City: Philadelphia, PA

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (215) 683-9413

Description: No city was more vital to American independence than Philadelphia. After the French and Indian War in 1763, when Britain began tightening the reins on trade in the colonies, Philadelphia—the economic and political center—was the hub of discontent over the new policies. With unpopular taxes also being imposed, and no colonial representation in the British Parliament, the buzz in the 1770s was for independence. Even Benjamin Franklin, who was loyal to King George III until well into the 1770s, became disenchanted and talked of the “capricious English policy.”King George sent troops to the colonies to help control unrest. In 1774 the First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. Instead of directly rejecting the British policies, Congress decided on a commercial boycott of British goods. But over the next 9 months, rebellion grew in Massachusetts, and in April 1775, the King’s troops attacked Concord and “the shot heard ’round the world” proclaimed that the American Revolution had begun.Still, the colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress in May 1775 to try to resolve the problems without going to war, meeting this time in Independence Hall (then the Pennsylvania State House). Though they were meeting for peace, they established a Continental army and named George Washington as commander-­in-­chief.Congress met a third time on July 4, 1776, no longer hoping for a peaceful resolution. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman were appointed to draft a Declaration of Independence. Jefferson wrote the first draft, presented to Congress on June 28, and a vote was called the afternoon of July 4. Nine of the 13 colonies voted to adopt the Declaration, and signatures were collected.