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- December 12, 1787 -
Pennsylvania is the 2nd state to ratify the Constitution
placing Pennsylvania as the second state.
Area - 45,759 sq. miles
Capital - Harrisburg
© Copyright
2005 Roger W Hancock
Motto - Virtue, Liberty, and
Independence Nickname - Keystone
State
- Beginning with the expedition of 1637-1638 Swedes are the
first to permanently settlement the site of Wilmington,
Delaware.
- The Colony of New Sweden is settled in 1638-1655
- Governor Johan Printz of New Sweden established his capital at
Tinicum Island in 1643, within the present limits of
Pennsylvania.
- In 1655 Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherlands seizes
New Sweden making it part of the Dutch colony.
- The English, in the name of the Duke of York, the king's
brother, seizes the Dutch possessions in 1664.
- The Dutch recapture their possessions from the English in
1673-1674.
- The Duke of Yorke's Laws of English laws and civil government
were introduced in 1676.
- King Charles II grants the Charter of Pennsylvania on March 4,
1681 This begins the influx of Quakers to Pennsylvania.
- The first formal antislavery resolution is passed by Quakers
of Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1688.
- The first state constitution is adopted on September 28, 1776.
- An act is adopted in 1780 that calls for the gradual abolition
of slavery.
- Pennsylvania becomes the second state and the second to ratify
the U.S. Constitution , on December 12,1787.
- The US Constitutional Convention of 1787 gives the states the
right to set voting qualifications. New Jersey is the only
state to continue allowing women the right to vote.
- Philadelphia was the capital of the United States from 1790 to
1800.
- Thomas Mifflin was Pennsylvania's first governor, under the
Constitution of 1790.
- The 1st printed U.S. ballots were authorized on February 15,
1799, in Pennsylvania.
- In 1799 Mifflin is succeeded as Governor by Thomas McKean.
- The election of 1820 is the final election to have candidates
selected by caucus. The state establishes the open conventions
system.
© Copyright 2005
Roger W Hancock
- The Free School Act is adopted In 1834 and signed by Gov.
George Wolf.
- A convention was called in 1837 to revise the state's laws and
draft a new constitution.
- The State Constitution of 1838 gives voters a grater voice and
provides protections against abuse by officials.
- The Whig Party opens a national convention in Harrisburg, PA.
on December 4th, 1839. William Henry Harrison is nominated for
president.
- The Pennsylvania Assembly in 1846 almost unanimously opposes
slavery's extension into the Texas territory captured from
Mexico.
- The 1848 state legislature grants married women the right to
own property.
- Voters opposition to slavery and the desire for a high tariff
facilitates the rise of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania in
1851.
- In Philadelphia, the Republican Party on June 17, 1856
convenes its first national convention.
- In 1860 the Republicans emerged as the dominant party in
Pennsylvania and the nation in 1860, with the elections of
Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin and President Abraham Lincoln.
- The state called up reserves and volunteers for emergency duty
in 1863, to oppose General Robert E. Lee's 75,000 men traveling
for a major invasion of Pennsylvania.
- The Battle of Gettysburg is fought in July 1863, and proves to
be one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. General Winfield
Scott Hancock is victorious against General George Pickett in
the last Confederate assault now referred to as "Pickett's
Charge".
- President Abraham Lincoln delivers the "Gettysburg Address" on
November, 1863, when asked to deliver a few "appropriate
remarks" at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the site
of the Battle of Gettysburg. He concludes with, "We here highly
resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this
nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth."
- The Pennsylvania Women's Suffrage Association is founded in
1868 in Philadelphia.
- The US Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia opens on May 10,
1876 to celebrating the founding of the U.S. Centennial
Hall was built in Philadelphia, PA., to commemorate the
countrys 100th birthday. The fair draws over 9.9 million
people.
- Edward Mitchell Bannister, African-American artist, won a 1st
place prize at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, but when he
arrives to accept his medal is turned away from the exhibition
hall.
- Ella M. Boyce is made school superintendent of Bradford in
1887. She is the first woman to hold such a position in
the United States.
- Republicans hold the governor's office from 1891until 1935.
© Copyright 2005
Roger W Hancock
- The General Assembly approves a women's voting amendment to
the state's Constitution in 1913, but male voters reject it.
- It is believed that 5 Liberty Head V nickels are produced at
the Philadelphia Mint in 1913 by engraver George T. Morgan.
One sells for $3 million in 2004.
- President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt accepts his re-nomination and gave his "rendezvous
with destiny" speech in Philadelphia in August, 1936.
- In 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset is elected to the Pennsylvania
State Legislature. She is the first black woman elected to
a state legislature from a district with an overwhelmingly white
population.
- 1940 former Democrat Wendell Wilkie, becomes the
Republican nominee for president at the 1940 national
convention in Philadelphia after 6 ballots. Oregon's Senator
Charles L. McNary becomes Wendell Willkie's running mate for
Vice President.
- President Franklin
Roosevelt wins reelection in 1940 to his third term.
- The home of Betsy Ross,
known as the American Flag House, was given to the city of
Philadelphia in 1941.
- 1943 Jun 17, Newt
Gingrich is born in Hummelstown, PA on June 17, 1943. He
becomes the Republican Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1998.
- The Republican National Convention met in June, 1948, in
Philadelphia, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey is nominated for
president.
California
Gov. Earl Warren is chosen to be Thomas E. Dewey's running mate.
- The democratic national convention is held in July, 1948, in
Philadelphia. President
Truman was nominated for another term as President.
- A 1949 Pennsylvania state law requires the reading of 10 Bible
verses each day in schools followed by joint recitation of the
Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
- The Independence National Historical Park formed in
Philadelphia in 1956.
- 1963 Jun 17, The US
Supreme Court rules 8-1 on June 17, 1963, to Over turn the 1949
Pennsylvania law requiring 10 Bible verses each day followed by
the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. The case when
Edward L. Schempp, on behalf of his son, objected in 1956.
- Race riots break out on August 28, 1964 in Philadelphia.
- The firefly is named in 1974 as the official state insect.
© Copyright 2005
Roger W Hancock
- Statistics for Induced abortions to Pennsylvania residents
occurring within the state have began to be recorded in 1975.
See 1980, 1988 and 1994.
- On December 13, 1978, the Philadelphia Mint begins stamping
the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the 1st US coin to honor a woman,
which went into circulation the following July.
- Mamie Eisenhower, former first lady, dies on November 1, 1979
at a family farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
- Michael Myers, democrat from PA, on October 2, 1980 becomes
the 1st representative expelled in over 100 years
- Induced abortions in Pennsylvania Peaked in 1980 with 23.1 in
one- thousand.
- Wilson Goode was elected on November 8, 1983 as the first
black mayor of the city of Philadelphia.
- R. Budd Dwyer, Penn. State Treasurer, facing prison for
conspiracy & perjury, shot himself to death at a televised news
conference on January 22, 1987.
- Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, celebrates
the 200th anniversary of the historic document on September 17,
1987.
- Induced abortions in Pennsylvania in 1988 was 17 in one-
thousand.
- Pennsylvania on November 18, 1989 becomes the 1st state to
restrict abortions after a Supreme Court ruling allowed states
to do so.
- Induced abortions in Pennsylvania in 1994 was 15 in
one-thousand.
- Eries congressman Tom Ridge becomes governor in 1995.
- A Million Woman March was planned to occur in Philadelphia on
October 25th, 1997 to revitalize black families and communities.
© Copyright 2005
Roger W Hancock
- The 2000 Republican National Convention convenes on July 31,
in Philadelphia.
- On September 20, 2001,
President Bush names
Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to direct the new office of
Homeland Security.
- Governor Ed Rendell signed the 2004 law that authorized 61,000
slot machines, becoming the most second only to Nevada.
The revenue is expected to replace a $1 billion cut in property
taxes each year. [We know better than that! "Time will tell, it
always does." - PoetPatriot]
- Voters in the Dover, Pa., school district on October 18, 2004
votes 6-3 to mandate the teaching of intelligent design in
public schools along with the theory of evolution.
One Vote Counts in Pennsylvania.
Sources -
http://www.shgresources.com
-
http://www.dpsinfo.com/women/history/timeline.html
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http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/timeline.htm -
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/pa_history/pa_history.htm -
*http://timelines.ws/states/PENNSYLVANIA.HTML -
http://www.elmersflag.com/products.cfm
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_mottos -
http://www.livgenmi.com/statemotto.htm
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