|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania , one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States. It is bordered by New Jersey, across the Delaware River (E), Delaware (SE), Maryland (S), West Virginia (SW), Ohio (W), and Lake Erie and New York (N).
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Pennsylvania." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Pennsylvania." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Pennsyl.html "Pennsylvania." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Pennsyl.html |
|
Pennsylvania
PENNSYLVANIAAllentown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Erie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403 Harrisburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Lancaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Pittsburgh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 Scranton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 The State in BriefNickname: Keystone State Motto: Virtue, liberty, and independence Flower: Mountain laurel Bird: Ruffled grouse Area: 46,055 (2000; U.S. rank: 33rd) Elevation: Ranges from sea level to 3,213 feet Climate: Cold winters, warm summers, abundant precipitation Admitted to Union: December 12, 1787 Capital: Harrisburg Head Official: Governor Ed Rendell (D) (until 2007) Population 1980: 11,863,895 1990: 11,881,643 2000: 12,281,054 2004 estimate: 12,406,292 Percent change, 1990–2000: 3.4% U.S. rank in 2004: 6th Percent of residents born in state: 77.7% (2000) Density: 274 people per square mile (2000) 2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 350,466 Racial and Ethnic Characteristics (2000) White: 10,484,203 Black or African American: 1,224,612 American Indian and Alaska Native: 18,348 Asian: 219,813 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 3,417 Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 394,088 Other: 188,437 Age Characteristics (2000) Population under 5 years old: 727,804 Population 5 to 19 years old: 2,542,780 Percent of population 65 years and over: 15.6% Median age: 38 years (2000) Vital Statistics Total number of births (2003): 142,287 Total number of deaths (2003): 126,404 (infant deaths, 981) AIDS cases reported through 2003: 15,178 Economy Major industries: Manufacturing, services, tourism, transportation, mining, high technology, agriculture Unemployment rate: 4.9% (April 2005) Per capita income: $31,706 (2003; U.S. rank: 18th) Median household income: $43,869 (3-year average, 2001-2003) Percentage of persons below poverty level: 9.9% (3-year average, 2001-2003) Income tax rate: 3.07% Sales tax rate: 6% |
|
|
Cite this article
"Pennsylvania." Cities of the United States. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Pennsylvania." Cities of the United States. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3441802350.html "Pennsylvania." Cities of the United States. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3441802350.html |
|
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State in e USA; one of the Middle Atlantic states; the capital is Harrisburg. The chief cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Bethlehem, Wilkes-Barre and Erie. Swedish and Dutch settlements were made along the Delaware River in the mid-17th century. By 1664, the area was controlled by the English, and in 1681 William Penn received a charter from Charles II for what is now Pennsylvania. It was one of the 13 original states of the Union. The Declaration of Independence was signed and the US Constitution was ratified in Philadelphia, which was also the national capital from 1790 to 1800. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 was a turning point in the American Civil War. Apart from small low-lying areas in the nw and se, the state is composed of mountain ridges and rolling hills with narrow valleys. Farming is concentrated in the se; the principal crops are cereals, tobacco, potatoes and fruit, and dairy products are important. Pennsylvania has rich deposits of coal and iron ore. The State has long been a leading producer of steel, which today accounts for about 25% of the nation's output. Industries: chemicals, cement, electrical machinery, metal goods. Area: 117,412sq km (45,333sq mi). Pop. (2000) 11,881,643.
|
|||||||||||||
|
Cite this article
"Pennsylvania." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Pennsylvania." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Pennsylvania.html "Pennsylvania." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Pennsylvania.html |
|||||||||||||
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, USA A state officially called the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The British seized control of the territory from the Dutch in 1664 and in 1681 King Charles II† granted it to William Penn (1644–1718), a Quaker leader. He established a Quaker colony the following year. The region was not named after him but after his dead father, Admiral Sir William Penn (1621–70), at the insistence of the king who had owed the admiral £16 000. The admiral had been irked by his son's admiration for the Quakers and his squabbles with the establishment, and so the king was glad to be able to pay off the debt to the family by granting land to the son in a far‐away country. The younger Penn wanted to call the region New Wales, but when this was denied suggested Sylvania from the Latin silva ‘forest’ or ‘woodlands’. This was accepted, but ‘Penn’ added to it. Thus the name means ‘Penn's Woodlands’. One of the original thirteen colonies, Pennsylvania was the second state to join the Union in 1787.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Pennsylvania." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Pennsylvania." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Pennsylvania.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Pennsylvania." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Pennsylvania.html |
|
Pennsylvania
PENNSYLVANIAIn Charles Andrews' The Colonial Period of American History, Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn (1644–1718), is quoted as saying, "I abhor contention, niceties, doubtful disputation, divisions, etc., and am for patience, forbearance, long suffering and all true moderation." While Pennsylvania did not fulfill all of William Penn's high ideals as a "holy experiment" in tolerance and diversity, it certainly developed in very diverse ways. Its urban areas soon became some of the most influential in the nation, while its rural areas and vast forests remained unspoiled. Its unmatched transportation network and abundant natural resources helped the state to become an industrial powerhouse in the late nineteenth century. Nonetheless, Pennsylvania retained its agricultural base. It weathered declines in manufacturing after World War II (1939–1945) but managed to retain much of its economic health in the 1990s by diversifying its economic base. In 1614 Cornelis Jacobssen, sailing for the Dutch fur trade, was probably the first European to reach Pennsylvania. Swedes also settled there, surrendering to the English in 1664. The colony was granted by King Charles II in 1681 as a proprietorship to William Penn. Penn, a Quaker who espoused pacifism, tolerance, and equality, was given broad powers to make laws and run the colony as he saw fit. Penn however gave up his lawmaking powers and set up a form of representative government. Many immigrants came to this tolerant colony. The Declaration of Independence was declared from Philadelphia, the state house in 1776, and the new Congress continued to meet there. Philadelphia would serve as the U.S. capital following the American Revolution (1775–1783) until 1783, and again from 1790 to 1800. Pennsylvania was the second state to join the Union, in 1780. Pennsylvania's destiny as an industrial powerhouse was sealed when iron was discovered there. The first iron furnace was built in 1792, and coal began to be exploited as an energy resource. The early nineteenth century also saw the completion of the Main Line of Public Works, a canal and railroad system, which connected Philadelphia with Pittsburgh. Another aid to economic development was the stock company, which Pennsylvania encouraged to promote local enterprise. Pennsylvania chartered the Insurance Company of North America (INA) and the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania in 1794, both of which profited mostly from marine and fire casualty policies. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike was also chartered and was completed in 1794, cutting the cost of moving goods from Lancaster to Philadelphia by about two-thirds. Meanwhile Philadelphia was becoming the commercial center of the state. According to historian Thomas C. Cochran, political and economic business could be conducted there very conveniently: "Such compactness, possible for a city of less than 75,000 people, meant that business could be conducted reasonably expeditiously without telephone, telegraph, or a clearing house for the four banks." By the time President Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) declared an embargo on foreign imports in 1807, Pennsylvania's financial institutions and insurance companies were ready to meet the challenge, as were local industries, including Philadelphia's many shipbuilders. By the early 1800s Philadelphia had become the nation's financial center. It was the home of the nation's first stock exchange (1790), the First Bank of the United States (1791), the Second Bank of the United States (1816), and a number of other financial institutions. Under its powerful director Nicholas Biddle (1786–1844), the Second Bank became the only important rival to New York's financial institutions. Philadelphia, however, lost its preeminence as a financial center when President Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) vetoed the Second Bank's re-charter in 1831. In the mid-nineteenth century Pennsylvania continued to tap its abundant natural resources, creating a center for the iron industry and other manufacturers and developing a transportation network which was matched by no other state by 1840. Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh became major commercial centers. Several more roads were built, and Pennsylvania also benefited from a section of the old National Road, which passed south of Pittsburgh. By the 1840s the improvements to canals and other waterways in the state also exceeded anything which had been done elsewhere. It was in railroad building however, that Pennsylvania really excelled. By the 1850s lines connected Philadelphia with Germantown; Trenton, New Jersey; the Lehigh Valley; and New York City. In 1852 the Pennsylvania Central connected Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, solidifying these two cities as transportation meccas. In 1857 the powerful Pennsylvania Railroad purchased the State Works, virtually eliminating state competition and tolls. Following the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Pennsylvania Railroad dominated economic life in the state and held sway over most Republican Party politicians. By 1880 it was the world's largest corporation, with more than 30,000 employees and $400 million in capital. For the next two decades Pennsylvania was the chief producer of coal, iron, and steel and a major supplier of petroleum and lumber. Immigrants from other states and from abroad came in droves to the coal regions and urban centers to find work in mines, mills, and factories. No story of the development of Pennsylvania industries would be complete without mention of Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919). A Scottish immigrant, he worked various jobs before being employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. There he advanced rapidly, laying the foundations for his future fortune by investing wisely. After serving in the Civil War, he formed a company that produced iron railroad bridges and then founded a steel mill. One of the first to use the Bessemer process, Carnegie succeeded quickly, buying up several other steel companies and soon controlling a quarter of the steel production in the United States. In 1901 he sold his Carnegie Steel Company to United States Steel Corporation for $250 million. After his retirement Carnegie was well-known for his philanthropy, endowing many educational and cultural institutions. He is best known to the general public for his gifts to nearly 1,700 public libraries across the nation and in Great Britain. With Carnegie Steel, and with the financial expertise of banker Andrew Mellon (1855–1937), Pittsburgh retained its position as the preeminent industrial city in the region. The city and the state, however, were not without labor problems. Over a period of years many violent strikes occurred in both the coal and the steel industries. In 1892 a lockout at the Carnegie-owned Homestead Steel plant caused a bloody clash between workers and the Pinkerton guards hired to keep them out. Another strike in 1919, involving 50 percent of U.S. steelworkers, shut down the industry for more than three months. During the 1920s Pennsylvania barely held its own economically, with a low growth rate and industrial products selling below normal levels. The Great Depression (1929–1939) brought even more economic grief to the state. Democratic Governor George H. Earle, breaking the longtime hold of the Republican party over the state, initiated a "Little New Deal," following the policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) in supporting labor and farmers, regulating utilities, and building public works. Industrial workers came out of this period with a renewed ability to challenge industry. During World War II (1939–1945) Pennsylvania returned to a high level of prosperity as it turned out large volumes of munitions, ships, steel, and other materials for the war effort. Republican and Democratic governors following the war continued efforts to support and encourage industry in the state. Not until the governorship of William W. Scranton (1963–1967), however, did Pennsylvania return to full economic health. Through increased taxes for state services, more federal aid for economic programs, and steady increases in support for economic development, the state was able to bring its high unemployment rate to below the national average by 1966. By the mid-1980s, Pennsylvania found itself in the throes of converting from an industrial to a service economy. Pittsburgh, long known for its iron and steel (not to mention its dirty air), became a prototype of a city which made the transition successfully, even converting the sites of its former steel plants and railroad yards to parkland, retail shopping, hotels, and other service-oriented industries. Areas such as Wilkes-Barre which remained depressed were helped in the late 1980s by Governor Robert Casey's attempts to assist ailing industries. In the 1990s steel had been replaced as a major industry by food processing and chemicals, particularly pharmaceuticals. Pittsburgh became a center for corporate headquarters, and Philadelphia, a Mecca for high-technology industries. By 1996 Pennsylvania ranked eighteenth in per capita personal income in the nation. Nearly 27 percent of the state's workers belonged to labor unions, the sixth highest percentage in the United States. Though primarily known for its industries, Pennsylvania also remains an important agricultural state, producing large quantities of staple crops in addition to livestock. Another important economic sector is forestry. Pennsylvania's numerous historic sites and natural recreation areas have also made tourism the second-largest employer in the state. See also: Bank of the United State (First National Bank), Bank of the United States (Second National Bank), Andrew Carnegie, Homestead Steel Strike, Steel Industry FURTHER READINGBillinger, Robert D. Pennsylvania's Coal Industry. Gettysburg, PA: Pennsylvania Historical Association, 1954. Bremer, Francis J. and Dennis B. Downey, eds. A Guide to the History of Pennsylvania. Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1994. Cochran, Thomas. Pennsylvania: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1978. Klein, Philip S. and Ari Hoogenboom. A History of Pennsylvania, rev. ed. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1980. Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of. Department of General Services. The Pennsylvania Manual, 1995, vol. 112. Harrisburg, PA: 1995. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Pennsylvania." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Pennsylvania." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400705.html "Pennsylvania." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400705.html |
|