I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here, in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live. Abraham Lincoln
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
| 1751/00/00 | Edmund Woolley | Architect | Pennsylvania State House is constructed between 1732 and 1751, designed by Edmund Woolley and lawyer Andrew Hamilton. | |||
| 1755/10/16 | Benjamin Franklin | Work | Benjamin Franklin writes to Catherine Ray, "Adieu, the Bell rings, and I must go among the Grave ones and talk Politicks." | |||
| 1775/05/10 | Arthur Middleton | Represented South Carolina | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | Thomas Heyward Jr | Represented South Carolina | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | John Hancock | Represented Massachusetts | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | John Sullivan | Represented New Hampshire | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | Benjamin Franklin | Represented Pennsylvania | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | William Williams | Represented South Connecticut | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | Thomas Lynch Jr | Represented South Carolina | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | Christopher Gadsden | Represented South Carolina | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/10 | Charles Thomson | Secretary of the Continental Congress | Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia from 5 October 1775 until 12 December 1776 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/05/24 | John Hancock | President of Continental Congress | John Hancock is unanimously elected President of Congress. | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/06/14 | Continental Army | Established | The Continental Congress issues a resolution to take charge of the troops in Boston and establish the Continental Army. | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/06/15 | George Washington | American Commander in Chief | The Second Continental Congress unanimously elects George Washington General and Commander in Chief of the Army of the United Colonies. "I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my self equal to the Command I am honoured with." GW | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1775/06/20 | Thomas Jefferson | Represented Virginia | Jefferson arrives in Philadelphia as the youngest Virginia delegate to the second Continental Congress. Jefferson, accompanied by Jupiter, his slave and personal servant, take up residence on Chestnut Street. | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1776/00/00 | Richard Henry Lee | Represented Virginia | Virginia delegation to the Second Continental Congress | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1776/05/15 | Meeting in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress advises each of the thirteen Colonies to formulate a government, ready to be launched should it become necessary. | Second Continental Congress | ||||
| 1776/06/07 | Benjamin Harrison V | Signer, Representing Virginia | Benjamin Harrison introduces Richard Henry Lee's resolution calling for independence from England. | US Declaration of Independence | ||
| 1776/06/21 | Richard Stockton I | Represented New Jersey | Richard Stockton is elected to Second Continental Congress. | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1776/07/01 | Benjamin Harrison V | Signer, Representing Virginia | Benjamin Harrison reads Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence to the assembled delegates. | US Declaration of Independence | ||
| 1776/07/02 | Benjamin Harrison V | Signer, Representing Virginia | Benjamin Harrison serves as Chairman of the Whole during the debate over independence. | US Declaration of Independence | ||
| 1776/07/02 | John Rogers | Represented Maryland | Congress votes in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence from Britain | Lee Resolution | Second Continental Congress | |
| 1776/07/02 | John Rogers | Represented Maryland | Congress votes in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence from Britain | US Declaration of Independence | Second Continental Congress | |
| 1776/07/02 | Richard Henry Lee | Author | Congress votes in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence from Britain | Lee Resolution | Second Continental Congress | |
| 1776/07/02 | Richard Henry Lee | Author | Congress votes in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence from Britain | US Declaration of Independence | Second Continental Congress | |
| 1776/07/04 | Late morning of July 4, the Declaration is adopted, and the "Committee of Five" take the manuscript copy of the document to John Dunlap, official printer to the Congress | US Declaration of Independence | American Colonies Declare Independence from Great Britain | |||
| 1776/07/22 | Dr Benjamin Rush | Represented Pennsylvania | Benjamin Rush arrives at the Second Constitutional Convention | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1776/08/02 | Robert Treat Paine | Signer, Representing Massachusetts | Massachusetts Representative Robert Treat Paine signs the American Declaration of Independence. | US Declaration of Independence | ||
| 1776/08/02 | Robert Morris | Signer, Representing Pennsylvania | Although originally opposed to separating from Great Britain, Robert Morris signs the Declaration of Independence. | US Declaration of Independence | American Colonies Declare Independence from Great Britain | |
| 1776/08/02 | Benjamin Harrison V | Signer, Representing Virginia | Mr Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes..., but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead. - BH to Elbridge Gerry | US Declaration of Independence | American Colonies Declare Independence from Great Britain | |
| 1776/08/02 | Elbridge Gerry | Signer, Representing Massachusetts | Mr Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes..., but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead. - BH to Elbridge Gerry | US Declaration of Independence | American Colonies Declare Independence from Great Britain | |
| 1777/03/04 | Henry Laurens | Signer, Representing South Carolina | Congress meets in Philadelphia until 18 September 1777 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1777/09/30 | Edward Langworthy | Represented Georgia | Congress meets in Philadelphia until 27 June 1778 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1778/07/00 | Charles Thomson | Secretary of the Continental Congress | Continental Congress meets 1778-1779 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1778/07/00 | William Henry Drayton | South Carolina Representative | Continental Congress meets 1778-1779 | Second Continental Congress | ||
| 1783/00/00 | William Rotch Sr | Defendant | William Rotch and Samuel Starbuck travel to Philadelphia, PA, and submit a petition to the US Congress seeking permission for Nantucket whaleships to sail unmolested by American ships fighting for independence. | |||
| 1787/00/00 | Roger Sherman | Architect | Roger Sherman and James Wilson propose the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted three-fifths of the slave population for the purposes of representation in the United States House of Representatives and the Electoral College. | Constitutional Convention | ||
| 1787/00/00 | Pierce Butler | Author | Pierce Butler proposes the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article 4, Section 2) in the US Constitution. Persons "held to service" in one state who escapes to another, shall be "delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due". | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/05/25 | William Jackson | Secretary | Nominated by Alexander Hamilton, William Jackson is appointed secretary to the United States Constitutional Convention on the first day of business. | Constitutional Convention | ||
| 1787/05/29 | James Madison | Drafter of The Virginia Plan | Edmund Randolph submits The Virginia Plan | Virginia Plan | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Elbridge Gerry | Non-Signer, Representing Massachusetts | Elbridge Gerry declines to sign the United States Constitution. | Constitutional Convention | ||
| 1787/09/17 | Charles Pinckney | A principal author of the US Constitution | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Abraham Baldwin | Singer, Representing Georgia | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Charles C Pinckney | Singer, Representing South Carolina | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Nicholas Gilman Jr | Signer, Representing New Hampshire | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Gouverneur Morris | Signer, Author of the Preamble | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Roger Sherman | Signer, representing Connecticut | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Pierce Butler | Signer, Representing South Carolina | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1787/09/17 | Daniel Carroll | Signer, Representing Maryland | Federal Convention adopts the US Constitution. | Constitution of the United States | Constitutional Convention | |
| 1792/11/19 | Insurance Company of North America | Founding location | Insurance Company of North America is established. | |||
| 1815/03/13 | Control and used of Independence Hall passes to the City of Philadelphia, though the state of Pennsylvania retains ownership. | |||||
| 1824/08/21 | William Strickland | Architect | A committee of the City Councils have directed the Room in the State House, in which the Declaration was signed, to be fitted up, under the direction of Mr Strickland, as a Levee Room for the General. - Saturday Evening Post | |||
| 1824/09/28 | Marquis de Lafayette | Guest of Honor | General La Fayette is received by the Corporation of the City of Philadelphia in the Hall of Independence. Major William Jackson gives the welcoming speech before Lafayette gives his address. | Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America | ||
| 1824/09/28 | William Jackson | Dignitary | General La Fayette is received by the Corporation of the City of Philadelphia in the Hall of Independence. Major William Jackson gives the welcoming speech before Lafayette gives his address. | Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America | ||
| 1828/00/00 | William Strickland | Architect | Current steeple built for Independence Hall | |||
| 1828/00/00 | Isaiah Lukens | Clockmaker | Isaiah Luken makes a replacement clock for the Pennsylvania State House | |||
| 1861/02/22 | Abraham Lincoln | Speaker | President-elect Lincoln delivers a speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on George Washington's birthday, February 22. | President-Elect Lincoln's Journey to Washington | ||
| 1861/02/22 | Samuel W Pennypacker | Audience Member | President-elect Lincoln delivers a speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on George Washington's birthday, February 22. | President-Elect Lincoln's Journey to Washington |
| Place | AsNotedIn | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Place | AsNotedIn | Type |
| Independence Square, Philadelphia | ||
| Liberty Bell |
| Particulars for Independence Hall: | |
|---|---|
| Architectural Style | American Colonial |
| Area of Significance | Architecture |
| Criteria | Architecture-Engineering |
| Cultural Affiliation | Black American |
| Historic Use | Capitol |
| Historic Use | City or Town Hall |
| Criteria Consideration | Commemorative property |
| Area of Significance | Economics |
| Architectural Style | Federal Style |
| Historic Use | Financial Institution |
| Architectural Style | Georgian Architecture |
| Area of Significance | Historic and non-aboriginal |
| Sight Category | Historic District |
| Criteria | Historic Event |
| Criteria | Information Potential |
| Area of Significance | Invention |
| Area of Significance | Law, Legal System |
| Level of Significance | National |
| Criteria | Person |
| Area of Significance | Politics-government |
| Disposition | Reconstructed Property |
| Area of Significance | Religion |
| Historic Use | Religious Property |
| Historic Use | Single dwelling |
| Area of Significance | Social History |
| Historic Use | Work of Art |
| Work | Type | AsNotedIn | Creator | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Declaration of Independence | Declaration | Thomas Jefferson |
By
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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