What is the meaning of the former Pennsylvania state slogan: "Pennsylvania, America Starts Here"? (York: home, living in)

[sp2007]

I still sing the jingles from both the "you've got a friend" and "America...starts here". Great PR.

[BTA88]

Clearly it's because we're not sure if New Jersey is part of the USA or USSR

[RightonWalnut]

The country was essentially founded in Philadelphia. Many U.S. first also came out of Pennsylvania (now primarily the Philadelphia area)

Some of the larger ones are:

-First Subscription library in the U.S.
-First protest of slavery
-Marines founded in Philadelphia
-First Medical School (Penn Medicine)
-University of Pennsylvania was the first educational institution to be labeled a University
-Philadelphia was the first U.S. Capital
-First Successful Daily Newspaper
-First Vessel moved by steam
-First Stock Exchange
-First U.S. Mint
-First U.S. Turnpike
-First Suspension Bridge
-First Art Institute
-First Theater in America
-First Pharmacy School
-First Oil Well
-First Steel Mill
-First Roller Coaster
-First Zoo
-First U.S. World's Fair
-First Department Store
-First community to use Electricity
-Electricity discovered here
-First Taxi Service
-First World Series (Pittsburgh)
-First Escalator
-First coast to coast highway
-First Thanksgiving Day Parade
-First Radio Station (Pittsburgh)
-First Municipal Airport
-First Air Conditioned building (PSFS in Philadelphia)
-First Little League Baseball Game
-First Little League World Series
-First Cable Television system
-First Indoor Zoo
-First successful Siamese twin separation (at CHOP in Philadelphia)

PA invented a ton for this country... hence the saying "America Starts Here'

List of Pennsylvania firsts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like BTA88's answer though too =) haha

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

-First Oil Well

There's a lot of firsts in the coal industry as well.

-First Cable Television system

Ironically to bring broadcasts to rural areas with poor reception which now have trouble getting cable. The first subscription broadcasts of HBO was also in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

-First coast to coast highway

Considering that Pennsylvania borders no ocean, this is an amazing feat indeed!

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

-First coast to coast highway

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Considering that Pennsylvania borders no ocean, this is an amazing feat indeed!

PA was part of the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast highway.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

PA was part of the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast highway.

And so are New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa ... Pennsylvania was not first at anything here; it was one of 13 or 14 states that a highway from New York to California just happened to run through. And the guy who pulled it all together was from Indiana.

But it was in Wikipedia, so it must be correct, right?

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Considering that Pennsylvania borders no ocean, this is an amazing feat indeed!

Technically I guess you might be right but Philadelphia is major east coast port.

[BTA88]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

And so are New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa ... Pennsylvania was not first at anything here; it was one of 13 or 14 states that a highway from New York to California just happened to run through. And the guy who pulled it all together was from Indiana.

But it was in Wikipedia, so it must be correct, right?

Say what you will, but the stretch of the Lincoln Highway was laid between Lancaster and Philadelphia long before anyone else had plans for California, Ohio or any other states west of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

And so are New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa ... Pennsylvania was not first at anything here; it was one of 13 or 14 states that a highway from New York to California just happened to run through. And the guy who pulled it all together was from Indiana.

But it was in Wikipedia, so it must be correct, right?

You know what is really cool about Wikipedia? They have references at the bottom of the page so you can read further. PA was part of the first coast-to-coast highway.

Here, this is from the Federal Highway Administration:

The Lincoln Highway - Highway History - FHWA

The route in Pennsylvania followed the 62-mile Philadelphia to Lancaster Pike, the first extensive turnpike in the United States (completed in 1796), and a British military trail built in 1758 by General John Forbes of England from Chambersburg to Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War. It was later known as the Pittsburgh Road and the Conestoga Road.

The Lincoln Highway | American History Lives at American Heritage

But the highway remained pretty much as the association originally planned it, the most direct possible route from New York to San Francisco through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Canton area of Ohio, northern Indiana, Chicago Heights to Fulton in northern Illinois, Cedar Rapids to Council Bluffs in Iowa, Omaha to North Platte in Nebraska, across southern Wyoming and northern Colorado to Salt Lake City and Reno, and then on to San Francisco by way of Sacramento, Stockton, and Oakland, covering a total of over thirtythree hundred miles. The highway association decided that this way of crossing the country took the most practical advantage of the topography and existing improved roads, and argued that such a route passed reasonably close to such tourist attractions as Washington, D.C., Gettysburg, Mammoth Cave, Glacier Park, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Park. “A transcontinental highway, that wound from large city to large city, from one wonder of nature to another, would indeed be a devious and winding journey in this great America of ours,” the association declared.

It didn't just happen to pass through. It was planned that way and with good reason.