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The city of
In 1681, King Charles II gave Penn a large piece of his newly acquired American land holdings to repay a debt the king owed to Admiral Sir William Penn, Penn's father. This land included present-day
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
was founded in 1682 by William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
in the English Crown Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...
between the Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and Schuylkill rivers. Before then, the area was inhabited by the Lenape people
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
. Philadelphia quickly grew into an important colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
city and during the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
was the site of the First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
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Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
es. 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 textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
s.
After the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
Philadelphia's government was controlled by a Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
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
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and weakened the Philadelphia City Council
The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...
. At the same time Philadelphia moved its supports from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
which has since created a strong Democratic organization. The city began a population decline in the 1950s as mostly white and middle-class families left for the suburbs. Many of Philadelphia's houses were in poor condition and lacked proper facilities, and gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
and mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
warfare plagued the city. Revitalization and gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
of certain neighborhoods started bringing people back to the city. Promotions and incentives in the 1990s and the early 21st century have improved the city's image and created a condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
boom in Center City and the surrounding areas that has slowed the population decline.
Overview
In 1681, King Charles II gave Penn a large piece of his newly acquired American land holdings to repay a debt the king owed to Admiral Sir William Penn, Penn's father. This land included present-day Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), 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, ...
and Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, though the claim as written would create a bloody conflict with Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
(dubbed Cresap's War
Cresap's War (also known as the Conojocular War, from the Conejohela Valley where it was mainly located along the south bank) was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a seri ...
) over the land grant already owned by Lord Baltimore. Penn put together a colonial expedition and fleet, which set out for America in the middle of the following summer. Penn, sailing in the vanguard, first set foot on American soil at the colony at New Castle, Delaware
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285.
History
New Castl ...
. An orderly change of government ensued, as was normal in an age used to the privileges and prerogatives of aristocracy and which antedated nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
: the colonists pledged allegiance to Penn as their new Proprietor
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
. The first Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...
was soon held in the colony.
Penn later journeyed up the river and founded Philadelphia with a core group of accompanying Quakers and others seeking religious freedom on lands he purchased from the local chieftains of the Lenape or Delaware nation
Delaware Nation ( del, Èhëliwsikakw Lënapeyok), also known as the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma and sometimes called the Absentee or Western Delaware, based in Anadarko, Oklahoma This began a long period of peaceful co-operation between the colony and the Delaware, in contrast to the frictions between the tribe and the Swedish and Dutch colonists. However, the new colonists would not enjoy such easy relations with the rival and territorial Conestoga peoples to the west for a number of decades as the English Quaker and German Anabaptist, Lutheran and Moravian settlers attracted to the religiously tolerant colony worked their way northwest up the Schuylkill and due west south of the hill country into the breadbasket lands along the lower
Before Philadelphia was colonized by Europeans, the area was inhabited by the Lenape (Delaware) Indians. The
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
. Lord Baltimore and the Province of Maryland had circa 1652–53 finished waging a decade long ''declared war'' against the Susquehannocks and the Dutch, who'd been trading them fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
s for tools and firearms for some time. Both groups had uneasy relations with the Delaware (Lenape) and the Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
. Furthermore, Penn's Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
government was not viewed favorably by the Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
settlers in what is now Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. They had no "historical" allegiance to Pennsylvania, so they almost immediately began petitioning for their own Assembly. In 1704, they achieved their goal when the three southernmost counties of Pennsylvania were permitted to split off and become the new semi-autonomous colony of Lower Delaware. New Castle, the most prominent, prosperous and influential settlement in the new colony, became the capital. During its brief period of ascendancy as an empire following the victory by Gustav the Great in the Battle of Breitenfeld Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
settlers arrived in the area in the early 17th century to found a nearby colony, New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
in what is today southern New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. With the arrival of more numerous English colonists and development of the port on the Delaware, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
quickly grew into an important colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
city.
During the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, Philadelphia was the site of the First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
es.
After George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...
on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and the city prepared for what was seen as an inevitable British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
attack. Because bells could easily be recast into munitions, one of those preparations was hastily removing the Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
(and other Philadelphia bells) and sending them by heavily guarded wagon train to the Zion German Reformed Church in Northampton Town (present-day Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
), where it was hidden under the church floor boards during the British occupation of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia campaign (1777–1778) was a British effort in the American Revolutionary War to gain control of Philadelphia, which was then the seat of the Second Continental Congress. British General William Howe, after failing to draw ...
.Nash, p. 19 The Liberty Bell remained hidden in Allentown from September 1777 until its return to Philadelphia in June 1778, following the British retreat from Philadelphia on June 18, 1778.
After the Revolution's conclusion in 1783, Philadelphia was chosen to be the temporary capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800, and the city continued for some years to be the country's cultural and financial center. Its large free black community aided fugitive slaves and founded the first independent black denomination in the nation, the African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
. Philadelphia became one of the first U.S. industrial centers with a variety of industries, the largest being textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
s. It had many economic and family ties to the South, with southern planters maintaining second homes in the city and having business connections with banks, sending their daughters to French finishing schools run by refugees from Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
(Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
), selling their cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
to textile manufacturers, which in turn sold some products to the South, for instance, clothing for slaves. At the beginning of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, there were many southern sympathizers, although most city residents became firmly Union as the war went on.
After the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, city government was controlled by the Republican Party; it established a political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
that gained power through patronage. By the beginning of the 20th century, Philadelphia was described as "corrupt and contented." Various reform efforts slowly changed city government; in 1950, a new city charter strengthened the position of mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and weakened the Philadelphia City Council
The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...
. Beginning during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, voters changed from traditional support for the Republican Party to increasing support for the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, which has now been predominant in local politics for many decades.
The population grew dramatically at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, through immigration from Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...
, Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, and Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, as well as the Great Migration of blacks from the rural South and Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants.
Overview
The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
from the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, all attracted to the city's expanding industrial jobs. The Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
was expanding and hired 10,000 workers from the South. Manufacturing plants and the US Navy Yard employed tens of thousands of industrial workers along the rivers, and the city was also a center of finance and publishing, with major universities. By the 1950s, much Philadelphia housing was aged and substandard. In the post-World War II era of suburbanization and construction of area highways, many middle-class families met their demand for newer housing by leaving the city for the suburbs. Population decline accompanied the industrial restructuring and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the mid 20th century. With increasing poverty and social dislocation in the city, gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
and mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
warfare plagued the city in from the mid-20th century to the early 21st century.
By the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st, revitalization and gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
of historic neighborhoods attracted an increase in middle-class population as people began to return to the city. New immigrants from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, and Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
have contributed their energy to the city. Promotions and incentives in the 1990s and the early 21st century have improved the city's image and created a condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
boom in Center City and the surrounding areas.
Native settlements and initial European presence
Before Philadelphia was colonized by Europeans, the area was inhabited by the Lenape (Delaware) Indians. The Delaware River Valley
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before em ...
was called the ''Zuyd'', meaning "South" River, or ''Lënapei Sipu.''
Located north of what will eventually become the Center City and on the east bank of the Schuylkill was a Lenape settlement named Coaquannock, meaning "grove of pines." One of the largest Lenape settlement in the region, located in today's South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Passyunk, meaning "in the valley." Other settlements including the village of Nitapèkunk, "place that is easy to get to," located in today's Fairmount Park area. And the villages of Pèmikpeka, "where the water flows," and
Penn sent three commissioners to supervise the settlement and to set aside 10,000 acres (40 km2) for the city. The commissioners bought land from Swedes at the settlement of
In the 1760s, the
US History, 2010, accessed 29 March 2012 The remains of the President's House were found during excavation for a new Liberty Bell Center, leading to archeological work in 2007. In 2010, a memorial on the site opened to commemorate Washington's slaves and African Americans in Philadelphia and U.S. history, as well as to mark the house site.
The lawlessness and the difficulty in controlling it, along with residential development just north of Philadelphia, led to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, Act of Consolidation in 1854. The act passed on February 2, making Philadelphia's borders coterminous with Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, and incorporating various subdistrict within the county.
Once the
Shackamaxon
The Treaty of Shackamaxon, also called the Great Treaty and Penn's Treaty, was a legendary treaty between William Penn and Tamanend of the Lenape signed in 1682. Penn and Tamanend agreed that their people would live in a state of perpetual peace ...
, "place where the chief was crowned", both were located on the west bank of Delaware River, upstream from today's Northern Liberties
Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. in every census from 1790 to 1850.
Boundaries
Northern Liberties is loc ...
.
The first exploration of the area by Europeans was in 1609, when a Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson entered the Delaware River Valley in search of the Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
. The Valley, including the future location of Philadelphia, became part of the New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
claim of the Dutch. Around 1630s, to control the Great Minquas Path, a fur trade route to the Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
which passed through Philadelphia region, the Dutch authority of New Netherland built a palisaded factorij
Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, ...
located near the confluence of the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River, named Fort Beversreede
Fort Beversreede (after 1633–1651) was a Dutch-built palisaded factorij located near the confluence of the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River. It was an outpost of the colony of New Netherland, which was centered on its capital, New Amste ...
.
In 1637, Swedish, Dutch and German stockholders formed the New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
Company to trade for furs and tobacco in North America. Under the command of Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Wallonian merchant from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New N ...
, the company's first expedition sailed from Sweden late in 1637 in two ships, ''Kalmar Nyckel
''Kalmar Nyckel'' (''Key of Kalmar'') was a Swedish ship built by the Dutch famed for carrying Swedish settlers to North America in 1638, to establish the colony of New Sweden. The name Kalmar Nyckel comes from the Swedish city of Kalmar and nyc ...
'' and ''Fogel Gri''. Minuit had been the governor of the New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
from 1626 to 1631. Resenting his dismissal by the Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
, he brought to the new project the knowledge that the Dutch colony had temporarily abandoned its efforts in the Delaware Valley to focus on the Hudson River valley to the north. The ships reached Delaware Bay in March 1638, and the settlers began to build a fort at the site of present-day Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
. They named it Fort Christina, in honor of the twelve-year-old Queen Christina of Sweden. It was the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. Part of this colony eventually included land on the west side of the Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
from just below the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
.
Johan Björnsson Printz
Johan Björnsson Printz (July 20, 1592 – May 3, 1663) was governor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River in North America.
Early life in Sweden
He was born in Bottnaryd, Jönköping County, in the pro ...
was appointed to be the first royal governor of New Sweden, arriving in the colony on February 15, 1643. Under his ten-year rule, the administrative center of New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
was moved north to Tinicum Island, to the immediate southwest of today's Philadelphia, where he built an outpost called Fort New Gothenburg and his own manor house which he called the Printzhof
The Printzhof, located in Governor Printz Park in Essington, Pennsylvania, was the home of Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden.
In 1643, Johan Printz moved his capital from Fort Christina (located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware) ...
.
The first English settlement occurred about 1642, when 50 Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
families from the New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history o ...
in Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, led by George Lamberton, tried to establish a theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
at the mouth of the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
. The New Haven Colony had earlier struck a deal with the Lenape to buy much of New Jersey south of present-day Trenton. The Dutch and Swedes in the area burned the English colonists' buildings. A Swedish court under Swedish Governor Johan Björnsson Printz
Johan Björnsson Printz (July 20, 1592 – May 3, 1663) was governor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River in North America.
Early life in Sweden
He was born in Bottnaryd, Jönköping County, in the pro ...
convicted Lamberton of "trespassing, conspiring with the Indians." The offshoot New Haven colony received no support. The Puritan Governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
said it was dissolved owing to summer "sickness and mortality." The disaster contributed to New Haven's losing control of its area to the larger Connecticut Colony
The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...
.
In 1644, New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
supported the Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
in their successful conflict with Maryland colonists led by General Harrison II. With the alliance with Susquehannock, the Swedes further strengthened their claims for land at the mouth of the Schuylkill River. In 1648, New Sweden built a stockaded 30-by-20-foot blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
directly in front of the Dutch Fort Beversreede, called Fort Nya Korsholm or Fort New Korsholm
Korsholm (; fi, Mustasaari) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscap ...
. The Swedish building was said to be only twelve feet from the gate of the Dutch fort and was meant to intimidate the Dutch residents and intercept trade. As a result, the Dutch abandoned Fort Beversreede in 1651 and dismantled and relocated the nearby Fort Nassau to the Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...
, downstream from the Swedes' Fort Christina. The Dutch consolidated their forces at the rebuilt fort, renamed Fort Casimir
Fort Casimir or Fort Trinity was a Dutch fort in the seventeenth-century colony of New Netherland. It was located on a no-longer existing barrier island at the end of Chestnut Street in what is now New Castle, Delaware.
Background
The Dutch c ...
.
The Dutch never recognized the legitimacy of the Swedish claim and, in the late summer of 1655, Director-General Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
of New Amsterdam mustered a military expedition to the Delaware Valley to subdue the rogue colony. Although the colonists had to recognize the authority of New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
, the Dutch terms were tolerant. The Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
settlers continued to enjoy a much local autonomy, having their own militia, religion, court, and lands. This official status lasted until the English capture of New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
in October 1664, and continued unofficially until the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania in 1682.
The Swedish immigration and expansion continued in the Philadelphia region. In 1669, one of the founders of the New Sweden, Sven Gunnarsson, moved into the region and settled at a place called Wicaco, a former native settlement located on today's Society Hill
Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center City District dates the Free Soc ...
and Queens Village
Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the north ...
in South Philadelphia, beginning with a log blockhouse. The Swedish congregation on Tinicum Island moved to Wicaco in 1677, and repurposed the blockhouse as their church, five years before the founding of the city of Philadelphia. Sven Gunnarsson died in 1678 and was one of the first buried at the church. The church and the cemetery eventually became the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church
Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes, is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard ( ...
of Philadelphia, the oldest church in Pennsylvania.
By 1682, the area of modern Philadelphia was inhabited by about fifty Europeans, mostly subsistence farmers live in and around the Wicaco settlement.
Founding
In 1681, as part of a repayment of a debt, King Charles II grantedWilliam Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
a charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
for what would become the Pennsylvania colony
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...
. Shortly after receiving the charter, Penn said he would lay out "a large Towne or Citty in the most Convenient place upon the Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
for health & Navigation." Penn wanted the city to live peacefully in the area, without a fortress or walls
Walls may refer to:
*The plural of wall, a structure
*Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places
* Walls, Louisiana, United States
* Walls, Mississippi, United States
* Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
, so he bought the land from the Lenape. The legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
is that Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany
Tamanend (historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, "the Affable," ) (–) was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the Peace Treaty with ...
under an elm tree at Shackamaxon
The Treaty of Shackamaxon, also called the Great Treaty and Penn's Treaty, was a legendary treaty between William Penn and Tamanend of the Lenape signed in 1682. Penn and Tamanend agreed that their people would live in a state of perpetual peace ...
, in what became the city's Kensington District.
Penn envisioned a city where all people regardless of religion could worship freely and live together. Being a Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
, Penn had experienced religious persecution. He also planned that the city's streets would be set up in a grid, with the idea that the city would be more like the rural towns of England than its crowded cities. The homes would be spread far apart and surrounded by gardens and orchards. The city granted the first purchasers land along the Delaware River for their homes. It had access to the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean, and became an important port in the Thirteen Colonies. He named the city Philadelphia (''philos'', "love" or "friendship", and ''adelphos'', "brother"); it was to have a commercial center for a market, state house, and other key buildings. The grid plan was adapted from a grid plan originally designed by cartographer Richard Newcourt for London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Penn sent three commissioners to supervise the settlement and to set aside 10,000 acres (40 km2) for the city. The commissioners bought land from Swedes at the settlement of Wicaco
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden fo ...
, and from there began to lay out the city toward the north. The area went about a mile along the Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
between modern South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and Vine Streets. Penn's ship anchored off the coast of New Castle, Delaware
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285.
History
New Castl ...
, on October 27, 1682, and he arrived in Philadelphia a few days after that. He expanded the city west to the bank of the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
, for a total of 1,200 acres (4.8 km2). Streets were laid out in a gridiron system. Except for the two widest streets, High (now Market) and Broad
Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to:
People
* A slang term for a woman.
* Broad (surname), a surname
Places
* Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth
* The Broads, a network of mostly na ...
, the streets were named after prominent landowners who owned adjacent lots. The streets were renamed in 1684; the ones running east–west were named after local trees (Vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
, Sassafras
''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle ...
, Mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
, Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
, Chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
, Walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
, Locust, Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
, Pine, Lombard, and Cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
*Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
* ...
) and the north–south streets were numbered. Within the area, four squares (now named Rittenhouse, Logan, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
) were set aside as parks open for everyone. Penn designed a central square at the intersection of Broad and what is now Market Street to be surrounded by public buildings.
Some of the first settlers lived in caves dug out of the river bank, but the city grew with construction of homes, churches, and wharves. The new landowners did not share Penn's vision of a non-congested city. Most people bought land along the Delaware River instead of spreading westward towards the Schuylkill. The lots they bought were subdivided and resold with smaller streets constructed between them. Before 1704, few settlers lived west of Fourth Street.
Early growth
Philadelphia grew from a few hundred European inhabitants in 1683 to over 2,500 in 1701. The population was mostly English,Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, Irish, Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
, Swedes, Finns
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
, and Dutch. Before William Penn left Philadelphia for the last time on October 25, 1701, he issued the Charter of 1701. The charter established Philadelphia as a city and gave the mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
, aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
, and councilmen the authority to issue laws and ordinances and regulate markets and fairs. The first known Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
resident of Philadelphia was Jonas Aaron, a German who moved to the city in 1703. He is mentioned in an article entitled "A Philadelphia Business Directory of 1703," by Charles H. Browning. It was published in ''The American Historical Register,'' in April, 1895.
Philadelphia became an important trading center and major port. Initially the city's main source of trade was with the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, which had established sugar cane plantations. It was part of the Triangle Trade, associated with Africa and Europe. During Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
(1702 and 1713) with the French, trade was cut off to the West Indies, hurting Philadelphia financially. The end of the war brought brief prosperity to all of overseas British possessions, but a depression in the 1720s stunted Philadelphia's growth. The 1720s and '30s saw immigration from mostly Germany and northern Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
to Philadelphia and the surrounding countryside. The region was developed for agriculture and Philadelphia exported grains, lumber products and flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
seeds to Europe and elsewhere in the American colonies; this pulled the city out of the depression.
Philadelphia's pledge of religious tolerance attracted many other religions beside Quakers. Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
s, Pietists
Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...
, Anglicans
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
, Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
moved to the city and soon outnumbered the Quakers, but they continued to be powerful economically and politically. Political tensions existed between and within the religious groups, which also had national connections. Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
s in 1741 and 1742 took place over high bread prices and drunken sailors. In October 1742 and the "Bloody Election" riots, sailors attacked Quakers and pacifist Germans, whose peace politics were strained by the War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...
. The city was plagued by pickpockets and other petty criminals. Working in the city government had such a poor reputation that fines were imposed on citizens who refused to serve an office after being chosen. One man fled Philadelphia to avoid serving as mayor.
In the first half the 18th century, like other American cities, Philadelphia was dirty, with garbage and animals littering the streets. The roads were unpaved and in rainy seasons impassable. Early attempts to improve quality of life were ineffective as laws were poorly enforced. By the 1750s, Philadelphia was turning into a major city. Christ Church and the Pennsylvania State House, better known as Independence Hall
Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...
, were built. Streets were paved and illuminated with oil lamps. Philadelphia's first newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
, Andrew Bradford
Andrew Bradford (1686 – November 24, 1742) was an early American printer in colonial Philadelphia. He published the first newspaper in Philadelphia, ''The American Weekly Mercury'', beginning in 1719, as well as the first magazine in America in ...
's ''American Weekly Mercury'', began publishing on December 22, 1719.
The city also developed culturally and scientifically. Schools, libraries and theaters were founded. James Logan arrived in Philadelphia in 1701 as a secretary for William Penn. He was the first to help establish Philadelphia as a place of culture and learning.''Insight Guides: Philadelphia and Surroundings'', p. 25 Logan, who was the mayor of Philadelphia in the early 1720s, created one of the largest libraries in the colonies. He also helped guide other prominent Philadelphia residents, which included botanist John Bartram and Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
. Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia in October 1723 and would play a large part in the city's development. To help protect the city from fire, Franklin founded the Union Fire Company Union Fire Company, sometimes called Franklin's Bucket Brigade, was a volunteer fire department formed in Philadelphia in 1736 with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin. It was the very first firefighting organization in Philadelphia, although it was ...
. In the 1750s Franklin was named one of the city's post master generals and he established postal routes between Philadelphia, New York, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, and elsewhere. He helped raise money to build the American colonies' first hospital, which opened in 1752. That same year the College of Philadelphia
The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as ...
, another project of Franklin's, received its charter of incorporation. Threatened by French and Spanish privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, Franklin and others set up a volunteer group for defense and built two batteries.
When the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
began in 1754 as part of the Seven Years' War, Franklin recruited militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
s. During the war, the city attracted many refugees from the western frontier. When Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...
occurred in 1763, refugees again fled into the city, including a group of Lenape hiding from other Native Americans, angry at their pacifism, and white frontiersmen. The Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were Pennsylvania's most aggressive colonists according to historian Kevin Kenny. While not many specifics are known about the individuals in the group their overall profile is clear. Paxton Boys Lived in hill country northwest of ...
tried to follow them into Philadelphia for attacks, but was prevented by the city's militia and Franklin, who convinced them to leave.
Revolution
In the 1760s, the British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
's passage of the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...
, combined with other frustrations, increased political tension and anger against Britain in the colonies. Philadelphia residents joined boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...
s of British goods. After the Tea Act
The Tea Act 1773 (13 Geo 3 c 44) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help th ...
in 1773, there were threats against anyone who would store tea and any ships that brought tea up the Delaware. After the Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...
, a shipment of tea had arrived in December, on the ship the ''Polly''. A committee told the captain to depart without unloading his cargo.
A series of acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
in 1774 further angered the colonies; activists called for a general congress and they agreed to meet in Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
was held in September in Carpenters' Hall
Carpenters' Hall is the official birthplace of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a key meeting place in the early history of the United States. Carpenters' Hall is located in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, ...
. After the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
began in April 1775 following the Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...
, the Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
met in May at the Pennsylvania State House. There they also met a year later to write and sign the Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
in July 1776. Philadelphia was important to the war effort; 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.The port city was vulnerable to capture by the British by sea. Officials recruited soldiers and studied defenses for invasion from
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.
The bay is bordered inlan ...
, but built no forts or other installations. In March 1776 two British frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s began a blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
of the mouth of Delaware Bay; British soldiers were moving south through New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
from New York. In December fear of invasion caused half the population to flee the city, including the Continental Congress, which moved to Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. General George Washington pushed back the British advance at the battles of Princeton and Trenton, and the refugees and Congress returned. In September 1777, the British invaded Philadelphia from the south. Washington intercepted them at the Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...
but was driven back.
Following Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, thousands of Philadelphians fled north within Pennsylvania and east into New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. Congress moved to Lancaster and then to York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. Fearing the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
would seize the Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
and other large Philadelphia bells, which could easily be recast into munitions, the Liberty Bell was hastily transported north, where it was hidden beneath the floor boards of the Zion German Reformed Church in Northampton Town (present-day Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
).
On September 23, 1777, as expected, British troops marched into a half-empty Philadelphia and were met by cheering Loyalist crowds. The British occupation of the colonial capital would last ten months. After the French entered the War on the side of the Continentals, the last British troops pulled out of Philadelphia on June 18, 1778 to help defend New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and the Continentals arrived the same day and reclaimed Philadelphia, placing Major General Benedict Arnold in charge as the city's military commander. The city government returned a week later, and the Continental Congress returned in early July. The Liberty Bell, which had been hidden in an Allentown church since September 1777, was returned to Philadelphia following the British retreat from Philadelphia on June 18, 1778.
Historian Gary B. Nash
Gary Baring Nash (July 27, 1933 – July 29, 2021) was an American historian. He concentrated on the Revolutionary period, slavery and race, as well as the formation of political communities in Philadelphia and other cities.
Life and education
Na ...
emphasizes the role of the working class, and their distrust of their betters, in northern ports. He argues that working class artisans and skilled craftsmen made up a radical element in Philadelphia that took control of the city starting about 1770 and promoted a radical Democratic form of government during the revolution. They held power for a while, and used their control of the local militia to disseminate their ideology to the working class and to stay in power until the businessmen staged a conservative counterrevolution. Philadelphia suffered serious inflation, causing problems especially for the poor, who were unable to buy needed goods. This led to unrest in 1779, with people blaming the upper class and Loyalists. A riot in January by sailors striking for higher wages ended up with their attacking and dismantling ships. In the Fort Wilson Riot of October 4, men attacked James Wilson James Wilson may refer to:
Politicians and government officials
Canada
*James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada
* James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...
, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who was accused of being a Loyalist sympathizer. Soldiers broke up the riot, but five people died and 17 were injured.
Flight of Congress
At the end of the American War of Independence, manyPatriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
soldiers had not been paid their wages for their service during the war. Congress refused the soldiers' request for payment of their salaries. In what is known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783
The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 (also known as the Philadelphia Mutiny) was an anti-government protest by nearly 400 soldiers of the Continental Army in June 1783. The mutiny, and the refusal of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to stop i ...
, hundreds of Patriot veterans of the war who were owed back pay marched with their weapons on the Pennsylvania statehouse in Philadelphia. Congress, lacking in funds, fled from Philadelphia to Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
. With their departure and the departure of their families and staffs, Philadelphia was left all but deserted.
Temporary capital
As a result of the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Congress fled Philadelphia, eventually settling in New York City, designated as the temporary capital. Besides the Constitutional Convention in May 1787, United States politics was no longer centered in Philadelphia. Due to political compromise, Congress chose a permanent capital to be built along thePotomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
.
However, Philadelphia was selected as the temporary United States capital for ten years starting in 1790. The United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, founded in March 1789, occupied the Philadelphia County Courthouse, which became known as Congress Hall
Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...
, and the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
worked at City Hall. Robert Morris donated his home at 6th and Market Street as a residence for President Washington, known as the President's House.
Yellow fever 1793
After 1787, the city's economy grew rapidly in the postwar years. Seriousyellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
outbreaks in the 1790s interrupted development. Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, ...
identified an outbreak in August 1793 as a yellow fever epidemic, the first in 30 years, which lasted four months. Two thousand refugees from Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
had recently arrived in the city in flight from the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
. They represented five percent of the city's total population. They likely carried the disease from the island where it was endemic, and it was rapidly transmitted by mosquito bites to other residents. Fear of contracting the disease caused 20,000 residents to flee the city by mid-September, and some neighboring towns prohibited their entry. Trade virtually stopped; Baltimore and New York quarantined
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
people and goods from Philadelphia. People feared entering the city or interacting with its residents. The fever finally abated at the end of October with the onset of colder weather and was declared at an end by mid-November. The death toll was 4,000 to 5,000, in a population of 50,000. Yellow fever outbreaks recurred in Philadelphia and other major ports through the nineteenth century, but none had as many fatalities as that of 1793. The 1798 epidemic in Philadelphia also prompted an exodus; an estimated 1,292 residents died.
Slavery
Pennsylvania, which had abolished slavery in 1780, required any slaves brought to the city to be freed after six months' residency. The state law was challenged by French planters from Saint-Domingue, who brought their enslaved peoples with them, but defended by thePennsylvania Abolition Society
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage was the first American abolition society. It was founded April 14, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and held four meetings. Seventeen of the 24 men who attended initia ...
. Through 1796, 500 slaves from Saint-Domingue gained freedom in the city. Because of the violence accompanying the revolution on the island, Philadelphians, many of whom had southern ties, and residents of the Upper South worried that free people of color would encourage slave insurrections in the U.S.
During the city's 10 years as federal capital, members of Congress were exempt from the abolition law, but the many slaveholders in the executive and judicial branches were not. President Washington, Vice-president Jefferson and others brought slaves as domestic servants, and evaded the law by regularly shifting their slaves out of the city before the 6-month deadline. Two of Washington's slaves escaped from the President's House, and he gradually replaced his slaves with German immigrants who were indentured servants.Edward Lawler, Jr., "A Brief History of the President's House in Philadelphia"US History, 2010, accessed 29 March 2012 The remains of the President's House were found during excavation for a new Liberty Bell Center, leading to archeological work in 2007. In 2010, a memorial on the site opened to commemorate Washington's slaves and African Americans in Philadelphia and U.S. history, as well as to mark the house site.
Industrial growth
The Pennsylvania state government left Philadelphia in 1799 and the United States government left in 1800. By this time, the city had become one of the United States' busiest ports and the country's largest city, with 67,787 people living in Philadelphia and its contiguous suburbs. Philadelphia's maritime trade was interrupted by the Embargo Act of 1807 and then the War of 1812. After the war, Philadelphia's shipping industry never returned to its pre-embargo status, and New York City succeeded it as the busiest port and largest city. The embargo and decrease in foreign trade led to the development of local factories to produce goods no longer available as imports. Factory, Manufacturing plants and Foundry, foundries were built and Philadelphia became an important center of paper-related industries and the leather, shoe, and boot industries. Coal and iron mines, and the construction of new roads, canals, and railroads helped Philadelphia's manufacturing power grow, and the city became the United States' first major industrial city. Major industrial projects included the Fairmount Water Works, Waterworks, iron water pipes, a gasworks, and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, U.S. Naval Yard. In response to exploitative working conditions, some 20,000 Philadelphia workers staged the 1835 Philadelphia general strike, first general strike in North America in 1835, in which workers in the city won the ten-hour workday and an increase in wages. In addition to its industrial power, Philadelphia was the financial center of the country. Along with chartered and private banks, the city was the home of the First Bank of the United States, First and Second Bank of the United States, Second Banks of the United States, Mechanics National Bank (Philadelphia), Mechanics National Bank and the first Philadelphia Mint, U.S. Mint. Cultural institutions, such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Athenaeum and the Franklin Institute also developed in the nineteenth century. ThePennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...
passed the Free School Law of 1834 to create the public school system.
Ethnic rivalries
In the mid and late 1850s, immigrants from Ireland and Germany streamed into the city, swelling the population of Philadelphia and its suburbs. In Philadelphia, as the rich moved west of 7th Street, the poor moved into the upper class' former homes, which were converted into tenements and boarding houses. Many small Townhome, row houses crowded alleyways and small streets, and these areas were filthy, filled with garbage and the smell of manure from animal pens. During the 1840s and 1850s, hundreds died each year in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts from diseases such as malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, and cholera, related to poor sanitation; the poor suffered the most fatalities. Small rowhouses and tenement housing were constructed south of South Street. Violence was a serious problem. Gangs like the Moyamensing Killers and the Blood Tubs controlled various neighborhoods. During the 1840s and early 1850s when volunteer fire companies, some of which were infiltrated by gangs, responded to a fire, fights with other fire companies often broke out. The lawlessness among fire companies virtually ended in 1853 and 1854 when the city took more control over their operations. During the 1840s and 50s violence was directed against immigrants by people who feared their competition for jobs and resented newcomers of different religions and ethnicity. Nativism (politics), Nativists often held mostly Anti-Catholicism, anti-Catholic, anti-Irish meetings. Violence against immigrants also occurred, the worst being the Philadelphia nativist riots, nativist riots in 1844. Violence against African Americans was also common during the 1830s, 40s, and 50s. Immigrants competed with them for jobs, and deadly race riots resulted in the burning of African-American homes and churches. In 1841, Joseph Sturge commented "...there is probably no city in the known world where dislike, amounting to the hatred of the coloured population, prevails more than in the city of brotherly love!" Several anti-slavery societies had been formed and free blacks, Quakers and other abolitionists operated safe houses associated with the Underground Railroad, but working class and ethnic whites opposed the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement.
The lawlessness and the difficulty in controlling it, along with residential development just north of Philadelphia, led to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, Act of Consolidation in 1854. The act passed on February 2, making Philadelphia's borders coterminous with Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, and incorporating various subdistrict within the county.
Once the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
began in 1861, Philadelphia's Southern United States, southern leanings were reduced. Popular hostility shifted against southern sympathizers. Mobs threatened a secessionist newspaper and the homes of suspected sympathizers, and were only turned away by the police and Mayor Alexander Henry. Philadelphia supported the war with soldiers, ammunition, and war ships and its manufacturers produced many army uniforms. Philadelphia was also a major receiving place of the wounded, with more than 157,000 soldiers and sailors treated within the city. Philadelphia began preparing for invasion in 1863, but the Confederate Army was repelled by Union forces at Battle of Gettysburg, Gettysburg.
Late 19th century
In the years following theAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Philadelphia's population continued to grow. The population grew from 565,529 in 1860 to 674,022 in 1870. By 1876, the city's population stood at 817,000. The dense population areas were not only growing north and south along the Delaware River, but also moving westward across the Schuylkill River. A large portion of the growth came from immigrants, still mostly Irish and German. In 1870, twenty-seven percent of Philadelphia's population was born outside the United States.
In February 1854, Act of Consolidation, 1854, the Act of Consolidation made the city of Philadelphia inclusive of the entire county, doing away with all other municipalities.
By the 1880s, immigration from Russia, Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, and Italy started rivaling immigration from Western Europe. Many of the immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe were Jewish. In 1881, there were around 5,000 Jewish history in Philadelphia, Jews in the city, and by 1905 the number had increased to 100,000. Philadelphia's Italian population grew from around 300 in 1870 to around 18,000 in 1900, with the majority settling in South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west. While immigrants moved into the city, Philadelphia's rich left for newer housing in the suburbs, with commuting made easy by newly constructed railroads. During the 1880s much of Philadelphia's upper class moved into the growing suburbs along the Philadelphia Main Line west of the city.
Politically the city was dominated by the Republican Party, which had developed a strong
archive
National Park Service. page 10. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "The statue was … hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen sections in 1894." Philadelphia City Hall, City Hall was the tallest building in Philadelphia, a position it maintained until One Liberty Place surpassed it in 1986. Philadelphia's major industries of the era were the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Cramp & Sons, William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, and the
"Great Depression" in ''Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia''
/ref> Mayor J. Hampton Moore blamed people's economic woes, not on the worldwide
Action Philadelphia
was formed to improve and promote Philadelphia's image. The Philadelphia International Airport, airport expanded, the Schuylkill Expressway and the Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania, Delaware Expressway (Interstate 95) were built, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA was formed, and residential and industrial development took place in Northeast Philadelphia. Preparations for the United States Bicentennial in 1976 began in 1964. By the early 1970s, US$3 million had been spent but no plans were set. The planning group was reorganized and numerous citywide events were planned. Independence National Historical Park was restored and development of Penn's Landing was completed. Less than half the expected visitors came to the city for the Bicentennial, but the event helped revive the identity of the city, inspiring annual neighborhood events and fairs. In 1947, Richardson Dilworth was selected as the Democratic candidate, but lost to incumbent mayor Bernard Samuel. During the campaign Dilworth made numerous specific charges about corruption within city government. The City Council set up a committee to investigate, with findings followed by a grand jury investigation. The five-year investigation and its findings garnered national attention. US$40 million in city spending was found to be unaccounted for, and the president judge of the Court of Common pleas had been tampering with court cases. The fire marshal went to prison; and an official in the tax collection office, a water department employee, a plumbing inspector, and head of the police Vice unit, vice squad each committed suicide after criminal exposures. The public and the press demanded reform and by the end of 1950, a new city charter was drafted. The new charter strengthened the position of the mayor and weakened the City Council. The council would be made of ten councilmen elected by district and seven at large. City administration was streamlined and new boards and commissions were created. In 1951, Joseph S. Clark was elected as the first Democratic mayor in 80 years. Clark filled administration positions based on merit and worked to weed out corruption. Despite reforms and the Clark administration, a powerful Democratic patronage organization eventually replaced the old Republican one. Clark was succeeded by Richardson Dilworth, who continued the policies of his predecessor. Dilworth resigned to run for governor in 1962, and city council president James Hugh Joseph Tate, James H. J. Tate was elected as the city's first Irish Catholic mayor. Tate was elected mayor in 1963 and reelected in 1967 despite opposition from reformers who opposed him as an organization insider. As elsewhere in major US cities, the 1960s was a turbulent decade for the city. Numerous civil rights and Opposition to the Vietnam War, anti-war protests took place, including large protests led by Marie Hicks to desegregate Girard College. Students took over the Community College of Philadelphia in a sit-in, race riots broke out in Holmesburg Prison, and 1964 Philadelphia race riot, a 1964 riot along West Columbia Avenue killed two people, injured over 300 and caused around US$3 million in damages. Crime was also a serious problem. Primarily drug-related gang warfare plagued the city, and in 1970 crime was rated the city's number one problem in a City Planning Commission survey. The court system was overtaxed and the tactics of the police department under Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo were controversial. Frank Rizzo was credited with preventing the level of violence seen in other cities at the time and was elected mayor in 1971. The outspoken Rizzo, who was reelected in 1975, was a divisive figure who had loyal supporters and passionate opponents. Police and fire departments and cultural institutions were well supported under Rizzo, but other city departments like the Free Library, the Department of Welfare and Recreation, the City Planning Commission and the Streets Department experienced large cuts. The radical group called MOVE (Philadelphia organization), MOVE formed in 1972, and tension soon developed with city officials. The first major clash occurred in 1978 at the group's Powelton Village, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Powelton Village headquarters, resulting in the death of a police officer. Nine MOVE members were convicted at trial and sentenced to prison. In 1985, a stand-off occurred at the group's new headquarters in West Philadelphia, whose residents were believed to be armed resisters. The police 1985 MOVE bombing, dropped a satchel bomb on the house from a helicopter; it set off a fire that killed eleven MOVE members, including five children, and destroyed sixty-two neighboring houses.''A Concise History of Philadelphia'', pp. 78–79 Survivors sued the city in civil court and won damages. Crime continued to be a problem in the 1980s. Deadly Italian-American Mafia, Mafia warfare plagued South Philadelphia, drug gangs and crack houses invaded the slums of the city, and the murder rate skyrocketed. William J. Green, III, William J. Green became mayor in 1980, and in 1984 Wilson Goode, W. Wilson Goode became Philadelphia's first African-American mayor. Development continued in areas in Old City and South Street, and large modern skyscrapers of glass and granite, designed by nationally known architects, were constructed in Center City. City employee labor contracts signed during the Rizzo administration helped set up a city financial crisis that Green and Goode were unable to prevent. The city was near bankruptcy at the end of the 1980s. A group of Hmong people, Hmong refugees had settled in Philadelphia after the end of the 1970s Laotian Civil War associated with the Vietnam War. They were attacked in discriminatory acts, and the city's Commission on Human Relations held hearings on the incidents. Anne Fadiman, author of ''The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down'', said that lower-class residents resented the Hmong receiving a $100,000 federal grant for employment assistance when they were also out of work; they believed that American citizens should be getting assistance. Between 1982 and 1984, three quarters of the Hmong people who had settled in Philadelphia left for other cities in the United States to join relatives living elsewhere. South Vietnam, Vietnamese and other immigrants from Asia have settled in the city, many near the Italian Market, Philadelphia, Italian Market area. In addition, numerous Hispanic immigrants from Central and South America have entered the city, settling in North Philadelphia.
In 1992, Ed Rendell was elected as the city's first Jewish mayor. At the time, the city had numerous unpaid bills, the lowest Bond credit rating, bond rating of the top fifty largest U.S. cities, and a budget deficit of US$250 million. Rendell attracted investment in the city, stabilized the city's finances, and produced small budget surpluses. Revitalization of parts of Philadelphia continued in the 1990s. In 1993, a new convention center was opened, creating a hotel boom with seventeen hotels opening between 1998 and 2000 when the city hosted the Republican National Convention. The city began promoting heritage tourism, and producing festivals and entertainment to attract tourists. In 2005, ''National Geographic Traveler'' named Philadelphia America's Next Great City, citing its recent revitalization and general compact cityscape.
Former city council president John F. Street was elected mayor in 1999 and city revitalization continued into the 21st century. The Street administration targeted some of the city's worst neighborhoods for revitalization and made considerable progress. Tax breaks created in 1997 and 2000 helped create a
online edition
* Bridenbaugh, Carl. ''Cities in Revolt: Urban Life in America, 1743–1776'' (1955) * * Ershkowitz, Herbert. ''John Wanamaker: Philadelphia Merchant'' (Signpost Biographies-Da Capo Press, 1999) * Lane, Roger. ''William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America'' ( Oxford University Press, 1991). * Nash, Gary. ''Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia's Black Community, 1720–1840'' (1988) * * * Scranton, Philip. ''Figured Tapestry: Production, Markets, and Power in Philadelphia Textiles, 1885–1941'' (1989). * Scranton, Philip. ''Proprietary Capitalism: The Textile Manufacture at Philadelphia, 1800–1885'' (1983) * Simon, Roger D. '' Philadelphia: A Brief History'' (Pennsylvania Historical Association, 2003). * * Warner, Sam Bass. ''The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth'' (1968) * *
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* * * *
Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
Historical Encyclopedia in progress
Philadelphia: The Great ExperimentPhillyHistory.orgPhiladelphia Center for Architecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Philadelphia History of Philadelphia,
political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
. The Republicans dominated the post-war elections, and corrupt officials made their way into the government and continued to control the city through voter fraud and intimidation. The Gas Trust was the hub of the city's political machine. The Trust (19th century), trust controlled the gas company supplying lighting to the city. With the board under complete control by Republicans in 1865, they awarded contracts and perks for themselves and their cronies. Some government reform did occur during this time. The police department was reorganized; and volunteer fire companies were eliminated and were replaced by a Philadelphia Fire Department, paid fire department. A Compulsory education, compulsory school act passed in 1895, and the Public School Reorganization Act freed the city's education from the political machine. Higher education changed as well. The University of Pennsylvania moved to West Philadelphia and reorganized to its modern form; and Temple University, Drexel University and the Free Library of Philadelphia, Free Library were founded.
The city's major project was organizing and staging the Centennial Exposition, the first World's Fair in the United States, which celebrated the United States Centennial, nation's Centennial. Held in Fairmount Park, exhibits included Alexander Graham Bell's telephone and the Corliss Steam Engine. Beginning May 10, 1876, by the end of the Exposition on November 10, more than nine million people had visited the fair. The city undertook construction of a new city hall, designed to match its ambitions. The project was graft-ridden and it took twenty-three years to complete. Upon completion of its tower in 1894,"National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Philadelphia City Hall"archive
National Park Service. page 10. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "The statue was … hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen sections in 1894." Philadelphia City Hall, City Hall was the tallest building in Philadelphia, a position it maintained until One Liberty Place surpassed it in 1986. Philadelphia's major industries of the era were the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Cramp & Sons, William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. Westward expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad helped Philadelphia keep up with nearby New York City in domestic commerce, as both cities fought for dominance in transporting iron and coal resources from Pennsylvania. Philadelphia's other local railroad was the Reading Company, Reading Railroad, but after a series of bankruptcies, it was taken over by New Yorkers. The Panic of 1873, which occurred when the New York City branch of the Philadelphia bank Jay Cooke and Company failed, and another panic in the 1890s hampered Philadelphia's economic growth. While the depressions hurt the city, its diverse array of industries helped it weather difficult times. It had numerous iron and steel-related manufacturers, including Philadelphian-owned iron and steel works outside the city, most notably the Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem Iron Company in the city by that name. The largest industry in Philadelphia was textiles. Philadelphia produced more textiles than any other U.S. city; in 1904 the textile industry employed more than 35 percent of the city's workers. The cigar, sugar, and oil industries also were strong in the city. During this time the major department stores: Wanamaker's, Gimbels, Strawbridge's, Strawbridge and Clothier, and Lit Brothers, were developed along Market Street.
By the end of the century, the city provided nine municipal swimming pools, making it a leader in the nation.
Early 20th century
In the beginning of the 20th century Philadelphia had taken on a poor reputation. People both inside and outside of the city commented that Philadelphia and its citizens were dull and contented with its lack of change. ''Harper's Magazine'' commented that "The one thing unforgivable in Philadelphia is to be new, to be different from what has been." In his pioneering 1899 work of urban sociology ''The Philadelphia Negro'' W. E. B. Du Bois had written, "Few large cities have such a disreputable record for misgovernment as Philadelphia." Du Bois's study found, in addition to general mismanagement and neglect, severe racial disparities in employment, housing, health, education, and criminal justice. These disparities persisted; for example, between 1910 and 1920 the proportion of African-Americans in Philadelphia, black citizens of Philadelphia who developed tuberculosis was four to six times that of whites. Along with an image of "dullness" and of poor governance practices, Philadelphia was known for its political corruption. The Republican-controlled political machine, run by Israel Wilson Durham, Israel Durham, permeated all parts of city government. One official estimated that US$5 million was wasted each year from graft in the city's infrastructure programs. The majority of residents were Republican, but voter fraud and bribery were still common. In 1905, the city enacted election reforms, such as personal voter registration and the establishing Primary election, primaries for all city offices. But, residents became complacent, and the city's political bosses continued in control. After 1907, Boss Durham retired and his successor, James McNichol, never controlled much outside North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, North Philadelphia. The Vare brothers, George, Edwin, and William S. Vare, William, had created their own organization in South Philadelphia. With no central authority, Senator Boies Penrose took charge. In 1910, infighting between McNichol and the Vares contributed to the reform candidate, Rudolph Blankenburg, to be elected mayor. During his administration, he made numerous cost-cutting measures and improvements to city services, but he served only one term. The machine again gained control. The policies of Woodrow Wilson's administration reunited reformers with the city's Republican Party and World War I temporarily halted the reform movement. In 1917, the murder of George Eppley, a police officer defending City Council primary candidate James Carey, ignited the reformers again. They passed legislation to reduce the City Council from two houses to one, and provided council members an annual salary. With the deaths of McNichol in 1917 and Penrose in 1921, William Vare became the city's political boss. In the 1920s the public flouting of Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition laws, mob violence, and police involvement in illegal activities led Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick to appoint Brigadier General Smedley Butler of the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps as director of public safety. Butler cracked down on bars and Speakeasy, speakeasies and tried to stop corruption within the police force, but demand for liquor and political pressure made the job difficult, and he had little success. After two years, Butler left in January 1926 and most of his police reforms were repealed. On August 1, 1928, Boss Vare suffered a stroke, and two weeks later a grand jury investigation into the city's mob violence and other crimes began. Numerous police officers were dismissed or arrested as a result of the investigation, but no permanent change resulted. Strong support among some residents for the Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith, who was Catholic, marked the city's turning away in the 20th century from the Republican Party. Philadelphia continued to grow with immigrants coming from Eastern Europe and Italy, as well as African American migrants from the South. Foreign immigration was briefly interrupted by World War I. The demand for labor for the city's factories, including the new U.S. Naval Yard at Hog Island, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hog Island, which constructed ships, trains, and other items needed in the war effort, helped attract blacks in the Great Migration. In September 1918, cases of the Spanish flu, influenza pandemic were reported at the Naval Yard and began to spread. The disease became widespread following the Philadelphia Liberty Loans Parade, which was attended by more than 200,000 people. Mortality on some days was several hundred people and, by the time the pandemic began to subside in October, more than 12,000 people had died. The rising popularity of automobiles led to widening of roads and creation of Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia), Northeast (Roosevelt) Boulevard in 1914, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1918, the changing of many existing streets to one-way streets in the early 1920s, and construction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Delaware River (Benjamin Franklin) Bridge to New Jersey in 1926. Philadelphia began to modernize, steel and concrete skyscrapers were constructed, old buildings were wired for electricity, and the city's WTEL (AM), first commercial radio station was founded. In 1907, the city constructed the Market-Frankford Line, first subway. It hosted the Sesquicentennial Exposition, Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in South Philadelphia, and in 1928 opened the Philadelphia Museum of Art.Great Depression and World War II
In the three years after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, stock market crashed in 1929, 50 Philadelphia banks closed. Of those only two were large, Albert M. Greenfield's Bankers Trust Company and the Franklin Trust Company. Savings and loan associations also faced trouble, with mortgages of 19,000 properties being Foreclosure, foreclosed in 1932 alone. By 1934, 1,600 of 3,400 savings and loan associations had shut down. From 1929 to 1933, regional manufacturing fell by 45 percent; factory payrolls fell by 60 percent; retail sales fell by 40 percent. Worst hit of all was construction, where payrolls dropped 84 percent. Unemployment peaked in 1933, when 11.5 percent of whites, 16.2 percent of African Americans, and 19.1 percent of foreign-born whites were out of work.Roger D. Simon"Great Depression" in ''Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia''
/ref> Mayor J. Hampton Moore blamed people's economic woes, not on the worldwide
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, but on laziness and wastefulness, and claimed there was no starvation in the city. Soon after, he fired 3,500 city workers, instituted pay cuts, forced unpaid vacation, and reduced the number of contracts the city awarded. This saved Philadelphia millions of dollars, and the efforts kept the city from defaulting on its debts, but were unpopular among the unemployed. The city relied on state money to fund relief efforts. Moore's successor S. Davis Wilson instituted numerous programs financed by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal's Works Progress Administration, despite condemning the program during his mayoral campaign. At the peak of WPA-financed jobs in 1936, 40,000 Philadelphians were employed under the program.
With encouragement from the state government and labor's founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), Philadelphia became a Trade union, union city. Many trade unions discriminated against African Americans for years, and they were closed out of some labor advances. Workers' dissatisfaction with conditions led to numerous strikes in the textile unions, and the CIO organized labor in other industries, with more strikes taking place. During the 1930s, the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
began to grow in Philadelphia, influenced by the leadership of the Roosevelt administration during the Depression. A newly organized Independent Democratic Committee reached out to residents. In 1936, the 1936 Democratic National Convention, Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia. The majority of voters in the city reelected the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
as president; they also voted for Democratic Congressmen and state representatives. City government continued to be dominated by Republicans, but the politicians were elected by small margins.
The beginning of World War II in Europe and the threat of the U.S. becoming involved generated new jobs in defense-related industries. After the U.S. became involved in the war in 1941, the city mobilized. Philadelphia consistently met war bond quotas and when the war ended in 1945, 183,850 residents were in the U.S. armed forces. With so many men serving in the military, there had been a labor shortage; businesses and industries hired women and workers from outside the city. In 1944, the Philadelphia Transportation Company promoted African Americans to positions as motormen and conductors (from which they had previously been excluded) on public transportation vehicles. Resentful, other PTC workers protested and began a strike that nearly immobilized the city. President Roosevelt sent troops to replace the striking workers. After a federal ultimatum, the workers returned after six days.
Reform and decline
After World War II ended,Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
had a serious housing shortage. Around half of the city's housing had been built in the 19th century, and many units lacked proper sanitary facilities, were overcrowded, and in poor condition. Competition for housing, as African Americans (many had come to the city in the Great Migration from the South) and Puerto Ricans moved into new neighborhoods, resulted in racial tension. The wealthier middle-class residents, often white, continued to move out to the suburbs in what became called white flight.
The population peaked at more than two million residents in 1950; afterward the city's population declined while that of the neighboring suburban counties grew. Some residents moved out of the region altogether due to restructuring of industry and loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the city. Philadelphia lost five percent of its population in the 1950s, three percent in the 1960s and more than thirteen percent in the 1970s. Manufacturing and other major Philadelphia businesses, which had supported middle-class lives for the working class, were moving out of the area or shutting down in industrial restructuring, including major declines in railroads.
The city encouraged development projects in University City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University City in West Philadelphia and the area around Temple University in North Philadelphia, it removed the Penn Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "Chinese Wall" elevated railway, and developed Market East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Market Street East around the transportation hub. Some gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
occurred, with restoration of properties in historic neighborhoods such as Society Hill
Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center City District dates the Free Soc ...
, Rittenhouse Square, Queen Village, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Queen Village, and the Fairmount, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fairmount area. A non profit grouAction Philadelphia
was formed to improve and promote Philadelphia's image. The Philadelphia International Airport, airport expanded, the Schuylkill Expressway and the Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania, Delaware Expressway (Interstate 95) were built, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA was formed, and residential and industrial development took place in Northeast Philadelphia. Preparations for the United States Bicentennial in 1976 began in 1964. By the early 1970s, US$3 million had been spent but no plans were set. The planning group was reorganized and numerous citywide events were planned. Independence National Historical Park was restored and development of Penn's Landing was completed. Less than half the expected visitors came to the city for the Bicentennial, but the event helped revive the identity of the city, inspiring annual neighborhood events and fairs. In 1947, Richardson Dilworth was selected as the Democratic candidate, but lost to incumbent mayor Bernard Samuel. During the campaign Dilworth made numerous specific charges about corruption within city government. The City Council set up a committee to investigate, with findings followed by a grand jury investigation. The five-year investigation and its findings garnered national attention. US$40 million in city spending was found to be unaccounted for, and the president judge of the Court of Common pleas had been tampering with court cases. The fire marshal went to prison; and an official in the tax collection office, a water department employee, a plumbing inspector, and head of the police Vice unit, vice squad each committed suicide after criminal exposures. The public and the press demanded reform and by the end of 1950, a new city charter was drafted. The new charter strengthened the position of the mayor and weakened the City Council. The council would be made of ten councilmen elected by district and seven at large. City administration was streamlined and new boards and commissions were created. In 1951, Joseph S. Clark was elected as the first Democratic mayor in 80 years. Clark filled administration positions based on merit and worked to weed out corruption. Despite reforms and the Clark administration, a powerful Democratic patronage organization eventually replaced the old Republican one. Clark was succeeded by Richardson Dilworth, who continued the policies of his predecessor. Dilworth resigned to run for governor in 1962, and city council president James Hugh Joseph Tate, James H. J. Tate was elected as the city's first Irish Catholic mayor. Tate was elected mayor in 1963 and reelected in 1967 despite opposition from reformers who opposed him as an organization insider. As elsewhere in major US cities, the 1960s was a turbulent decade for the city. Numerous civil rights and Opposition to the Vietnam War, anti-war protests took place, including large protests led by Marie Hicks to desegregate Girard College. Students took over the Community College of Philadelphia in a sit-in, race riots broke out in Holmesburg Prison, and 1964 Philadelphia race riot, a 1964 riot along West Columbia Avenue killed two people, injured over 300 and caused around US$3 million in damages. Crime was also a serious problem. Primarily drug-related gang warfare plagued the city, and in 1970 crime was rated the city's number one problem in a City Planning Commission survey. The court system was overtaxed and the tactics of the police department under Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo were controversial. Frank Rizzo was credited with preventing the level of violence seen in other cities at the time and was elected mayor in 1971. The outspoken Rizzo, who was reelected in 1975, was a divisive figure who had loyal supporters and passionate opponents. Police and fire departments and cultural institutions were well supported under Rizzo, but other city departments like the Free Library, the Department of Welfare and Recreation, the City Planning Commission and the Streets Department experienced large cuts. The radical group called MOVE (Philadelphia organization), MOVE formed in 1972, and tension soon developed with city officials. The first major clash occurred in 1978 at the group's Powelton Village, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Powelton Village headquarters, resulting in the death of a police officer. Nine MOVE members were convicted at trial and sentenced to prison. In 1985, a stand-off occurred at the group's new headquarters in West Philadelphia, whose residents were believed to be armed resisters. The police 1985 MOVE bombing, dropped a satchel bomb on the house from a helicopter; it set off a fire that killed eleven MOVE members, including five children, and destroyed sixty-two neighboring houses.''A Concise History of Philadelphia'', pp. 78–79 Survivors sued the city in civil court and won damages. Crime continued to be a problem in the 1980s. Deadly Italian-American Mafia, Mafia warfare plagued South Philadelphia, drug gangs and crack houses invaded the slums of the city, and the murder rate skyrocketed. William J. Green, III, William J. Green became mayor in 1980, and in 1984 Wilson Goode, W. Wilson Goode became Philadelphia's first African-American mayor. Development continued in areas in Old City and South Street, and large modern skyscrapers of glass and granite, designed by nationally known architects, were constructed in Center City. City employee labor contracts signed during the Rizzo administration helped set up a city financial crisis that Green and Goode were unable to prevent. The city was near bankruptcy at the end of the 1980s. A group of Hmong people, Hmong refugees had settled in Philadelphia after the end of the 1970s Laotian Civil War associated with the Vietnam War. They were attacked in discriminatory acts, and the city's Commission on Human Relations held hearings on the incidents. Anne Fadiman, author of ''The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down'', said that lower-class residents resented the Hmong receiving a $100,000 federal grant for employment assistance when they were also out of work; they believed that American citizens should be getting assistance. Between 1982 and 1984, three quarters of the Hmong people who had settled in Philadelphia left for other cities in the United States to join relatives living elsewhere. South Vietnam, Vietnamese and other immigrants from Asia have settled in the city, many near the Italian Market, Philadelphia, Italian Market area. In addition, numerous Hispanic immigrants from Central and South America have entered the city, settling in North Philadelphia.
Into the 21st century
In 1992, Ed Rendell was elected as the city's first Jewish mayor. At the time, the city had numerous unpaid bills, the lowest Bond credit rating, bond rating of the top fifty largest U.S. cities, and a budget deficit of US$250 million. Rendell attracted investment in the city, stabilized the city's finances, and produced small budget surpluses. Revitalization of parts of Philadelphia continued in the 1990s. In 1993, a new convention center was opened, creating a hotel boom with seventeen hotels opening between 1998 and 2000 when the city hosted the Republican National Convention. The city began promoting heritage tourism, and producing festivals and entertainment to attract tourists. In 2005, ''National Geographic Traveler'' named Philadelphia America's Next Great City, citing its recent revitalization and general compact cityscape.
Former city council president John F. Street was elected mayor in 1999 and city revitalization continued into the 21st century. The Street administration targeted some of the city's worst neighborhoods for revitalization and made considerable progress. Tax breaks created in 1997 and 2000 helped create a condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
boom in Center City, increasing the population of Center City and helping slow the city's 40-year population decline. The population of Center City rose to 88,000 in 2005 from 78,000 in 2000 and the number of households grew by 24 percent.
The city has had struggles: a series of scandals in the 1990s plagued the police department, including underreporting of crime. The Street administration was plagued with scandal, with administration people being accused of awarding contracts based on campaign donations for Street's Philadelphia mayoral election, 2003, 2003 reelection campaign. The 2000s had a rise of violent crime after a decline in the 1990s. In 2006, Philadelphia's murder rate was 27.8 per 100,000 inhabitants versus a rate of 18.9 in 2002.
In 2008, Michael Nutter, with a background in business, was elected as the city's third African-American mayor. From July 2007 to July 2009, the city's crime rate decreased 30%. Nutter helped launch Philadelphia's Foreclosure Prevention Program, which seeks to help residents keep their housing and which has been copied by many cities.
Tourism has become one of the city's main industries. As of 2018, Philadelphia was the eighth-most visited U.S. city.
In 2015, Pope Francis visited Philadelphia during his Pope Francis' visit to the United States, U.S. tour; he attended the 2015 World Meeting of Families and said mass to 1 million people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
See also
* American urban history * Timeline of Philadelphia * List of mayors of Philadelphia * List of newspapers in Pennsylvania in the 18th century#Philadelphia * History of African Americans in Philadelphia * History of Italian Americans in Philadelphia * History of Irish Americans in PhiladelphiaReferences
Bibliography
* Arrigale, Lawrence M., and Thomas H. Keels. ''Philadelphia's Golden Age of Retail'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2012). * * Bridenbaugh, Carl. Cities in the Wilderness-The First Century of Urban Life in America 1625–1742 (1938online edition
* Bridenbaugh, Carl. ''Cities in Revolt: Urban Life in America, 1743–1776'' (1955) * * Ershkowitz, Herbert. ''John Wanamaker: Philadelphia Merchant'' (Signpost Biographies-Da Capo Press, 1999) * Lane, Roger. ''William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America'' ( Oxford University Press, 1991). * Nash, Gary. ''Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia's Black Community, 1720–1840'' (1988) * * * Scranton, Philip. ''Figured Tapestry: Production, Markets, and Power in Philadelphia Textiles, 1885–1941'' (1989). * Scranton, Philip. ''Proprietary Capitalism: The Textile Manufacture at Philadelphia, 1800–1885'' (1983) * Simon, Roger D. '' Philadelphia: A Brief History'' (Pennsylvania Historical Association, 2003). * * Warner, Sam Bass. ''The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth'' (1968) * *
City directories and old sources
* * City Directory1785
* * * *
External links
Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
Historical Encyclopedia in progress
Philadelphia: The Great Experiment
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Philadelphia History of Philadelphia,