Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It was one thing for a group of hotheads in Massachusetts to start shooting at the Redcoats in response to the Intolerable Acts and the Boston Massacre. It was another thing altogether to establish a unified governing body to justify, fund, and fight a rebellion against the most powerful army in the world. Much of this discussion and planning happened in the streets, taverns, and formally in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. The Hall also served as the birthplace for the United States Constitution. Before we return to the battles of the Revolutionary War, we will look how Philadelphia contributed to the creation of the United States and the buildings there where this history happened.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia (Photo by Hunner)

A lot of the intellectual fervor of the revolution centered in Philadelphia. Granted by King Charles II in 1682 as a colonial charter to William Penn, Pennsylvania became a place of religious freedom for Quakers and a haven of tolerance for others. Philadelphia’s central location between the northern and southern colonies, its position as a gateway to productive lands in the west, and its embrace of the many peoples who flocked to its streets all gave it a vibrancy and primacy in colonial affairs during the 18^th century.

Ben Franklin's first Post Office at Franklin House (Photo by Hunner) 

Three important moments in the founding of our republic occurred at the Pennsylvania State House. First, delegates debated and signed the Declaration of Independence there in 1776. Second, these delegates also wrote the Articles of Confederation there. Third, in 1787 and 1788, representatives from the newly formed states replaced the Articles with the Constitution of the United States.

The Second Continental Congress convened on May 19, 1775 at the State House, which in 1730s, had served as a seat of government for the colony and then for the Revolution. As conflict erupted in Boston, the Second Congress created the Continental Army on June 14 and appointed Virginia delegate George Washington as its commander-in-chief the next day. In response, Washington wrote to his wife Martha: “It has been determined in Congress that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my Care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the command of it.”[1]  

George Washington (From  exhibit at Saratoga NB)

The Congress chose Washington for several reason. He had combat experience from the French and Indian War (1754-1760). He also came from Virginia, the wealthiest and largest colony at the time; however, throughout the war, delegates from other colonies, especially Massachusetts, challenged his competence.

A curious inconsistency surfaced with the Continental Congress. It had no legal authority to create an army, tax, print money, create legislation, in fact no legal authority to maintain a central government over the separate colonies. The Continental Congress created itself out of thin air, and then it began to rally for independence and to govern.

As fighting erupted and discontent simmered, Congress in the spring of 1776 moved toward a formal declaration of freedom. To officially sever ties with the British Empire, it passed a resolution on May 10 calling on all colonies to form a revolutionary government in defiance of King George and Parliament. A “Committee of Five” composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting a resolution.

Thomas Jefferson worked on the document at the Declaration House in Philadelphia. This resolution applied John Locke’s contract theory of government that urged people to discard a government if it abused its power and the rights of its citizens.

The table that Thomas Jefferson used to draft the Declaration of Independence
(From exhibit at Declaration House in Philadelphia)

In contrast to the aristocratic non-elected governments in Europe, the Declaration called for a system of governance where “all people are created equal,” where governments derive their “just Powers from the consent of the people,” and where people need to “alter or abolish” that government if the inalienable rights of “life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” are curtailed. After establishing the rights of citizens to seek freedom from an unjust form of government, the rest of the Declaration was a list of twenty-seven specific abuses perpetrated by the King and Parliament on the colonies.

Fifty-seven delegates signed the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, including such luminaries as Samuel and John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Philip Livingston of New York, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The delegates officially ratified the declaration on July 4, 1776. The declaration has inspired people from around the world with its call for equality and freedom; however, written by slave owners and devoid of a woman author or signer, this call for liberty and freedom is still a work in progress.

The Assembly Room at Independence Hall where the Declaration was signed on July 4, 1776 (Photo by Hunner)

The Congress then turned to creating a way to govern the rebellious colonies. They ratified the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” in November 1777 which established the rules and duties for the national government including prosecuting war and seeking peace, negotiating diplomatic and trade agreements, and settling disputes between states. Unfortunately, the Articles were flawed, especially since Congress had no official authority to raise money through taxes. It struggled to finance the war with borrowed money.

As the war progressed, most people realized that the Articles did not work. No state honored all of their financial obligations since there were no penalties. At times, Georgia and New Jersey refused to pay anything. Consequently, the Confederation government lacked the money to pay even the interest on its foreign debt. By 1786, the United States defaulted on its debts from the war as they came due. Changes had to happen.

The Constitutional Convention convened on May 14, 1787 when delegates returned to Independence Hall in Philadelphia to correct the Articles. By mid-June, the delegates switched from revising the existing Articles to creating a different form of government. Some of the contentious issues included how much power to give the federal government; how to elect representatives to Congress and how many should come from each state; who could vote; when to hold elections; and how to change the constitution and thus the government? Delegates debated all of these issues and more through the summer of 1787 in the State House.

Despite creating a democracy to give the public power over government, our country’s founders did not really trust the people. As Virginian James Madison observed: “if humans were angels, no government would be necessary.” To counter human nature, the delegates turned to Montesquieu who championed the separation of power between executive, legislative, and judicial branches to protect individual freedoms. Only power checking power could preserve the hard won liberty.  

The convention focused on two proposals of governance—the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan favored empowering the states with larger populations. It proposed a federal government with three branches to insure checks and balances. The legislative branch had two houses—one elected by popular vote for three year terms and the other selected by state legislatures for seven year terms. Representation was based on population – larger states had more elected officials in both chambers.    

The New Jersey Plan, also known as the Small State Plan, countered the disproportionate power that the more populated states would have under the Virginia Plan. This called for a unicameral body with one vote for each state. In a compromise cobbled together by the Connecticut contingent, aspects of the New Jersey Plan were incorporated into the final draft. This created a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned by population and a Senate which granted equal votes to each state, big or small.

After lengthy debate and compromise, the Convention adopted the new Constitution on September 17, 1787 and sent it out from Independence Hall to the states for approval. Ratified by conventions in eleven States, the Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution formed a model for representative government that launched a democratic revolution around the world.

In addition to an elected bicameral legislature, the Constitution also established an elected president in charge of the executive branch and an appointed judicial system. All three have duties to ensure a separation of powers to safeguard against abuses.

The Constitution provided the framework for a working republic. It held many firsts as historian Joseph Ellis states:  it established the first modern republic; it created the first wholly secular nation; and it created a federal government where multiple states and their divergent interests worked together. Despite the strengths of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers avoided several areas which belied the phrase that all men are created equal. For a nation created on equality, slavery existed and in the coming years, grew in some states. Native Americans did not receive equal protection and in fact, lost land and rights. And women did not win the right to vote until the 20th century. While the Constitution serves as a model for democratic governance around the world, it also held some almost fatal flaws as well.  We will explore this when we drive to the parks that focus on the Civil War.

The colonial men and women had fought a long and difficult war to free themselves from King George and the Parliament. The Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation came from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. After the war ended, the hall once again hosted the intense debates and creation of the new republic. The resultant Constitution of the United States has for more than two centuries served as a model for democratic governments around the world.

Millions of people from around the world have converged on Philadelphia, have tramped over the grassy mall, toured Independence Hall, and visited the other buildings and sites of this National Historical Park. They all come to look for America.

On June 28, 1948, the U.S. Congress authorized the Independence National Historical Park which was then formally established on July 4, 1956. Independence Hall became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on October 23, 1979.

In the next blog, we return to the war and the campaign of 1777.

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[1] Kelly, Best Stories of American Revolution, 85.

Minute Man National Historical Park at Concord, Massachusetts

“Lay down your arms, ye damned rebels, lay down your arms!” With that terse warning from Major Pitcairn of the British Army, his guard of 150 soldiers confronted the 77 assembled Minute Men on the town green at Lexington, Massachusetts. The militia on the Lexington Green on April 19, 1775 had responded to the alarms spread by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott. At the time, no one cried “the British are Coming!” Most colonials still considered themselves British. The cry that did ring out through the New England countryside that night was “The Regulars are Coming!”

Lexington Green (Photo by Hunner)

At the Lexington Green, a shot rang out, and the militia scattered, some run down by the Regulars who charged with bayonets, killing eight and wounding ten. The Regulars suffered no casualties. Pitcairn marshaled his jubilant troops back to command and rushed his men to Concord to capture a stockpile of rebel arms and ammunition.

 Reenactors portraying British Regulars at Concord (From exhibit at Minute Man NHP) 

The fighting at Lexington and Concord that April in 1775 sparked the American Revolutionary War and changed the world. The road to rebellion was slow boil for the colonists in British America that dated back to the French and Indian War. Administering the American colonies burdened the growing British world empire, and Parliament thought payment was due. Beginning in 1733 with the Molasses Act, taxes on essential colonial products raised the ire of the Americans. First Lord of the Treasury, George Grenville, justified the taxes saying that they would go “toward defraying the necessary expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the said colonies and plantations.” From our early days, taxes have vexed Americans. A particularly odious tax on the colonies was the Stamp Act of 1765, covered in last week’s blog. Local Sons of Liberty began to organize against the rising “tyranny” of the British over colonial matters.

Ben Franklin's call for unity during the protest against King George III and Parliament.
(From Franklin House exhibit at Independence NHP)

Revolutions need many elements to succeed. They need a perceived threat to motivate people to rebel. They need talented leaders to take charge and figure out how to rebel. They require a network of communication to spread the word. And they need luck.

Talented writers fanned the flames of rebellion and justified the challenge to the British and King George III. Virginians Patrick Henry and John Dickinson, Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin, and Bostonian Samuel Adams stoked popular resentment with pamphlets, broadsheets, and articles decrying British tyranny and rallying the public with slogans such as “Taxation without representation is tyranny,” and “Give me Liberty or give me Death.” From leaflets to popular songs sung in taverns, the rebels organized against England. The patriots were lucky with such talented publicists.

Building on the growing discontent, rebels started boycotting British imports. Sassafras tea replaced British tea as the protestors’ drink of choice. Women made garments out of homespun cloth, merging fashion with defiance. Patriots organized militia to resist England. In Massachusetts, almost all men between sixteen and sixty served in their town’s militia, with the younger men serving as a rapid response force, nicknamed the Minute Men. All knew that once open rebellion started, they would face the best military in the world.

Political cartoon showing the English forcing tea down an American
(From exhibit at Minute Man NHP)

What did the rebels want? They fought for independence from an oppressive regime; for equality (for white males with property); and for representation in government. Newly arrived from England, Thomas Paine published the influential Common Sense in January 1776. In it, he wrote:

It is not in the power of Britain to do this continent justice: … for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us.… Independency means no more, than, whether we shall make our own laws, or, whether the king, the greatest enemy this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us, "there shall be no laws but such as I like.”

Cries for rebellion like Payne’s unified the disparate colonies into a continent, into a whole land. Granted, the thin line of English settlement along the eastern seaboard ignored the rest of North America continent; nonetheless, colonials started seeing themselves as part of a larger country fighting against a corrupt government.

In my tour of Independence Hall in Philadelphia led by Ranger Greg, he mentioned militia Captain Preston’s reason about why they took up arms against the King. Was it taxes? No. Was it the Boston Massacre? No. Preston said they fought because those people in England felt that we Americans could no longer take care of our own business, we could no longer govern ourselves. That is why he and his fellow soldiers rebelled.

The First Continental Congress met at the Carpenters’ Hall from September 5 to October 10, 1774 to respond to the Punitive Acts (aka the Intolerable Acts) that Britain enacted due to the Tea Party. General Gage placed Boston under martial law. The Congress, with representatives from all the colonies but Georgia, petitioned King George III to remove these acts and soldiers from the colonies. They then adjourned with the understanding that they would meet again if the King rejected their petition. The King was not amused.

Revolt ignited that April morning north of Boston. After the British attacked the militia at Lexington Green, they continued to Concord. Nearby Minute Men swarmed to the sounds of gunfire as the Redcoats searched for arms and ammunition. When the militia saw smoke coming from Concord, they feared that the British had started to torch the town. They charged the North Bridge occupied by the Redcoats and exchanged fire which killed two Minute Men and eleven English soldiers. British Colonel Francis Smith ordered his men to retreat to Boston.

North Bridge at Concord where the shot heard 'round the world occurred (Photo by Hunner)

The  Minute Man statue at North Bridge (Photo by Hunner)

A mile east of Concord at Meriam’s Corner, a narrow bridge across a creek created a bottleneck for the British, and the gathering militia, hiding behind fences, walls, and trees, started picking off the enemy. More militia joined the fray and forced the English to run a gauntlet of deadly gunfire as they retreated to Boston. Near Lexington, the British column faced the men they had attacked that morning who exacted retribution from the Regulars. A British officer wrote about their retreat:

The Rebels kept the road always lined and a very hot fire on us without intermission; we at first kept our order and returned their fire… but when we arrived a mile from Lexington, our ammunition began to fail … so that we began to run rather than retreat in order.[1]

Inconceivably, the ragtag group of colonial militia had forced the Redcoats to flee in disorder. The Regulars ran into reinforcements at Lexington sent from Boston or their retreat would have been worse.

The retreat from Concord (From Minute Man NHP exhibit)

The engagement shocked the British —almost three hundred men killed, wounded or missing, and their forces now under siege in Boston. The Minute Men suffered ninety-three killed or wounded. As an irregular unit, the militia inflicted serious damage to the best army in the world by using guerrilla tactics learned from fighting Native Americans in the woods. This would be a different kind of war.

After the first skirmishes near Boston, conflicts erupted at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in New York. Then, on June 17, militia from the Boston area defended the strategic heights above Charlestown from a Redcoat assault. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, a first wave of 2,200 Regulars struggled uphill over fences and hastily constructed bulwarks. Volleys of bullets rained down from above and forced the Redcoats to retreat. They charged again, and again the militia fought them back. The third charge proved successful for the Redcoats as the Patriots started to run out of ammunition. The British suffered 1,054 casualties including 232 dead while the Americans had only 400 dead, wounded, or missing. British General Clinton complained: “A dear bought victory—another such would have ruined us.”

The vicious battle for Bunker Hill (From Bunker Hill exhibit at Independence NHP)

Several consequences came out of these first armed clashes. First, with cold weather approaching and surrounded by a hostile force, the British abandoned Boston and retreated by boat to Halifax, Canada where they wintered. Second, the British generals became more cautious in engaging the home grown militia whose atypical combat style proved effective. Third, the British decided to counter this rebellion with a show of force and sent their largest contingent of soldiers up to that time anywhere for next summer’s campaign. Finally, the Continental Congress called for all able bodied men to join the militia.

Not all Americans joined the rebellion. Perhaps a third of the colonials wanted rebellion and freedom from England while another third remained loyal to the king. The rest stayed neutral, but this was as much a civil war as a unified struggle against the British. Finally, these Boston battles sparked the years of combat and destruction as armies chased across the colonies, killing one another, and often destroying whatever lay in their paths.

In 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in May and in response to the fighting in Boston, declared the colonies independent. They also organized the defense of the colonies as combat rang out in Boston and elected George Washington to lead the nascent Continental Army. At the City Tavern, at Quaker meetinghouses, in Carpenter’s Hall, debates rang out about whether to rebel and if so, what to put in Parliament’s place.

Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia (Photo by Hunner)

City Tavern in Philadelphia (Photo by Hunner)

The American Revolution, begun in April 1775 in Concord, lasted until the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia in October 1781. We will explore the history of the war and the creation of our democracy in future postings.

The Minute Man National Historical Park was created on September 21, 1959 when President Eisenhower signed its enabling act. The sites connected to the Revolution in downtown Philadelphia was designated as Independence National Historic Site in 1934 and added as Independence National Historical Park in 1938.

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[1] Stevens, America’s National Battlefield Parks, 25.

Independence Historical Park at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Creating the Constitution

Between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the American Revolution swept through the colonies pitting friends and families against each other. In truth, it was a civil war. We will explore the battles of the War for Independence in future postings, while today we will stay with the Independence Hall and explore the creation of our democracy.

As the war progressed, most people realized that the Articles of Confederation did not work. No state honored all of their federal taxes since there were no penalties. At times, Georgia and New Jersey refused to pay anything. Consequently, the Confederation government lacked the money to pay even the interest on its foreign debt. By 1786, the United States defaulted on its debts from the war as they came due. Changes had to happen.

Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention convened on May 14, 1787 when delegates returned to Independence Hall in Philadelphia to correct the Articles. By mid-June, the delegates switched from revising the existing Articles to creating a totally new type of government. Many issues might have derailed an agreement among the diverse and divisive states:  how much power to give the federal government; how to elect representatives to Congress and how many should come from each state; who could vote; when to hold elections; and how to change the constitution and thus the government? Delegates debated all of these issues and more through the summer of 1787 in the State House.

In seeking a better government, Americans turned again to the Enlightenment philosophies of the Englishman John Locke, the Frenchman Montesquieu, and other Europeans. Conceding that humans were corruptible and lusted after power, these philosophers did not count on the goodwill of humans to temper our excesses. As Virginian James Madison observed: “if humans were angels, no government would be necessary.”  Despite creating a democracy to give the public power over government, our country’s founders did not truly trust people.

James Madison, delegate from Virginia (Courtesy http://www.biography.com/)

To counter human nature, the delegates turned to Montesquieu who championed the separation of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to protect individual freedoms. Only power checking power could preserve the hard won liberty. Such borrowings from enlightenment thought found fertile ground in the deliberations to revise the Articles of Confederation.

Virginia versus New Jersey

The convention debated two models of democracy —the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan, written mainly by James Madison, favored empowering the states with the larger populations. It proposed a federal government with three branches to insure checks and balances to prevent abuses of power. The legislative branch had two houses—one elected by popular vote for three year terms and the other selected by state legislatures for seven year terms. Representation was based on population – larger states had more elected officials in both chambers.     

The New Jersey Plan, also known as the Small State Plan, challenged the Virginia Plan when William Paterson presented it to the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787.  To counter the disproportionate power that the more populated states would garner under the Virginia Plan, this alternative called for a unicameral body with one vote for each state like under the Articles of Confederation. In a compromise cobbled together by the Connecticut contingent, aspects of the New Jersey Plan were incorporated into the final draft. This created a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned by population and a Senate which granted equal votes to each state, big or small.

After debate and compromise carried out over the summer, the Constitutional Convention adopted the new Constitution on September 17, 1787 and sent it out from Independence Hall to the states for approval. Ratified by conventions in eleven States, the Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution formed a model for representative government that launched a democratic revolution around the world over the next two centuries.

The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution created three units of the federal government—an elected bicameral legislature, an elected president in charge of the executive branch, and an appointed judicial system. All three have duties to ensure a separation of powers to safeguard against abuses. For sharing power between the federal government and the states, national laws take precedence, but funding flows to the states. Finally, the Constitution describes how to ratify it and how to amend it.

The Constitution paradoxically empowers and protects citizens from the entrenched interests of the economically and politically powerful while at the same shielding those elite interests from power of the people. Checks and balances do minimize the abuse of power by our leaders as well as the same by the many. Our founding fathers did not fully trust the American people, both the wealthy as well as the rest of us to do the right thing.

"Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United  States" by Howard Chander Christy

Democracy as a blood sport

From the beginning, political combat between opposing forces has shaped our society. That is the history that drives us and our culture. Some of our citizens embrace  personal liberties so much that they want little or no regulation on individual and corporate activities. This group feels threatened by government. Others support government in regulating the excesses of the powerful. Who does the most to protect our freedoms—people in business or people in government? As part of the government that regulates and protects, the NPS serves on the front lines of this basic battle of what to save and what to use in our land.

This plays out in interesting ways. Story of AZ who thought he owned the Grand Canyon.

The Constitution provided the framework for the success of our republic. It held many firsts as historian Joseph Ellis states:  it established the first modern nation sized republic; it created the first wholly secular nation; and it created a government with overlapping agencies where multiple states and their divergent interests worked together. Despite the strengths of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers avoided several areas which belied the phrase that all men are created equal. For a nation created on equality, slavery existed and in the coming century, grew in some states and territories. Native Americans did not receive equal protection and in fact, lost land and rights. Women did not win the right to vote until the 20th century. While the Constitution serves as a model for democratic governance around the world, it also held some almost fatal flaws as well. 

Sacred Space at Independence Hall.

The colonial men and women had fought a long and difficult war to free themselves from King George and the Parliament. Some of the plans and justifying documents came from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. As the war ended and the new country struggled to create a government acceptable to the all of the states, the hall once again hosted the intense debates and the drafting of the new republic. The resultant Constitution of the United States has for more than two centuries served as a model for democratic governments around the world.

From May 1775 to 1783, Independence Hall served as the principal meeting place for the Second Continental Congress and from 1790 to 1800 was the temporary capital of the new country. The newly formed Congress and recently elected President Washington conducted their business next door in the Congress Hall as the nation’s permanent capital was built south of Philadelphia on the Potomac River.

At first, Independence Hall and the surrounding buildings that had played such a vital role in the Revolution and forming of the Republic did not attract much public attention. In the 1820s, one room in the State House was designated as Independence Hall and the surrounding block as Independence Square. A first floor museum opened in 1876, and the second floor restored in 1897. On June 28, 1948, the U.S. Congress authorized the Independence National Historical Park which was then formally established on July 4, 1956. Independence Hall became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on October 23, 1979. The area around Independence Hall is sacred ground for democracy.

Millions of people from around the world have converged on Philadelphia, have tramped over the grassy mall, lined up to view the Liberty Bell, toured Independence Hall and the Portrait Gallery, and visited the other sites of this National Historical Park. They all come to look for America.

People lined up to view the Liberty Bell (Photo by Hunner)

Independence National Historical Park

143 South Third Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 965-2305

http://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm

Independence National Historical Park at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia at the Center of Revolution

We trick ourselves by thinking that the past had to happen the way it did, into thinking that the American Revolution was inevitable. Totally different results and consequences could have spun out of it. Indeed, the colonials argued among themselves about rebellion. About 1/3^rd of them, the colonial Tories, stood by Britain. Another 1/3^rd, the Patriots, sought independence, and a rest of them remained neutral. Like today, disagreements about politics and change tore apart families and communities up and down the Atlantic seaboard. Much of the intellectual fervor centered in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia nurtured a yeasty think tank for rebellion and democracy as debates rang through the streets, meeting rooms, and taverns. From the beginning, Philadelphia attracted political thinkers and then hosted the delegates who invented a revolutionary government. Ancient Greek and Enlightenment philosophers inspired the colonials to revolt and to create a new form of government. At Philadelphia, the intellectual reasons and emotional appeals for the rebellion and establishment of a democracy flourished.

A unique colony, Philadelphia was founded for religious freedom and tolerance. Given by King Charles II in 1682 to Quaker William Penn and his Friends, Philadelphia quickly thrived as a business and intellectual center for the colonies. Its lively port, its central location between the north and south colonies, its gateway to the productive western lands, and its embrace of the many peoples who flocked there created a vibrancy that anchored the tumult of the second half of the 18^th century.

It was one thing for rebels in Massachusetts to start shooting at the Redcoats. It was another thing altogether for a new Congress to fund and prosecute a revolution while governing on the fly. Much of the debate and planning happened in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. Some of the most important moments in the founding of our republic occurred at this State House. The drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1775, organizing the army, and then the creation of the Constitution in 1787-1788 all took place here. Philadelphia held a unique position for the rebellion and the nascent republic. Actions taken there drive us to ourselves today.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia (Photo by Hunner)

The Continental Congresses

Responding to the Intolerable Acts which punished Boston for its Tea Party, Benjamin Franklin called for the First Continental Congress to meet at the Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia beginning September 5, 1774. This Congress issued a “Declaration and Resolves of the First Congress” which declared “That the foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council.”[1] Although a birthright for Englishmen, political representation remained elusive for the colonials. To force the issue with Parliament, the First Continental Congress called for the boycott of British goods and for communities to form committees to monitor compliance. These grass roots units served as the organizational and communication network that bound the disparate colonies together. With these and other actions, the First Continental Congress disbanded in October 1774. Several months later, the American Revolutionary War erupted around Boston (as described in the previous posting on the Minute Man National Historical Park). War dramatically altered the next congress.

Benjamin Franklin as shown at the Portrait Gallery in Independence
National Historical Park (Photo by Hunner)

The Second Continental Congress convened on May 19, 1775 at the Pennsylvania State House. The State House, built in the 1730s, served as a seat of government first for the colony and then for the Revolution. This Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III proclaiming American loyalty to Britain, which the king rejected. Instead, the King declared that the colonies were in revolt and ordered his army in Boston to treat the colonials as “open and avowed enemies.” Not surprisingly, this poured fuel on the revolutionary fire.

In anticipation of a growing conflict, the Second Congress created the Continental Army on June 14 with Virginia delegate George Washington its commander-in-chief. Congress chose Washington because he had distinguished himself as a military leader in the French and Indian War and because Virginia played a leadership role in the revolt. From Philadelphia, Washington wrote to his wife Martha: “It has been determined in Congress that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my Care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the command of it.”[2] He rushed north to Boston.

George Washington at Portrait Gallery (Photo
by Hunner)

Martha Washington at Portrait Gallery (Photo
by Hunner)

Congress in the spring of 1776 defiantly moved to declare independence, to seek foreign allies, and to unite the colonies in North America. A “Committee of Five” led by Thomas Jefferson drafted a resolution which the Congress debated in a stifling June heat wave.

The Declaration of Independence

In contrast to European governments, the Declaration proclaimed that “all people are created equal,” that governments derived their “just Powers from the consent of the people,” and that people needed to “alter or abolish” a government which curtailed their rights. After establishing the natural and legal rights of people to seek freedom from an unjust government, the rest of the Declaration listed twenty-seven specific abuses perpetrated by the King and Parliament against the colonies.

Fifty-seven representatives from all thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House on July 4, 1776. The declaration launched our democracy and has inspired people from around the world with its call for equality and freedom; however written by slave owners and devoid of a woman author or signer, this call for liberty and freedom is still a work in progress.

Declaration of Independence fro the British colonies (http://www.founding.com/repository/imgLib/20071018_declaration.jpg)

Over the years, people from Wallace Stegner to Ken Burns have called the National Park Service “American’s Best Idea.” Former NPS chief historian Dwight Pitcaithley disagrees: “Is it really the best idea we ever had of all the ideas in this democracy? It seems to me that Thomas Jefferson’s 2nd paragraph in the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is really the best idea we ever had.”[3] As good as our Parks are, this best idea took shape at Independence Hall in 1776.

Visitors to Independence National Historical Park today wait in long lines to view the Liberty Bell. This cherished symbol of American Independence was cast in 1752 in England with the legend “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” The bell often summoned lawmakers to legislative sessions. To mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8^th, the Liberty Bell rang in the State House tower.

Although the delegates from the colonies agreed on the Declaration, it needed public support as well. To help rally Virginians to the cause of independence, Patrick Henry gave a rousing speech to the House of Burgess in Richmond. Complaining about British soldiers on American soil, Henry posed: “They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging…. We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on…. Three million of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.” Henry concluded: “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.”[4] With such rousing orations, public support for the rebellion rose. 

Patrick Henry calling for revolution
(http://dailysignal.com/wp-content/uploads/150323_HenrySpeech.jpg)

In the winter of 1776 and again in the fall of 1777, Congress retreated from advancing Redcoats and abandoned Philadelphia for Baltimore. Threatened by hostile forces, Congress continued to draft the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” amid the chaos of war.

The Articles of Confederation

The debate on what type of national government to create pitted populous states against smaller ones, northern against southern states, and those who favored a strong national government versus those who wanted a weak one. The smaller states prevailed on representation as each state got one vote in the Confederation. When Congress forwarded the Articles to the colonies, Virginia ratified it first on December 16, 1777 while Maryland approved it last on February 2, 1781. As the Revolutionary War waged across the colonies, Congress struggled to finance the war with borrowed money.

Front page of the Articles of Confederation (Courtesy Library of Congress)

The Articles established the rules and duties for the national government which included prosecuting war and seeking peace, negotiating diplomatic and trade agreements, and settling disputes between states. However, it was obvious that the Articles did not work. They did not give the national government the power to raise money through taxes. No state honored all of their financial obligations, and at times, Georgia and New Jersey refused to pay anything. Consequently, the Confederation government had little money to pay even the interest on its foreign debt. By 1786, the United States was defaulting on its debts as they came due. Changes had to happen. The resultant creation of the Constitution of the United States at Independence Hall in 1787 is next week’s posting.

Congress designated Independence Hall a National Historic Site in 1943 followed by National Historical Park status in 1948. The following sites are some, but not all, of the buildings that comprise the Independence National Historical Park:

Independence Visitor Center - 525 Market Street

Independence Hall - 520 Chestnut Street

Liberty Bell Center - 526 Market Street

Portrait Gallery- 420 Chestnut Street

City Tavern - 138 S. 2nd Street

Park Headquarters - 143 S. 3rd Street

Millions of people from around the world have driven through Philadelphia, stood in line to view the Liberty Bell, toured Independence Hall and the Portrait Gallery, and visited the other sites of this National Historical Park.

Its history drives us.

Driving by Independence Hall (Photo by Hunner)

Independence National Historical Park

143 South Third Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 965-2305

http://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm

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[1] Bruun and Crosby, Our Nation’s Archive, 116.

[2] Kelly, Best Stories of American Revolution, 85.

[3] Interview of Dwight Pitcaithley by Jon Hunner for Storycorps, Jan. 6, 2016 in Las Cruces, NM.

[4] Bruun and Crosby, Our Nation’s Archive, 118-19.