Historical+information+and+places





**__Pennsylvania Historical information and Places __**
**__Founding Information__**

 Pennsylvania was founded during the April of 1681, by William Penn. The land was given to him by King Charles II to pay off a debt his father, Charles I, owed to Sir Admiral William Penn.


 * __Williamsport- __**

 Williamsport, Pennsylvania officially became a city on January 15, 1866. It has a very rich cultural history. The Grit, an influential and wildly popular newspaper was founded in Williamsport in 1882. For a fair amount of time Williamsport was considered the lumber capitol of the world. Williamsport is also the home of Little League.




 * __The Pennsylvania Dutch- __**

 The Pennsylvania Dutch first came to Pennsylvania during the Great Alliance War when French troops forced Germans out of the Palatinate. After this they migrated in masses, coming from Switzerland, Germany, parts of France, and in general any places that spoke German before 1800.

__**Native Americans in Pennsylvania-**__

 The Lenne Lenape lived near the Delaware river. They merged with the Mahicans, who lived in the Hudson Valley in New York when they were driven out of New York by settlers. The Lenape also merged with the Connoys and the Nanticokes.  The Susquehannocks were strong, but they were ravaged by new diseases brought by settlers and finished off by the Lancaster County Massacre.  The Shawnees came to Pennsylvania from the west in 1690. They allied with the French during the French and Indian War, then allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War.  The Eries were destroyed by the Iroquois in 1654.



**__Philadelphia__**

 From 1800 to 1830 Philadelphia was U.S's largest city. It was also the site of the first White House. Philadephia was where the first two Continental Congresses were located. During the 20th century, Philadelphia was considered corrupt because it was controlled by a corrupt republican machine. Philadelphia began to shrink as a result of citizens moving to the suburbs to avoid gang and Mafia warfare. The negative effects began decrease as a charter was signed to grant more power to the mayer and the dominant republican party was replaced by democrats. Today you can visit the National Constitution Center, Longwood Gardens, Independence Visitor Center, Mann Center for Performing Arts, Lights of Liberty, Philadelphia Museum of Arts, Please Touch Museum, and Shofuso,



**__The Battle of Gettysburg __** Although Pennsylvania was not heavily involved in the Civil War, it did contain Lee's Second offensive campaign, which ended in the battle of Gettysburg, which was fought on July 1-3, 1863. The battle was mainly fought in two phases, the first consisting of the Union and Confederate forces under Lee and Meade clashed in the woods north of town, and the Union retreat through Gettysburg. The second phase consisted of the two armies facing each other on the hills south of town, which ended in a Union victory. If you would like to know more about the battle, you could check out one of the many computers on site, or if you would like to know more about the Civil war, you could check out the Civil war museum in Harrisburg.