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).

Facts and Figures

Area, 45,333 sq mi (117,412 sq km). Pop. (2000) 12,281,054, a 3.4% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Harrisburg. Largest city, Philadelphia. Statehood, Dec. 12, 1787 (2d of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Davis, 3,213 ft (980 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Keystone State. Motto, Virtue, Liberty, and Independence. State bird, ruffed grouse. State flower, mountain laurel. State tree, hemlock. Abbr., Pa.; PA

Geography

The Great Lakes Plain meets the Appalachian Plateau in the extreme northwestern part of the state. The Appalachian Plateau stretches across the western and northern sections of Pennsylvania and covers more than half the area of the state. The Allegheny Mts. line the eastern edge of the plateau and run southwest to northeast, overlooking the Great Appalachian Valley. The Jacks, Tuscarora, and Blue Mts. comprise a ridge and valley section bordered by the Great Appalachian Valley to the southeast and east. The Piedmont Plateau gives way to the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the extreme southeastern portion of the state.

In the east Pennsylvania is drained by the Delaware and the Susquehanna river systems; in the west by the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers, which join at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River; and in the central part by the West Branch of the Susquehanna, which crosses the state and empties into Chesapeake Bay. These turbulent streams and rivers have cut beautiful water gaps, natural passageways for roads and rail lines.

The great forests and lush vegetation that once covered the entire state were transformed during the Carboniferous period into deposits of anthracite coal in the northeast and extensive bituminous beds in the west. Large areas of woodland remain and, in some isolated sections, have retained an almost primitive wildness. Of the many historic sites and parks that have been preserved, those under federal ownership include Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Gettysburg National Military Park, and Independence and Valley Forge national historical parks (see National Parks and Monuments , table). Harrisburg , the state capital, is located between the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia , the largest city, and Pittsburgh .

Economy

Iron smelting, made possible by abundant supplies of ore and of hardwoods for the furnaces, became important in the 18th cent. In the 19th cent., after the Bessemer process made the use of its great bituminous deposits economical, Pennsylvania quickly emerged as the nation's leading steel producer, but the industry has since declined dramatically. Another Pennsylvania resource, anthracite coal, found in the northeast, long made the state a dominant force in American railroading. Heavy industry has declined in general, but the state still manufactures metal products, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, machinery, chemicals, and a wide variety of plastic, rubber, stone, clay, and glass products.

The Pittsburgh and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, situated at opposite ends of the state and dominating the commercial and industrial life of their regions, present startling contrasts in production and culture. Other leading cities are Allentown , Bethlehem , Erie , Reading , Scranton , and Wilkes-Barre .

Agriculture is concentrated in the fertile counties of the southeast, and prized farmlands lie in the Great Appalachian Valley, rich with limestone soils; here the Pennsylvania Dutch farmer built a culture that is identified with the bountiful agrarian life. Principal agricultural products include dairy products, cattle, hay, corn, wheat, oats, mushrooms, poultry, potatoes, and fruit.

Government and Higher Education

Pennsylvania is governed under the constitution adopted in 1873 and amended extensively since then. The governor serves a four-year term and may be reelected for one additional term. Thomas Ridge, a Republican, was elected in 1994 and reelected in 1998. Ridge resigned in 2001 to head the U.S. Office of Homeland Security; he was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Mark S. Schweiker. A Democrat, Ed Rendell, was elected to the office in 2002 and reelected in 2006. In 2010 Tom Corbett, a Republican, was elected governor. The state legislature, called the general assembly, consists of a senate of 50 members and a house of representatives of 203 members. Pennsylvania sends 2 senators and 19 representatives to the U.S. Congress and has 21 electoral votes.

Among the state's many universities and colleges are Bryn Mawr College, at Bryn Mawr; Bucknell Univ., at Lewisburg; Carnegie-Mellon Univ., the Univ. of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne Univ., at Pittsburgh; Dickinson College, at Carlisle; Drexel Univ., Temple Univ., the Univ. of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's Univ., and La Salle College, at Philadelphia; Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster; Haverford College, at Haverford; Lafayette College, at Easton; Lehigh Univ., at Bethlehem; Lincoln Univ., at Oxford; Pennsylvania State Univ., mainly at University Park; Swarthmore College, at Swarthmore; Villanova Univ., at Villanova; and the 14 universities in the state system.

History

Exploration and Early Settlement

In the early 1600s the English, Dutch, and Swedes disputed the right to the region of Pennsylvania. Explorations were confined to the Delaware River vicinity, where fur trading with the Native Americans was carried on. The original permanent settlement was established on Tinicum Island (1643) in the Delaware River by Johan Printz , governor of New Sweden , and was followed in the succeeding years by the neighboring colony of Uppland.

Swedish jurisdiction was short-lived as the Dutch, operating from their stronghold in New Amsterdam, succeeded in gaining control of the Middle Atlantic region in 1655. In turn the Dutch were overpowered by the British forces of Col. Richard Nicolls, acting for the duke of York (later James II), and in 1664 the British took over the Delaware area. The duke of York remained in control until 1681, when, in payment of a royal debt, William Penn was granted proprietary rights to almost the whole of what is now Pennsylvania, and, in addition, leased the three Lower Counties (see Delaware ).

Penn's Colony

A devout Quaker who had suffered for his beliefs, Penn viewed his colony as a holy experiment, designed to grant asylum to the persecuted under conditions of equality and freedom. In 1681 he sent William Markham as his deputy to establish a government at Uppland and sent instructed commissioners to plot the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia), which was laid out a few miles north of the confluence of the Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers.

Penn carefully constructed a constitution, known as the Frame of Government, that gave Pennsylvania the most liberal government in the colonies. Religious freedom was guaranteed to all who believed in God, a humane penal code was adopted, and the emancipation of slaves was encouraged. However, under the representative system that it established, the popular assembly was left in an inferior position in relation to the executive branches controlled by the proprietors. In 1682 Penn arrived at Uppland (renamed Chester). Shortly thereafter he met with the chiefs of the Delaware tribes and a famous treaty was signed that promoted long-lasting goodwill between the Native Americans and the European settlers. After Penn's death in 1718 proprietary rights were held by his heirs.

By this time Pennsylvania had developed into a dynamic and growing colony, enriched by the continuous immigration of numerous different peoples. The Quakers, English, and Welsh were concentrated in Philadelphia and the eastern counties, where they acquired great commercial and financial power through foreign trade and where they achieved a political dominance which they held until the time of the American Revolution. Philadelphia had by then become the finest city in the nation, a leader in the arts and the professions. The Germans (Pennsylvania Dutch)—largely of the persecuted religious sects of Mennonites (including Amish), Moravians, Lutherans, and Reformed—settled in the farming areas of SE Pennsylvania, where they retained their cohesion and to a considerable extent their language, customs, architecture, and superstitions.

Western Settlement and Native American Resistance

After 1718 the Scotch-Irish began colonizing in the Cumberland Valley and gradually pushed the frontiers toward W Pennsylvania. Their rugged independence and the peculiarities of their frontier problems made them rebellious against the established order. Throughout the province agriculture was the chief occupation, although industry was spurred by abundant water power and plentiful natural resources.

In the west settlement was hindered by a growing unrest among the Native Americans. Penn's heirs lacked both the good sense and the ethical values that prompted Penn's fair and considerate treatment. Resentful of encroachment on their lands and of the land purchase made by the Albany Congress (1754), the Native Americans allied themselves with the French, who were then fortifying positions in the Ohio valley (see French and Indian Wars ). The frontier settlements were severely ravaged until, after several reverses, the French abandoned (1758) Fort Duquesne to British and American forces under Gen. John Forbes.

The power of the Native Americans was not completely broken until the suppression of the uprising of 1763 (see Pontiac's Rebellion ). The inept defenses provided by the Quaker-controlled assembly during the crisis aroused bitter resentment and intensified efforts to overturn proprietary rule. The struggle between proprietary and antiproprietary parties was soon overshadowed, however, by the opposition to British imperial policies that culminated in the American Revolution.

The American Revolution and a New Nation

Important Pennsylvanians of both dominant political parties emerged as leaders of the Revolutionary movement—Benjamin Franklin , Benjamin Rush , Joseph Reed , Thomas Mifflin , John Dickinson , Robert Morris , and Haym Salomon . In 1776 a provincial convention dominated by radical patriots created the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under one of the most democratic of the new state constitutions.

The state was invaded by British troops, and notable engagements were fought in 1777 on the Brandywine (see Brandywine, battle of the ) and at Germantown . Philadelphia was occupied by the British, while Valley Forge witnessed the heroic endurance of Washington's troops in the winter of 1777–78, making the site a shrine of patriotism. In the postwar period, Pennsylvania's role as the geographical keystone of the new nation was strengthened by its resolution of boundary disputes that had persisted throughout the colonial period: agreement was reached with Maryland in 1784 by acceptance of the Mason-Dixon line; with Virginia and New York in 1786; with the United States and the Iroquois Confederacy in 1789; and with Connecticut in 1799 after bitter dissension in the Wyoming Valley.

Philadelphia, host to the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774, 1775–81) and scene of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for many years the nation's leading city. It was the site of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, served as the seat of the new federal government from 1790 to 1800, and became a financial center through the organization of the First Bank of the United States (1791) and the U.S. Mint (1792). In 1790 it was also the site of a convention that replaced the radical state constitution of 1776 with a more conservative one patterned after the federal Constitution, while retaining such liberal achievements as the act (1780) providing for the gradual abolition of slavery. Philadelphia was not, however, typical of the state as a whole.

From the Whiskey Rebellion to the Civil War

Opposition to federal taxation in rural Pennsylvania led to violence in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 and the Fries Rebellion of 1798 (see Fries , John), while anti-eastern sentiment forced removal of the state capital to Lancaster in 1799, then to Harrisburg in 1812. Western influence in state affairs increased as the rapid movement of settlers into the Ohio country created new markets, stimulated the growth of new industries, and assured the importance of Pittsburgh and Erie as commercial centers. The economic and social development of W Pennsylvania also encouraged programs of internal improvements. The turnpike era, initiated by the incorporation of the Lancaster Turnpike in 1792, was followed by an extensive canal-building program in the 1820s and 30s and, after the introduction of steam power, by an era of extensive railroad construction.

Adequate provisions for free public education, championed by Gov. George Wolf and Thaddeus Stevens , emerged in the Free School Act of 1834, which was implemented in 1849 by legislation making attendance by those of school age compulsory. Much of the early education was denominational, and many schools remained church-affiliated.

In political life the Democratic party was generally dominant, and in 1857 Pennsylvania gave the nation a Democratic president in James Buchanan. However, a split within the party over its opposition to slavery and the desire for a high protective tariff to protect the state's growing industries led to a Republican victory in 1860 and began Pennsylvania's long affiliation with the Republican party. Because of Pennsylvania's location near the South, it was the scene of several battles in the Civil War, notably the Gettysburg campaign of 1863.

The Rise of Industry and the Labor Movement

With the close of the war came the rapid emergence of the state as a mighty industrial commonwealth. Supported by high protective tariffs, the industries found favorable markets and a constant supply of immigrant labor. The first oil well was dug at Titusville in 1859, and a number of fortunes, particularly that of the Rockefeller family, was founded on petroleum. But it was steel that became the basic industry, using iron ore from the Lehigh valley and the Bethlehem area and the native Pennsylvania coal. Later the iron ore was transported in massive amounts across the Great Lakes. Under the manipulation of such men as Andrew Carnegie , Henry Frick , Charles Schwab , and J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913; see under Morgan , family) numerous interests were merged into vast combines with state and national influence.

In the face of this increasing concentration of power, labor struggled to achieve safer working conditions, higher wages, and shorter hours. The campaign brought bloodshed during the fight between mine owners and the radical Molly Maguires and reached a climax in the strike at Homestead (see Homestead strike ) in 1892. The miners, under the leadership of John Mitchell and aided by the intervention of Theodore Roosevelt, achieved a qualified victory in the anthracite strike of 1902, but the great steel strike of 1919 was broken. During the 1930s the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) successfully promoted unionization in many new areas and somewhat weakened the strength of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). By 1941 the CIO had succeeded in organizing the steel industry, while the United Mine Workers had acquired increasing strength among the workers in the coal fields.

Government Reform and Economic Restructuring

The powerful and corrupt political machine that had been built by Simon Cameron continued into the 20th cent. under the leadership of such bosses as Boies Penrose. Gifford Pinchot, a Progressive Republican and a vigorous "dry," was governor for two terms (1923–27, 1931–35) and did much to repair government through a new administrative code, an improved budget system, and pioneer work in conservation.

In 1979 the state suffered a near-disaster as an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility near Harrisburg resulted in a partial meltdown. Pennsylvania's population has grown slowly since the 1940s, when it was the second largest state in the union; it was the sixth most populous state after the 2000 census. After losing hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s, the state's economy experienced a notable shift to the service sector. Some of Pennsylvania's enterprises did grow, however, and in recent years such high-tech industries as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals have flourished, largely in the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Bibliography

See S. G. Fisher, The Making of Pennsylvania (2d ed. 1969); A. S. Bolles, Pennsylvania, Province and State: A History from 1609 to 1790 (2 vol., 1970); P. H. Gibbons, Pennsylvania Dutch (3d ed. 1971); W. H. Egle, Pennsylvania Women in the American Revolution (1898, repr. 1972); C. A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail (2 vol., 1911; repr. 1972); P. S. Klein and A. Hoogenboom, A History of Pennsylvania (2d ed. 1980); E. W. Miller, Pennsylvania: Keystone to Progress (1986); D. J. Cuff et al., Atlas of Pennsylvania (1989).

PENNSYLVANIA

Allentown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Erie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Harrisburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Lancaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Pittsburgh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Scranton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

The State in Brief

Nickname: 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%

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.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA

In 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 READING

Billinger, 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.