Pennsylvania

===18th century===
{{See also|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}{{Further|George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|Philadelphia campaign|Constitutional Convention (United States)}}
[[File:Shelter_House_Emmaus_PA_2.JPG|thumb|[[Shelter House]] in [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]], constructed in 1734 by [[Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania German]] settlers, is the oldest continuously occupied building structure in the [[Lehigh Valley]] and one of the oldest in Pennsylvania<ref>[https://shelterhouseemmaus.org/about/ Shelter House official website], retrieved May 4, 2022</ref>]]
[[File:Independence_Hall.jpg|thumb|[[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]], where the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and  [[Constitution of the United States|United States Constitution]] were adopted in 1776 and 1787-88, respectively]]
Between 1730 and when the Pennsylvania Colony was shut down by [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] with the [[Currency Act]] in 1764, the Pennsylvania Colony made its own paper money to account for the shortage of actual gold and silver. The paper money was called Colonial Scrip.

The Colony issued bills of credit, which were as good as gold or silver coins because of their legal tender status. Since they were issued by the government and not a banking institution, it was an interest free proposition, largely defraying the expense of the government and therefore taxation of the people. It also promoted general employment and prosperity, since the government used discretion and did not issue excessive amounts that inflated the currency. [[Benjamin Franklin]] had a hand in creating this currency, whose utility, he said, was never to be disputed. The currency also met with "cautious approval" by [[Adam Smith]].<ref>Hamilton, Alexander and Syrett, Harold C. ''The Papers of Alexander Hamilton''. 1963, page 240.</ref>

The [[University of Pennsylvania]] in [[Philadelphia]] was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740, becoming one of the nine [[colonial colleges]] and the first college established in the state and one of the first in the nation; today, it is an [[Ivy League]] university that is ranked one the world's best universities.<ref name="oldestcolleges2">{{cite web |title=The Five Oldest Colleges in Pennsylvania |url=https://classroom.synonym.com/five-oldest-colleges-pennsylvania-7886287.html |access-date=February 25, 2022 |publisher=Classroom}}</ref> [[Dickinson College]] in [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]] was the first college founded after the states united.<ref name="oldestcolleges2" /> Established in 1773, Dickinson was ratified five days after the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] on September 9, 1783, and was founded by [[Benjamin Rush]] and named after [[John Dickinson]].

[[James Smith (frontiersman)|James Smith]] wrote that in 1763, "the Indians again commenced hostilities, and were busily engaged in killing and scalping the frontier inhabitants in various parts of Pennsylvania. This state was then a Quaker government, and at the first of this war the frontiers received no assistance from the state."<ref>{{cite web |year=1799 |title=An account of the remarkable occurrences in the life and travels of Colonel James Smith (Late a citizen of Bourbon County, Kentucky) : during his captivity with the Indians, in the years 1755,'56, '57, '58, & '59 |url=https://archive.org/details/accountofremarka00smit |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131120248/https://archive.org/details/accountofremarka00smit |archive-date=January 31, 2015 |access-date=November 16, 2014 |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Lexington : John Bradford}}</ref> The ensuing hostilities became known as [[Pontiac's War]].

After the [[Stamp Act Congress]] of 1765, delegate [[John Dickinson (delegate)|John Dickinson]] of Philadelphia wrote the [[Declaration of Rights and Grievances]]. The Congress was the first meeting of the [[Thirteen Colonies]], called at the request of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] assembly, but only nine of the 13 colonies sent delegates.<ref>{{cite web |title=Library of Congress timeline 1764–1765 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/timeline.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726144043/http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/timeline.html |archive-date=July 26, 2010 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |newspaper=The Library of Congress}}</ref> Dickinson then wrote ''[[Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania|Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, To the Inhabitants of the British Colonies]]'', which were published in the Pennsylvania Chronicle between December 2, 1767, and February 15, 1768.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dickinson Letters |url=http://18thcenturyreadingroom.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_18thcenturyreadingroom_archive.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708021458/http://18thcenturyreadingroom.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_18thcenturyreadingroom_archive.html |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=18thcenturyreadingroom.blogspot.com}}</ref>

When the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]] convened in Philadelphia in 1774, 12 colonies sent representatives to the [[First Continental Congress]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Library of Congress timeline 1773–1774 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/timeline1e.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807142344/http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/timeline1e.html |archive-date=August 7, 2010 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> The [[Second Continental Congress]], which also met in Philadelphia beginning in May 1775, authored and signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in Philadelphia,<ref>{{cite web |date=July 20, 2010 |title=Library of Congress: Primary documents—The Declaration of Independence |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804073324/http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html |archive-date=August 4, 2010 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> but when Philadelphia fell to the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British]] in the [[Philadelphia Campaign]], the Continental Congress moved west, where it met at the [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] courthouse on Saturday, September 27, 1777, and then to [[York, Pennsylvania|York]]. In York, the Second Continental Congress adopted the [[Articles of Confederation]], largely authored by Pennsylvania delegate [[John Dickinson]], that formed 13 independent States{{efn|At the time, Vermont has not yet seceded from New York State.}} into a new union. Later, the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] was written, and Philadelphia was once again chosen to be cradle to the new nation.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 26, 2009 |title=Nine Capitals of the United States |url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/Nine_Capitals_of_the_United_States.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320084755/https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/Nine_Capitals_of_the_United_States.htm |archive-date=March 20, 2016 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=Senate.gov}}</ref> The Constitution was drafted and signed at the [[Pennsylvania State House]] in Philadelphia, now known as [[Independence Hall]], the same building where the Declaration of Independence was previously adopted and signed in 1776.<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution FAQs |url=http://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/constitution-faqs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616141646/http://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/constitution-faqs |archive-date=June 16, 2016 |access-date=June 19, 2016 |publisher=National Constitution Center}}</ref>

On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania ratifies the Constitution of 1787 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec12.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806055850/http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec12.html |archive-date=August 6, 2010 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> five days after [[Delaware]] became the first. At the time, Pennsylvania was the most ethnically and religiously diverse of the thirteen colonies. Because a third of Pennsylvania's population spoke [[German language|German]], the Constitution was presented in German so those citizens could participate in the discussion about it. [[Frederick Muhlenberg|Reverend Frederick Muhlenberg]], a [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] minister and the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives]], acted as chairman of Pennsylvania's ratifying convention.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania ratifies the Constitution |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pennsylvania-ratifies-the-constitution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013064640/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pennsylvania-ratifies-the-constitution |archive-date=October 13, 2017 |access-date=September 18, 2017 |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC}}</ref>

For half a century, the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] met at various places in the Philadelphia area before it began meeting regularly in Independence Hall in Philadelphia for 63 years.<ref name="legiscap2">{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania's Capitals |url=http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/brown/capitols.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000615224551/http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/brown/capitols.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2000 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |publisher=Legis.state.pa.us}}</ref> However, events such as the [[Paxton Boys]] massacres of 1763 had made the legislature aware of the need for a central capital. In 1799, the General Assembly moved to the [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] Courthouse.<ref name="legiscap2" />