USA Pennsylvania - The History : USA  

USA Pennsylvania - The History - Travel guide

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USA Pennsylvania - The History

The History

The first Europeans to arrive in Pennsylvania encountered four major Native American groups: the Susquehanna; Shawnee; Delaware, or Lenni Lenape; and various portions of the Iroquois Confederacy. Shortly after William Penn arrived at Uppland (renamed Chester) in 1682, he met with the chiefs of the Delaware tribes and signed a famous treaty that promoted long-lasting goodwill between the Native Americans and the European settlers.

But Penn's heirs lacked his good sense and ethical values. Native Americans resented continuing encroachment on their lands and the land purchase made by the Albany Congress in 1754. They allied themselves with the French, who were then fortifying positions in the Ohio valley. Much of the fighting during this French and Indian War (1754-63) took place in Pennsylvania.

The tide began to turn when the French abandoned Fort Duquesne in 1758. But Native American power wasn't completely broken until an uprising in 1763 known as Pontiac's Rebellion was crushed.

The English, Dutch, and Swedes disputed the right to the region of Pennsylvania in the early 1600s. Explorations were confined to the Delaware River vicinity, where they carried on fur trading with Native Americans. The original permanent settlement was established on Tinicum Island in the Delaware River in 1643 by Johan Printz, governor of New Sweden. The neighboring colony of Uppland was established the next year.

What is now Pennsylvania was first settled by Swedes in 1643 and Dutch in 1647. Operating from their stronghold in New Amsterdam, the Dutch gained control of the Middle Atlantic region in 1655. The Dutch were overpowered by the British, who seized control of the region in 1664, and King Charles II awarded the region to William Penn in 1681. Penn then established a Quaker colony in 1682.

The Scotch-Irish began settling in the Cumberland Valley after 1718 and gradually pushed the frontiers toward western Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia served as the United States' leading city for many years. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, the home of the Liberty Bell. It hosted the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774 and 1775-81), was the site of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and served as the seat of the new federal government from 1790 to 1800. It also became a financial center through the organization of the First Bank of the United States (1791) and the U.S. Mint (1792).

Pennsylvania became the 2nd State to Unite under America on December 12, 1787.