It locks the other pieces of the arch in place Pennsylvania’s location and important role in building the United States earned it the nickname The Pennsylvania colony was founded in 1682 The king of England gave the land to Englishman William Penn even though the region had been home to various American Indian tribes for thousands of years Penn treated the native people fairly and had good relations with them unlike the leaders in many other North American colonies But as time went on Pennsylvania’s leaders treated American Indians just as poorly as the leaders of other colonies had It was Penn who also founded and named Pennsylvania’s capital city He called it Philadelphia In Greek the word philos means love and adelphos means brother This is where Philadelphia gets its nickname of the City 6
A statue of William Penn stands high atop Philadelphia City Hall of Brotherly Love It is also known simply as Philly By the 1770s Pennsylvania was at the center of the colonists fight for independence from Great Britain In 1776 colonial leaders met in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence Later on the leaders met there again to draft the first US Constitution 7
Philadelphia was the center of government throughout the American Revolutionary War 1775 1783 After the United States gained its independence Philadelphia served as the nation’s capital between 1790 and 1800 Pennsylvania grew thanks in part to its natural resources The Appalachian Mountains divide the state into two geographic areas Within Pennsylvania the Appalachians include subranges called the Allegheny and Pocono Mountains Many of these mountains have deep deposits of coal and other minerals These valuable minerals helped make Pennsylvania a leader in mining The state has several major waterways The Delaware River borders Pennsylvania on the east Other important rivers include the Ohio Susquehanna and Monongahela These rivers provided power and water for mills They also 8
provided a way to transport cargo to other cities and to ports on the Atlantic Ocean Today nearly 13 million people live in Pennsylvania The state has several large cities but Philadelphia and Pittsburgh stand out among the rest in both size and importance Philadelphia is located on the eastern border of Pennsylvania MAP OF PENNSYLVANIA OH River NY Allegheny Reservoir State College State College Harrisburg Harrisburg Pittsburgh Lake Erie Allegheny Ohio River Pittsburgh Allegheny Mountain Allegheny Mountain Range Range WV N S E W Pocono Pocono Mountain Mountain Range Range Susquehanna River Hershey Hershey Philadelphia Philadelphia NJ MD 9
