Province of Pennsylvania in the context of "Philadelphia"

The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America.

The Thirteen Colonies in their traditional groupings were: the New England Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut); the Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware); and the Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia). These colonies were part of British America, which also included territory in The Floridas, the Caribbean, and what is today Canada.

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin is a 1767 portrait painting by the Scottish artist David Martin of the American politician and inventor Benjamin Franklin. It was painted during his lengthy residence in London when he was acting as colonial agent for Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. The work was commissioned by the Edinburgh merchant Robert Alexander, a friend of Franklin. He is shown seated next to a bust of the scientist Isaac Newton.

The painting was displayed at the Exhibition of 1767 held by the Society of Artists held at Spring Gardens. Today it is part of the collection of the White House.

Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of the United States. The building, which is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979. It is an example of American Georgian architecture, which is characterized by symmetry, classical proportions, and exposed brick with stone masonry accents.

Independence Hall, which was initially called Pennsylvania State House, was completed in 1733. It was the first capitol of the colonial era Province of Pennsylvania and, even then, was seen as "the greatest ornament in the town". The building became a symbol of liberty, democracy, and the founding of the United States. During the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress convened in Independence Hall from 1775 to 1781. They founded the Continental Army inside Independence Hall on June 14, 1775, and the Declaration of Independence was adopted there on July 4, 1776. From May 25 to September 17, 1787, Independence Hall hosted the Constitutional Convention, where the U.S. Constitution was debated, drafted, and ratified. In 1915, former U.S. president William Howard Taft presided over a convention at Independence Hall, where the League to Enforce Peace was formed.

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie. Pennsylvania's most populous city is Philadelphia. The state capital is Harrisburg. Among all states, Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous with over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, the ninth-highest by population density, and the 33rd-largest by land area. The largest metropolitan statistical area is the southeastern Philadelphia metropolitan area, centered on Philadelphia, the state's most populous and nation's sixth-most populous city. The second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh, is centered in and around Pittsburgh, the state's second-largest city.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the state's namesake. Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden, a Swedish colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism. Pennsylvania played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire, hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the latter of which formed the Continental Army commanded by George Washington in 1775, during the American Revolutionary War, unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, right after Delaware.

The Canal Age is a term of art used by science, technology, and industry historians. Various parts of the world have had various canal ages; the main ones belong to Egypt, Ancient Babylon, and the historical empires of India, China, Southeast Asia, and mercantile Europe. The successes of the Canal du Midi in France (1681), Bridgewater Canal in Britain (fully completed 1769), and Eiderkanal (superseded by today's Kiel Canal) in Denmark (later Germany) (1784) spurred on what was called in Britain "canal mania". In the Thirteen Colonies in 1762 legislation was passed supporting in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania to improve navigation on the Schuylkill River through Philadelphia.

Canals were critical industry, as until steam locomotives, canals were by the fastest way to travel long distances. Commercial canals generally had boatmen shifts that kept the barges moving behind mule teams 24 hours a day.
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The culture of Philadelphia goes back to 1682 when Philadelphia was established by William Penn, founder of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia emerged quickly as the largest and most influential city in the Thirteen Colonies.

By the 1750s, Philadelphia was the second-largest city in the British Empire after London, and a center of early American culture, political leadership, intellectual thought, and industry and manufacturing. It served as the capital of both colonial-era British America and then, until 1800, as the first capital of the United States.

The city of Philadelphia was founded and incorporated in 1682 by William Penn in the English Crown Province of Pennsylvania between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Before then, the area was inhabited by the Lenape people. Philadelphia quickly grew into an important colonial city and during the American Revolution was the site of the First and Second Continental Congresses. After the Revolution, the city was chosen to be the temporary capital of the United States. At the beginning of the 19th century, the federal and state governments left Philadelphia, but the city remained the cultural and financial center of the country. Philadelphia became one of the first U.S. industrial centers and the city contained a variety of industries, the largest being textiles.

After the American Civil War Philadelphia's government was controlled by a Republican political machine and by the beginning of the 20th century Philadelphia was described as "corrupt and contented." Various reform efforts slowly changed city government with the most significant in 1950 where a new city charter strengthened the position of mayor and weakened the Philadelphia City Council. At the same time Philadelphia moved its supports from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, which has since created a strong Democratic organization.

William Penn (24 October [O.S. 14 October] 1644 – 10 August [O.S. 30 July] 1718) was an English writer, theologian, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during British colonial rule. An advocate of democracy and religious freedom, Penn was known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania prior to European colonization there.

In 1681, King Charles II granted an area of land corresponding to the present-day U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Delaware to Penn to offset debts he owed Penn's father, the admiral and politician Sir William Penn. The following year, Penn left England and sailed up Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, where he founded Philadelphia on the river's western bank. Penn's Quaker government was not viewed favourably by the Dutch, Swedish and English settlers in what is now Delaware, and the land was also claimed by the Calverts, proprietors of the neighbouring Province of Maryland. In 1704, the three southernmost counties of provincial Pennsylvania were granted permission to form a new, semi-autonomous Delaware Colony.