Philadelphia

Well, we’ve finished our vacation and I’m not even halfway done with posts about it! So I’ll be posting a lot the next few days. But you’ll be learning history!

On Thursday we went to Philadelphia! Before we went here, whenever I thought of Philadelphia, I thought of Philly cheesestakes! (however you spell that :) I had no idea there was so much history in this city! (which means there are a LOT of pictures! Bear with me!)

First we went to a house that’s on the site of the house in which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence!

These are some of his drafts! (originals!)

Next, we went to the Liberty Bell! That’s the real thing, people!

FUN FACT: Did you know that the big crack was a result of people trying to fix a tiny crack? Ironic.

This is Independence Hall, which we went to next. But I kept thinking of National Treasure whenever I looked at it :)

This is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The only part of this room that is original is the painting. (The building is original.)

FUN FACT: You see those two doors flanking us? Well, only the left one is a real door. I don’t remember who decided this, but everything had to be symmetrical.

THIS is the Assembly Room! You’ve probably seen a painting like the one below before. Well, that’s this room! The Declaration of Independence was signed here and the Constitution was signed here!

There were only a few things in this room that were original, but one of them was Washington’s chair!

 FUN FACT: There is a sun engraved in the top of the chair. Ben Franklin said this about it:

“I have often and often, in the course of this session, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”

That’s Thomas Jefferson’s original cane!

After Independence hall, we went to the United States Mint, but no pictures were allowed inside.

After that, we went to the grave of Benjamin Franklin! I didn’t even know he was buried in Philadelphia!

He and his wife are buried here, along with their son who died at a very young age; I think he was two.

We then went to an apartment that Benjamin Franklin rented out.

 

FUN FACT: Some fun quotes from Benjamin Franklin:

“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”

“Speak little, do much.”

  This is the site of Ben Franklin’s house.

After all the Ben Franklin stuff, we went to Carpenters’ Hall, where the First Continental Congress met in 1774.

  These are original Windsor Chairs from the First Continental Congress! I wonder who sat in them? Click on the picture to enlarge it.

In the gift shop, Joel found this book:

 

After that, (YES There is still more! You know how my dad is ;) we saw the inkstand that was probably used to sign the Declaration and the Constitution! It’s called the “Syng Inkstand” because it was made by Phillip Syng. 

After THAT (I know this goes on forever!) we went to Congress Hall.

The first floor was occupied by the House of Representatives. FUN FACT: (taken from here)The upper floor was occupied appropriately, by the upper house, or the Senate. In 1793, President George Washington was inaugurated here for a second term. Four years later, in a precedent-setting ceremony in the House of Representatives chamber, the reins of power were passed from George Washington to John Adams. At the close of the ceremony, John Adams waited for Washington to lead the exit, as everyone had grown accustomed to, but Washington insisted on leaving the room after the new President. Finally, and perhaps most important of all, the Bill of Rights was ratified while Congress met in these rooms.

So there’s my fact-filled post about Philadelphia! Phew. Up next is Valley Forge!