Pennsylvania in the American Revolution

Washington Crossing the Delaware, an 1851 portrait by Emanuel Leutze of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in December 1776
Join, or Die by Benjamin Franklin and published in The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754 was the first political cartoon in America[1]

Pennsylvania was the site of many key events associated with the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War. The city of Philadelphia, then capital of the Thirteen Colonies and the largest city in the colonies, was a gathering place for the Founding Fathers who discussed, debated, developed, and ultimately implemented many of the acts, including signing the Declaration of Independence, that inspired and launched the revolution and the quest for independence from the British Empire.

Founding Father Robert Morris said, "You will consider Philadelphia, from its centrical situation, the extent of its commerce, the number of its artificers, manufactures and other circumstances, to be to the United States what the heart is to the human body in circulating the blood."[2]

The American Revolution included both the political and social development of the Thirteen Colonies of British America, and the Revolutionary War. John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1815: "What do we mean by the revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution. It was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington. The records of thirteen legislatures, the pamphlets, newspapers in all the colonies ought be consulted, during that period, to ascertain the steps by which the public opinion was enlightened and informed concerning the authority of parliament over the colonies."[3]

  1. ^ "Today in History: January 17". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  2. ^ Weigley, RF et al. (eds): (1982), Philadelphia: A 300-Year History, New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-01610-2. page 134.
  3. ^ Adams, John. "John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 24 August 1815". National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). National Archives of the United States. Retrieved 2 August 2019.