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Pennsylvania’s prominent place in the founding of the U.S. is well-earned. The state boasts over 1,800 historical markers and many firsts for the country, including the first American flag, nation's capitol, hospital, library, zoo, baseball stadium, all motion-picture theater, television broadcast, radio broadcast, newspaper, paper mill, oil well, high-speed multi-lane highway, banana split and computer.
The original inhabitants of the area that is now Pennsylvania were the Lenape and Susquehannock Native American tribes. European explorations into the area mostly occurred in the Delaware River vicinity. In the mid-1600s the Swedes (in 1643), Dutch (in 1655), then English (in 1664) claimed rights to the region of Pennsylvania. In 1681, in payment of a royal debt, William Penn was granted proprietary rights to almost all of what is now Pennsylvania. He established a government, plotted the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia), constructed a constitution (known as the Frame of Government) giving Pennsylvania the most liberal government in the colonies, adopted a humane penal code, encouraged the emancipation of slaves, and promoted long-lasting goodwill between the Native Americans and the European settlers. Pennsylvania developed into a dynamic and growing colony, enhanced by the continuous immigration of many different peoples. Agriculture was their main occupation, although industry was spurred on by abundant water power and plentiful natural resources in the province.
Following Penn’s death in 1718 settlement continued westward, embittering the Native Americans. Resentful of the encroaching settlement on their lands, the Native Americans allied themselves with the French. The French and Indian Wars followed until the French abandoned Fort Duquesne to British and American forces in 1758. Pontiac's Rebellion of 1763 marked the end of power for the Native Americans.
Several leaders of the American Revolutionary movement hailed from Pennsylvania, including Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, Joseph Reed, Thomas Mifflin, John Dickinson, Robert Morris and Haym Salomon. In 1776 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was created under one of the most democratic of the new state constitutions. The state was invaded by British troops, who occupied Philadelphia, and historical engagements occurred on the Brandywine River and at Germantown in 1777. Valley Forge became a symbol of patriotism with Washington’s troops’ heroic crossing of the Delaware River that winter. Pennsylvania's role as the geographical keystone of the developing new nation was strengthened in the years following the war by its resolution of boundary disputes with neighboring states. Pennsylvania achieved statehood on December 12, 1787, making it the second (after Delaware) of the original 13 colonies.
Philadelphia was the nation's leading city for many years, having been host to the first two Continental Congresses, the site for the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the site of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the seat of the new federal government from 1790 to 1800, and site for the First Bank of the United States, and the U.S. Mint.
As settlement moved westward, the state capital was moved to Lancaster and then Harrisburg, commercial centers grew in Pittsburgh and Erie, and the state endured growing pains with the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 and the Fries Rebellion of 1798. Turnpikes, canals and railroads improved the state’s infrastructure, while public education was given more importance by making attendance compulsory in 1849. Conflict between the colonies over slavery led to the Civil War, in which Pennsylvania, due to its central location, became a setting for many battles, including the Gettysburg campaign of 1863.
Following the war, the state saw the rise of the petroleum and especially steel industries, resultant big business empires and the consequent labor movement with notable strikes (Homestead strike in 1892, anthracite strike of 1902, and the great steel strike of 1919) and unionization. Government reform and economic restructuring set the tone for Pennsylvania in the 20th century. Coal, oil and lumber resources all contributed to industrial development, but their exploitation has sometimes been the source of great disaster. The state suffered a partial meltdown of the nuclear facility at Three Mile Island in 1979 and the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s. The service sector became more prominent in the state’s economy and new enterprises have recently grown in the high-tech industries of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
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