The City of Brotherly Love

Incorporation of the capitol city: Philadelphia

The governor and council established Philadelphia as the seat of government and capital of the colony of Pennsylvania in March 1683. During the next few years, Philadelphia expanded rapidly and flourished, with inhabitants numbering from a few hundred at first to a few thousand in 1700. Most settlers in the area now were Quakers or Friends from England, but as the community developed into a thriving trade center, increasing numbers of German, Scottish, and Irish immigrants arrived. The community was incorporated as a city in 1701. The population grew to about 7,000 in the early 1700's, and Philadelphia, a trading and manufacturing center, soon became a key port and major city before the American Revolution.

Philadelphia's industrial, commercial, and cultural growth was rapid during the 1700's. As one of the largest communities in the colonies, Philadelphia was the site of many historical events before, during, and after the American Revolution. The city played a significant role in the struggle for independence. After the French and Indian War in 1763, Britain's policy shifted toward stricter regulation of colonial trading. Because of disagreement with this policy and imposition of unpopular taxes by the British government, there was increasing support for independence among many Americans in the 1770's.

By 1774 Philadelphia had become the military, economic, and political center of the colonies. The First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters' Hall in 1774. Congress rejected the plan that denounced British policy and instead adopted a commercial boycott against British trade goods. The Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia in 1775, and, before the session began, fighting started between the colonists and British troops in Massachusetts, marking the beginning of the American Revolution. In Philadelphia at Independence Hall, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and announced it to the world. Philadelphia served as the seat of national government from 1776 to 1800 (except for a brief period in 1789 and 1790) until Washington, D.C., became the capital in 1800.

From September 1777 to May 1778, the British occupied Philadelphia, the capital of the new Nation, while Congress met in the town of York. During that bitter winter, Valley Forge witnessed the heroic endurance of George Washington's army.

In 1781 wartime financial needs influenced Congress to establish the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, and the need for a stronger government was provided by the Articles of Confederation. The Philadelphia Convention was held in 1787 at the State House where the delegates drafted the Constitution of the United States. The State capital of Pennsylvania was moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in December 1799.

Philadelphia was the first large city north of the Mason-Dixon line to be involved in the Civil War. The city was home to several regiments of infantry and cavalry who fought for the Union. Thousands of soldiers and sailors were recruited within or near the city. Philadelphia was a principal provider of uniforms, munitions and rifles for the Army. The city's Navy Yard built 11 warships, and many other vessels were fitted for combat during the war. Many troops marched through the city's streets and to the train stations en route to the battlefields. Philadelphia received many of the returning wounded, and the Union set up the first military hospital in the city. Eventually the military hospitals in the city had over 10,000 beds and cared for over 150,000 soldiers and sailors during the war.