States
PA
1787

The first permanent European settlements in Pennsylvania were due to the Swedes, who established New Sweden with its capital near present-day Philadelphia. The Dutch drove out the Swedes in 1655 and held the territory until they were in turn displaced by the English in 1664. Administration of Pennsylvania was given to the governor of New York.

In 1681, Charles II of England granted the region to William Penn in order to settle a debt owed to Penn's father. Penn was a Quaker and wanted a place where Quakers and others could practice their religion in peace. He chose the name Sylvania for his colony and King Charles added Penn to create the name Pennsylvania. The Penn family governed Pennsylvania until the outbreak of the War for Independence. Work began on the Mason-Dixon Line in 1763, but it required another 23 years for the results to be accepted and the border between Pennsylvania and Virginia finally established.

During the War for Indpendence, Pennsylvania played a leading role. The first Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1774, and the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed there on July 4, 1776. The British seized Philadelphia in 1777, and after George Washington failed to retake the city, he retreated to Valley Forge for the winter. Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the Constitution and the national capital was Philadelphia from 1790 to 1800, when it was moved to Washington, D.C.

In the 19th century, Pennsylvania developed as the center of mining and manufacturing in the United States. Its large deposits of anthracite coal and iron ore supported a growing steel industry. In 1859, the first oil well in Pennsylvania was drilled near Titusville, and further exploration resulted in the first major oil fields in the United States.

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