of Germantown. The first winter was a time of suffering, 
 
'47 
 
 but the colony gradually won success under the leadership 
 of Pastorius. He was a signer of the first American pro- 
 test against slavery, this document being sent to the Friends' 
 Meeting in Philadelphia. Pastorius taught school in Ger- 
 mantown and Philadelphia until the last years of his life. 
 
 Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872), a distinguished 
 American poet and artist, was born in Chester County, 
 Pennsylvania. He won his first success by his pictures, 
 but his poems soon made him more famous. He spent ten 
 years in Italy, having a delightful home in Florence. Read 
 wrote his poem, the ''Wagoner of the AUeghanies, " about 
 the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, the aim of the 
 poem being to stimulate men's love for the Union by re- 
 calling the nation's struggles to win freedom during the 
 Revolution. Read for some time was a captain in the Union 
 Army. He wrote his famous poem of "Sheridan's Ride" 
 in 1864, completing it in a few hours. He also painted 
 the well-known picture of ' ' Sheridan and His Horse. ' ' His 
 best known lyrics are those in his "Lays and Ballads." 
 
 David Rittenhouse (1732-1796), born near Philadelphia, 
 was a descendant of the builder of the first paper-mill in 
 America. He worked on his father's farm until he became 
 a maker of clocks and mathematical instruments. His 
 nights he gave to study, becoming a mathematician and 
 astronomer. It was Rittenhouse who surveyed the boundary 
 between Delaware and Pennsylvania and that between New 
 York and Pennsylvania. He aided the patriot cause, serv- 
 ing as a member of various committees and boards during 
 the Revolution. Washington appointed him the first direc- 
 tor of the mint established in Philadelphia in 1792. He 
 died, honored by scientists the world over. 
 
48 
 
 Betsy Ross was the wife of a nephew of George Ross, 
 one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. She 
 was a Quakeress, engaged in upholstering and fine sewing 
 at 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Washington, Robert 
 Morris, and George Ross called on her as a committee of 
 Congress in June, 1777, requesting her to make a flag from 
 a drawing they showed her. It was her suggestion that 
 the stars in it should be five-pointed. She made the flag 
 at their direction. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) was born near Phila- 
 delphia. He was graduated from Princeton College. After 
 studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, he re- 
 turned to Philadelphia in 1769. His medical lectures at 
 the University of Pennsylvania during many years made 
 Philadelphia the centre of medical science in the United 
 States. Besides his work as professor, he had a large prac- 
 tice as physician. He fought the yellow fever epidemic 
 of 1793 with great courage, sometimes visiting a hundred 
 patients a day. He was an ardent patriot, signing the 
 Declaration of Independence as a delegate to Congress from 
 Pennsylvania. His writings on medical subjects were widely 
 read. He is often called "The Father of American ]\Iedi- 
 cine. " 
 
 Edwin M. Stanton (18U-1869) was born in Ohio. He 
 became a lawyer and settled in Pittsburgh, winning much 
 success there in legal matters. He served for a while in 
 Buchanan's cabinet as attorney-general. In 1862, Lincoln 
 appointed him as his Secretary of War. Here he showed 
 great abilities, proving of much service to the nation in 
 the Civil War. He remained in Johnson's cabinet after 
 Lincoln's death, but in 1867, Johnson suspended him. This 
 
49 
 
 increased the friction between Congress and the president. 
 Stanton was restored by the Senate but Johnson refused 
 to agree, and this led to Johnson's impeachment. Stanton 
 retired after the president was acquitted. 
 
 Thaddeus Stevens (1793-1868) was born in Vermont. 
 After being graduated from Dartmouth College in New 
 Hampshire, he moved to Pennsylvania, where he studied 
 law. He was repeatedly elected to the Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania. In 1835, his powerful speech in favor of the 
 public schools overcame the opposition in the Legislature 
 and established them on a sure basis. He removed to 
 Lancaster and from there entered Congress, serving as a 
 member for fourteen years. He was an opponent of slavery 
 and a strong supporter of Lincoln during the Civil "War. 
 He advocated negro suffrage after the war, and was the 
 chief author of the bill for the reconstruction of the seceded 
 States. This act divided the ten Southern States into five 
 military districts, until these States adopted new consti- 
 tutions ratifying the new amendments. He was one of 
 Johnson's great foes, advocating his impeachment. He 
 died in Washington. 
 
 Bayard Taylor (1825-1878) was born in Chester County, 
 Pennsylvania. He was the greatest writer the State has 
 produced. Before he was twenty-one he went to Europe, 
 undeterred by poverty. He sometimes lived on six cents 
 a day, spent for bread, figs, and roasted chestnuts. He 
 described his travels in ''Views Afoot," a book that made 
 him famous. He later travelled in many countries, and 
 wrote a number of volumes describing his journeys. He 
 was a fine German scholar, and his greatest poem is an 
 
50 
 
 English translation of Goethe's ''Faust/' He died in Ber- 
 lin, after sem-ing nearly a year as American minister to 
 Germany. 
 
 General Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) was born in 
 Chester County, Pennsylvania. He entered the patriot 
 army as colonel, becoming a general in 1776. He fought 
 at Brandywine, at Germantown, and at Monmouth. For 
 his capture of Stony Point on the Hudson in 1779, Con- 
 gress granted him a gold medal. Plis last victory was over 
 the Ohio Indians in 1794. His daring courage made the 
 people call him "Mad Anthony." 
 
 Benjamin West (1738-1820) was born in Pennsylvania. 
 As his parents were Quakers, they did not give him much 
 encouragement in his desire to become an artist, but his 
 genius conquered all difficulties. In 1759 he went to Itah^ 
 to study, and thence to London. The Penn family in 
 1773 had him paint the picture of William Penn's treaty 
 with the Indians, paying him £420 for it. Another of his 
 famous pictures is ''Christ Healing the Sick." He died 
 in London where he had long been prominent as an artist. 
 
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