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PENNSYLVANIA , a See also:North See also:Atlantic See also:state of the See also:United States of See also:America and one of the See also:original thirteen, lying for the most See also:part between latitudes 390 43' 26.3" and 420 N. and between longitudes 74° 40' and 8o° 31' 36" W. The state is in the See also:form of a rectangle, except in the north-See also:west where a triangular See also:projection, extending to 42° 15' N. See also:lat., gives it a See also:shore-See also:line of almost 40 M. on See also:Lake See also:Erie, on the See also:east where the See also:Delaware See also:river with two large bends separates it from New See also:York and New See also:Jersey, and in the See also:south-east where the arc of a circle which was described with a 12-m. See also:radius from New See also:Castle, Delaware, forms the boundary between it and Delaware. The See also:forty-second parallel of N. See also:latitude forms the boundary between it and New York on the N.; See also:Mason and See also:Dixon's line is the border between it and See also:Maryland and West See also:Virginia on the south and a north and south line marks the boundary between it and West Virginia and See also:Ohio on the west. The See also:total See also:area is 45,126 sq. m. and of this 294 sq. m. are See also:water See also:surface. See also:Physical Features.—Pennsylvania skirts the coastal See also:plain in the south-east below See also:Philadelphia, is traversed from north-east to south-west by the three divisions of the Appalachian See also:province—See also:Piedmont or older Appalachian See also:belt, younger Appalachian ridges and valleys and See also:Alleghany See also:plateau—and in the north-west corner is a small part of the Erie plain. The entire surface has a mean See also:elevation of about i roo ft. above the See also:sea. It rises from 20 ft. or less on the See also:bank of the Delaware between Philadelphia and See also:Chester to 2000-3000 ft. on the higher ridges in the See also:middle See also:section (3136 ft. on See also:Blue Knob in See also:Bedford See also:county), and falls again to 900-1000 ft. on the Ohio border and to 750 ft. or less on the Erie plain; in the south-east is an area of about 6ioo sq. in. that is less than 500 ft. above the sea, while on the ridges in the middle of the state is an aggregate area of about 2000 sq. m. that everywhere exceeds 2000 ft. in elevation. The area below 500 ft. is mostly in the Triassic See also:lowland of the Piedmont region, or, as the Pennsylvania portion of it is called, the south-east province. This is an undulating plain which has been produced by the wearing away of weak sandstones, &c. On the north and west See also:borders of this plain are two parts of a See also:chain of semi-detached and usually rounded hills, known as the South Mountains. The north-east part is a south-westward See also:arm of the New See also:England uplands, is known as the See also:Reading Prong, and extends from New Jersey through See also:Easton to Reading. The south-west part is a north-eastern prolongation of the Virginia Piedmont, is known as the See also:Cumberland Prong, and extends N.N.E. through the south part of Cumberland county. In the Reading Prong most of the hills rise 900-1000 ft. above the sea and about one-See also:half that height above the surrounding See also:country; in the Cumberland Prong their height increases to the southward until, on the Maryland border, they rise 2100 ft. above the sea and 1400 ft. above the adjoining plain. Another range of hills, known as the Trenton Prong, extends from the See also:northern suburbs of Philadelphia both westward and southward through Chester, Delaware, See also:Lancaster and York counties, but these rise only 400-600 ft. above the sea and have few steep slopes. Both of these ranges of hills are composed of hard crystalline rocks, and between them lies the lowland eroded on the weaker sandstones and sediments. In Bucks and See also:Montgomery counties is a large See also:sandstone area; traversing Chester county is the narrow Chester Valley with a See also:limestone bottom, and in Lancaster county is the most extensive limestone plain. The Pennsylvania portion of the younger Appalachian ridges and valleys, known as the central province of the state, embraces the region between the South Mountains, on the south-east, and the See also:crest of the Alleghany plateau or Alleghany Front, on the north-west. It extends from south-west to north-east about 230 M. and has a nearly See also:uniform width of 5o m. except that it narrows rapidly as it approaches the north-east corner of the state. The ridges and intervening valleys, See also:long parts of which have an approximately parallel trend from south-west to north-east, were formed by the erosion of folded sediments of varying hardness, the weak belts of See also:rock being etched out to form valleys and the hard belts remaining as See also:mountain ridges. After the folding the whole region was worn down nearly to sea-level, forming a See also:low plain which bevelled across the See also:geological structure of the entire state, including the Piedmont area to the south-east and the plateau area to the north-west. Then came a broad uplift followed by the erosion which carved out the valleys, leaving hard rocks as mountain ridges which rise about to the level of the old erosion plain. In Bedford county and elsewhere the ridges rise to 2400 ft. or more above the sea, but their more usual height is 1400 to 2000 ft. above the sea and 500 to loon ft. above the intervening valleys. Their crest lines are often of nearly uniform height for See also:miles and generally are little broken except by an occasional V-shaped See also:wind See also:gap, a narrow water gap or a rounded knob. The valleys rarely exceed more than a few miles in width, are usually steep-sided, and frequently are traversed by See also:longitudinal ranges of hills and See also:cross ridges; but the Pennsylvania portion of the Appalachian or See also:Great Valley, which forms a distinct See also:division of the central province and lies between the South Mountains and the long rampart of Blue Mountain, is about to m. in width on the Maryland border and to the north-east its width increases to 20 M. The north-west part of it is a See also:slate belt that has been much dissected by eroding streams, but the south-east part is a gently See also:rolling belt of limestone to which occasionally a steep See also: The Monongahela is an older stream, but like the Allegheny, it meanders much, and both rivers flow in deeply intrenched valleys. The few small lakes of the state are mostly on the Pocono plateau, where they were formed by glaciation; here, too, are some streams with picturesque cascades.
See also:Fauna.—Under the See also:protection of a See also:game See also:commission which was created in 1895, of some game preserves which have been established by this commission, and of various See also:laws affecting See also:wild animals and birds, the See also:numbers of Virginia See also:deer, See also:black See also:bear, rabbits, ruffed See also:grouse, See also:quail and wild turkeys have increased until in some of the wilder sections they are quite plentiful, while the numbers of weasels, minks, See also:lynx and foxes have been diminished. Squirrels, racoons, woodchucks and skunks are See also:common, and See also:musk-rats, porcupines and opossums are found in some sections. Two See also:species of venomous See also:snakes—the See also:rattlesnake and the See also:copper-head—occur in the sparsely settled regions. The avifauna include—among the birds of See also:prey—the red-shouldered See also:hawk, red-tailed hawk, See also:marsh hawk, See also: The blue pike, See also:whitefish and herring, obtained on Lake Erie are ol.considerable commercial importance. In 1908 the total catch on Lake Erie was valued at $200,8 , the principal items being herring ($90,108), blue pike ($13,657) and whitefish ($31,580). The catch of herring was twice as much in 1908 as in 1907 and that of whitefish nearly four times as much in 1908 as in 1907; this increase was attributed to the work of the state hatcheries. There were eight hatcheries in 1910 and the number of See also:fish distributed from these during 1908 was about 662,000,000; they consisted chiefly of pickerel, yellow perch, wall-eyed pike, See also: The mean See also:annual temperature decreases to the north-westward on the Alleghany plateau, but on the Erie plain, in the extreme north-west, Lake Erie exerts its moderating See also:influence, the mean temperature rises, and extremes shorten. The mean annual temperature in the south-east province is about 52 ° F.; it decreases to 50° in the central province and to 470 or less in some of the north-west counties of the Alleghany plateau, but rises to 49° on the shore of Lake Erie. At Philadelphia the mean temperature in winter (See also:December, See also:January and See also:February) is 340, the mean temperature in summer (See also:June, See also:July and See also:August) is 74°, and the range of extremes here for a long See also:period of years ending with 1907 was within 103° and 6°. At See also:Huntingdon, Huntingdon county, in the Juniata Valley, the winter mean is 30°, the summer mean 71 °, and within the period from 1888 to 1907 extremes ranged from 104° to 23°. The summer See also:maxima on the mountains are usually 8° to To° less than in the valleys directly below them; Saegerstown, See also:Crawford county, is nearly 30 M. south of Erie, on Lake Erie, and yet the winter mean is 28° at Erie and only 25° at Saegerstown, and the lowest temperature on See also:record for Erie is -16° while for Saegerstown it is -27°. During the period from 1875 to 1905 inclusive, extremes within the state ranged from 107° at York, York county, in July 1901, to -42° at Smithport, McKean county, in January 1904. July is the warmest See also:month in all parts of the state. January is the coldest in some and February in others. The See also:average annual rainfall is 44 in. It is 50 in. or more in some regions along the south-east border of the mountain See also:district or farther south-east where the rains are occasionally heavy, and it is less than 40 in. in some of the north-east and south-west counties. The amount of rainfall during the summer is about 3 in. more than that during either autumn or winter and 2 in. more than that during See also:spring. In the mountain region and in the vicinity of Lake Erie there is often a fall of several inches of See also:snow during the winter months and the rapid melting of this produces floods on the Delaware, Susquehanna and Ohio rivers and some of their tributaries. The prevailing winds are See also:westerly, but they are frequently interrupted by warm breezes from the south, or moisture-bearing currents from the east. -, Soils.—The most productive See also:soil is that in the south-east section of the Great Valley and in Chester Valley where it is derived largely from limestone. There is some of the same formation as well as that derived from red shales on the sandstone hills in the south-east province and in many of the middle and western valleys, but often a belt of inferior slate soil adjoins a limestone belt, and many of the ridges are covered with a still more sterile soil derived from white and See also:grey sandstones. The north-west and north-east sections contain some glacial drift but the soil in these parts is not suitable for cultivation except in the larger valleys in the north-west where it is drained by glacial See also:gravel or there is some sandy See also:loam mixed with clay. See also:Agriculture.—Pennsylvania is noted for its See also:mineral See also:wealth and manufactures rather than for its agricultural resources, but in 1900 about two-thirds of its land was included in farms, a little more than two-thirds of its See also:farm-land was improved, and in several crops the state has long ranked high. The number of farms in-creased from 127,577 in 1850 to 224,248 in 1900, the increase resulting in part from a reduction of their See also:size but more largely from the See also:appropriation of new lands for farming purposes. The average size in 1900 was 86.4 acres. Nearly 60 % of them contained less than Too acres and only about 2.7% contained 260 acres or more. More than seven-tenths (160,105) were worked by owners or part owners, and only 34,529 by See also:share tenants, and 23,737 by See also:cash tenants. See also:Hay, See also:Indian See also:corn, See also:wheat, oats, potatoes, fruits, vegetables and See also:tobacco are the principal crops. Of the total See also:crop acreage in 1899 nearly two-fifths was devoted to hay and See also:forage, and the value of the hay crop in 1909 1 (when the crop was 3,742,000 tons, valued at $54,633,000) was greater than that of any other state in the Union except New York. Hay is grown in largest quantities in the north, and in the section south-east of Blue Mountain. More than one-half of the crop acreage in 1899 was devoted to cereals, and of the total cereal acreage 32 % was of wheat, 31.2 % was of Indian corn, 24.8 % was of oats, 6.5 % was of See also:rye, and 5.3 % was of See also:buckwheat. The product of Indian corn was 48,800,000 bushels in 1909; of wheat 26,265,000 bushels; of oats 25,948,000 bushels; of See also:barley 196,000 bushels; of rye 5,508,000 bushels; and of buckwheat 5,665,000 bushels. Indian corn, wheat and rye, are cultivated most extensively in the south-east counties. Some of the larger See also:oat-producing counties also are in the south-east, but most of the buckwheat, barley and oats are grown in the north and west counties. The See also:dairy business, for which much of the hay crop is needed, has grown with the growth of the See also:urban See also:population as is shown in part by a steady increase in the number of dairy cows from 530,224 in 1850 to 1,140,000 in 1910; the value of the dairy products in 1899 ($35,860,110) was exceeded only in New York. The number of other See also:cattle has fluctuated somewhat, but there were 917,000 in 1910 as against 623,722 in 1850. Horses increased in number 1 See also:Statistics for 1909 and 1910 are from the See also:Year See also:Book of the United States Department of Agriculture. . from 350,398 in 1850 to 619,000 in 1910. The number of mules increased steadily from 2259 in 1850 to 43,000 in 1910. The raising of See also:sheep and See also:swine was of considerably less relative importance in 1910 than in 1850, there being 1,882,357 sheep and 1,040,366 swine in 1850 and 1,112,000 sheep and 931,000 swine in 1910. The dairy business is largest in the regions around Philadelphia and See also:Pittsburg, and in Erie and See also:Bradford counties. Cattle other than dairy cows as well as horses and sheep are most numerous in the western counties, in Bradford county on the north border, and in some of the counties of the south-east. Swine are moist numerous in the south-east and south-west counties. The state ranks high in the See also:production of potatoes, cabbages, See also:lettuce and turnips, and it produces large crops of sweet Indian corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, musk-melons, See also:asparagus and See also:celery. The total value of all vegetables produced in 1899 was $15,832,904, an amount exceeding that of any other state except New York. A large portion of the vegetables are grown in the vicinity of Philadelphia or in the vicinity of Pitts-See also:burg. The culture of tobacco, which was introduced as See also:early as 1689, was a small See also:industry until the middle of the 19th See also:century, but it then developed rapidly except during a brief interruption caused by the Mexican See also:War. In 1909 the crop was 30,732,000 lb. More than two-thirds of the state's crop of 1899 was produced in Lancaster county, which is one of the largest tobacco-producing counties in the United States, and most of the other third was produced in York, Tioga, Bradford and Clinton counties. Apples, cherries and See also:pears are the principal See also:orchard fruits. Grapes, peaches, plums and prunes, apricots, strawberries, raspberries and loganberries, blackberries and dewberries, currants and gooseberries are also grown. Orchard fruits are most abundant south-east of Blue Mountain, and small fruits near the larger cities, but about two-thirds of the grapes are grown in Erie county. Floriculture is an important industry in Philadelphia and its vicinity. The See also:sale of nursery products, more than one-half of which were grown in Chester and Montgomery counties, amounted in 1899 to $541,032, and although this was less than one-third that of New York it was exceeded in only three other states. Minerals.—Pennsylvania is by far the most important See also:coal-producing state in the Union, and as much of the See also:iron ore of the Lake See also:Superior region is brought to its great bituminous coal-See also: Extending from the south-west corner of the state through See also:Greene, Washington, Allegheny, See also:Beaver, See also: The industry then became of greater importance in several other states and declined in Pennsylvania until in 1896 the value of Pennsylvania's product amounted to only $5,528,610, or 42.5% of that of the United States. This temporary decline was, however, followed by a rather steady rise and in 1908 the output was valued at $19,104,944, which was still far in excess of that of any other state and nearly 35% of that of the entire country. The gas region has an area of about 15,000 sq. m. and embraces about all of the Pennsylvania section of the Alleghany plateau except a narrow belt along its east and south-east border. There are de-posits of various kinds of iron ore in the eastern, south-eastern,. middle and some of the western counties, and from the middle of the 18th century until near the close of the 19th Pennsylvania ranked high among the iron-ore-producing states. As See also:late as 1880 it ranked first, with a product amounting to 1,951,496 long tons. But the state's iron foundries moved rapidly westward after the first successful, experiments in making pig-iron with bituminous coal, in 1845, and the discovery, a few years later, that See also:rich ore could be obtained there at less cost from the Lake Superior region resulted in a decline of iron-See also:mining within the state until, in 1902, the product amounted to only 822,932 long tons, 72.2 % of which was See also:magnetite ore from the See also:Cornwall mines in See also:Lebanon county which have been among the largest producers of this See also:kind of ore since the erection of the Cornwall See also:furnace in 1742. In 1908 the entire iron-ore product of the state, amounting to 443,161 long tons, was not 1.3 % of that of the United States, but the production of the magnetite-ore alone (343,998 long tons) was more than one-fifth that of all the United States. In the manufacture of pig-iron Pennsylvania is easily first among the states, with a product value in 1908 of $111,385,000, nearly 43.8 % of that of the entire country. Pennsylvania has extensive areas of limestone rock suitable for making See also:cement, and in See also:Northampton and Lehigh counties enormous quantities of it are used in this industry. Natural-rock cement was first made in the state soon after the discovery, in 1831, of deposits of cement rock near See also:Williamsport, Lycoming county, and the industry was greatly promoted in 1850 when the vast deposits in the lower Lehigh Valley were discovered and large quantities of cement were required in the rebuilding of the Lehigh See also:Canal. Competition produced in Lehigh county the first successful See also:Portland cement plant in the United States in 1870. The output of the natural-rock cement continued greater than that of the Portland until 1896, but for the succeeding ten years the enormous development of the cement industry was almost entirely in the Portland See also:branch, its production in the state increasing from 825,054 barrels in 1896 to 8,770,454 barrels in 1902, and to 18,254,806 barrels (valued at $13,899,807) in 1908, when it was more than 30 % of that of the United States. The production of natural-rock cement was 608,000 barrels in 1896 and only 252,479 barrels (valued at $87,192) in 1908. Limestones and See also:dolomites suitable for See also:building purposes are obtained chiefly in Montgomery, Chester and Lancaster counties, and even these are generally rejected for ornamental work on See also:account of their See also:colour, which is usually bluish, grey or mottled. However until increased facilities of transport brought more desirable stones into competition they were used extensively in Philadelphia and with them the See also:main building of See also:Girard See also:College and the United States See also:Naval' See also:Asylum were erected and the long rows of red-See also:brick residences were trimmed. There are limestone quarries in nearly two-thirds of the counties and great quantities of the See also: In 1908 the state ranked first in the value of its output of brick and See also:tile ($18,981,743), which was 14.74
of the entire product of the United States, and was second only to Ohio in the total value of its clay products ($14,842,982), which was 11.14% of that for the entire country. See also:Glass sand abounds both in the eastern and in the western sections and for many years Pennsylvania has used this more extensively in the manufacture of glass than any other state. Deposits of crystalline See also:graphite are found in Chester and Berks counties. In Chester county, also, is one of the most productive deposits of feldspar, second in importance only to those of See also:Maine. Soapstone is quarried in Montgomery and Northampton counties, phosphate rock, in Juniata county; rocks from which mineral paints are made, in several counties, and there is some See also:garnet in Delaware county.
Manufactures.—The state ranks second to New York in the value of its manufactures, which increased from $155,oa4,910 in 1850 to $1,955,551,332 (factory products alone) in 1905, a growth which has been promoted by an abundance of fuel, by a good See also:port on the Atlantic seaboard, by a network of canals which in the early years was of much importance in connecting the port with the See also:Mississippi river See also:system, by its frontage on Lake Erie which makes the ores of the Lake Superior region easily accessible, and by a great railway system which has been built to meet the demands arising from the natural resources. By far the most important industry is the production of iron and See also:steel. The manufacture of iron was established on a commercial basis in 1716-1718, when a furnace was built on Manatawney Creek above See also:Pottstown, and before the close of the colonial era Pennsylvania had risen to first See also:rank among the iron-producing colonies, a position which it has. always held among the states of the Union. So long as See also:charcoal only was used in the furnaces (until about 1840) and during the brief period in which this was replaced largely by anthracite, the industry was of See also:chief importance in the eastern section, but with the See also:gradual increase in the use of bituminous coal, or of See also:coke made from it, the industry moved westward, where, especially in the Pittsburg district, it received a new impetus by the introduction of iron ore from the Lake Superior region. The value of the output of iron and steel increased from $264,571,624 in 1890 to $471,228,844 in 1905, and the state furnished 46.5 A of the pig-iron and 54 % of the steel and malleable iron produced in the entire country. The manufacture of great quantities of coke has resulted from the demand for this product in the iron and steel industry and from the abundance of coking coal; the manufacture of glass has been promoted by the supply of glass sand and natural gas in the west of the state; the manufacture of See also:leather by the abundance of hemlock bark; the manufacture of pottery, terra-See also:cotta and fire-clay products by the abundance of raw material; the manufacture of See also:silk and silk goods by the large number of See also:women and girls who came into the state in families of which the men and boys were employed in mining and picking anthracite coal; and in each of these See also:industries as well as in a few others the state has for many years produced a large portion of the country's product.
In 1905 the twelve leading manufactures, with the value of each, were: steel and malleable iron, $363,773,577; foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, consisting most largely of steam locomotives, See also:metal-working machinery and pumping machinery, $119,650,913; pig-iron, $107,455,267; leather, $69,427,852; railway cars and See also:repairs by steam railway companies, $61,021,374; refined petroleum, $47,459,502; silk and silk goods, $39,333,520; tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, $39,079,122; See also:flour and grist-See also: The most marked advances from 1900 to 1905 were in worsted goods (61.4 %) structural iron-work (6o °o), and See also:tin and terne-See also:plate (54'4 %). Philadelphia is the great manufacturing centre. Within its limits, in 1905, all the sugar and molasses were manufactured and much of the petroleum was refined, nearly all of the iron and steel See also:ships and steam loco-motives were built, and 93 of the carpets and rugs were made, and the total value of the manufactures of this city in that year was nearly one-third of that for the entire state. Nearly 20 % of the iron and steel was produced by Pittsburg together with Allegheny,with which it has since been consolidated, and the production of these is the leading industry of New Castle, See also:Johnstown, See also:Duquesne, See also:McKeesport, See also:Sharon, See also:Braddock and See also:Dubois. also in the west part of
the state and of Reading, Harrisburg, See also:Steelton, South See also:Bethlehem, Pottstown, Lebanon, See also:Phoenixville and See also:Danville in the east part. The silk and cement industries are confined largely to the eastern cities and boroughs; the coke, tin and terne-plate, and pickling industries to the western; and the construction and repair of See also:rail-way cars to See also:Altoona, See also:Meadville, See also:Dunmore, and repair of railway cars to Altoona, Meadville, Dunmore, See also:Chambersburg, Butler and Philadelphia.
Transport and See also:Commerce.—The new road cut through the Juniata region in the See also: In 1824 the state legislature authorized the See also:appointment of a commission to explore routes from the Schuylkill to Pittsburg, and from the West Branch of the Susquehanna to the Allegheny, and in the three or four succeeding yer rs the state committed itself to a very extensive system of See also:internal improvements. Work was begun on the system in 1826 and was continued without interruption until 1840, when the completed or nearly completed portions embraced a railway from Philadelphia to See also:Columbia on the Susquehanna, a canal up the Susquehanna and the Juniata from Columbia to Hollidaysburg, a See also:portage railway from Hollidaysburg through See also:Blair's Gap in the Alleghany Front to Johnstown on the Conemaugh river, a canal down the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas, and Allegheny rivers to Pittsburg, a canal up the Susquehanna and its west branch from the mouth of the Juniata to Farrandsville, in Clinton county, a canal up the Susquehanna and its north branch from Northumberland nearly to the New York border, and a canal up the Delaware river from Bristol to I the mouth of the Lehigh ; considerable work had also been done on I two canals to connect the Ohio river with Lake Erie. Work was stopped, in 1840, before the system was completed because of the intense popular discontent arising from the See also:burden of See also:debt which had been assumed and because the success of competing railways was then fully assured. In 1845 the state began to sell its canals and railways to private corporations and the sale was completed in 1859. The western division of the system was abandoned by the new owners in 1865 and the worked portion of the east division gradually decreased until it, too, was wholly abandoned in 1904, with the exception of the Delaware Division Canal, which since 1866 has been worked by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company in connexion with the Lehigh Canal. In its natural See also:condition there were bars in the Delaware river below Philadelphia which obstructed the navigation of vessels See also:drawing more than 17–20 ft. of water, but in 1899 the Federal See also:government adopted a project for obtaining a channel having a minimum depth of 30 ft. The Federal government has much improved the navigation of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and is committed to a project for slack-water navigation on the Ohio which is expected to give Pittsburg communication with the sea by vessels drawing 9 ft. of water. The first railway in the state was that built in 1827 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company from Mauch Chunk to its mines, 9 m. distant; but this was only a gravity road down which cars loaded with coal descended by their own gravity and up which the empty cars were See also:drawn by mules. In 1823 a company was incorporated to build a railway from Philadelphia to Columbia, but nothing further was done until 1828, when the state canal commissioners were directed to build this road and the Allegheny Portage railway from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown. The latter was built with ten inclined planes, five on each See also:side of the See also:summit at Blair's Gap and cars were drawn up these by stationary engines. Both the Philadelphia & Columbia and the Allegheny Portage railways were completed in 1834. From these and other beginnings the state's railway mileage gradually increased to 1240 M. in 1850. to 4656 m. in 1870, to 8639 m. in 1890 and to 11,373 M. at the end of 1908, when it was exceeded by only two states in the Union, Texas and Illinois. The principal railways are the lines operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company from New York to Washington through Philadelphia; from Philadelphia to See also:Cincinnati, See also:Cleveland, See also:Chicago and St See also: There is a large number of the smaller religious sects in the state; the principal denominations, with the number of communicants of each in 1906, are: Methodist (363,443), Lutheran (335,643), Presbyterian (322,542), Reformed See also: He has a right of See also:veto, extending to items in appropriation bills, which may be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house. His See also:power of See also:pardon is limited, being subject to the recommendation of three members of a See also:board which consists of the lieutenant-governor, secretary of the commonwealth, attorney-general and secretary of internal affairs. The other executive officials are the lieutenant-governor and the secretary of internal affairs, elected for four years, the auditor-general, elected for three years, the treasurer, elected for two years, and (all appointed by the governor) the secretary of the commonwealth, the attorney-general and a superintendent of public instruction. All those chosen by election are ineligible for a second consecutive term except the secretary of internal affairs. The department of internal affairs consists of six bureaus: the land office, vital statistics, See also:weather service, assessments, industrial statistics, and railroads, canals, telegraphs and telephones. There are also many statutory administrative officials and boards, such as the See also:adjutant-general, See also:insurance commissioner, board of See also:health, board of agriculture, board of public grounds and buildings, commissioners of fisheries, and factory and mining inspectors. Legislature.—During the colonial period and the early years of statehood the legislature was composed of one house, but the bicameral system was adopted in the constitution of 1790. There are fifty senators, elected for four years, and approximately two See also:hundred representatives, elected for two years. Senators must be at least 25 years old, citizens and inhabitants of the state for four years next before election and inhabitants of the senatorial districts from which each is elected for one year next before election; representatives must be at least 21 years old and must have lived in the state three years and in the district from which elected one year next before election. To avoid the possibility of See also:metropolitan domination provision is made that no city or county shall be entitled to more than one-See also:sixth of the total number of senators. Sessions are biennial. The See also:powers of the two houses are the same except that the senate exercises the usual right of confirming appointments and of sitting as a court of See also:impeachment, while the House of Representatives initiates See also:money bills and impeachment cases. Judiciary.—The supreme court consists of seven judges elected by the voters of the state at large. Minority representation is secured by the provision that each elector shall vote for one less than the number of judges to be chosen at each election. The state is divided into three supreme judicial districts, the eastern, the middle and the western. This court was formerly very much overworked, but it was relieved by an act of the 24th of June 1895 establishing a superior court (now of seven judges) with appellate See also:jurisdiction. There were in 1910 fifty-six district courts of common pleas, one for each county of forty thousand inhabitants and not more than four counties in a district. The judges of the common pleas are also judges of the courts of oyer and terminer, See also:quarter sessions of the See also:peace and general See also:gaol delivery, and the orphans' courts, although there are See also:separate orphans' courts in the counties (ten in 1909) having a population of more than one hundred and fifty thousand. Justices of the peace are elected in wards, districts, boroughs and townships. In the colonial period all judges were appointed by the governor during good behaviour. The constitution of 1776 provided for terms of seven years, that of 1790 restored the See also:life term, and that of 1838 fixed the terms for judges of the common pleas at ten years and judges of the supreme court at fifteen. A constitutional amendment of 185o provided that all judges should be elected by the people.' At present supreme court judges serve for twenty-one years and are ineligible for re-election. Superior court and common pleas judges serve for ten years, and justices of the peace for five. Judges may be impeached for See also:misdemeanour in office or they may be removed by the governor, with the consent of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly, for any reasonable cause which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment. See also:Local Government.—The local government is a See also:combination of the county system of the South and the township system of New England. The county See also:officers are sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, registers of See also:wills, recorders of deeds, commissioners, treasurers, surveyors, auditors or comptrollers, clerks of the courts, and district attorneys, elected for three years. The three commissioners and the three auditors in each county are chosen by the same limited vote See also:process as the supreme-court judges, thus allowing a representation to the minority party. Pennsylvania has suffered more perhaps than any other state in the Union from legislative interference in local affairs. Under an act of the general assembly passed in 187o the people of Philadelphia were forced to contribute more than $20,000,000 for the construction of a city-See also: When a wife dies intestate leaving a husband and issue the husband has the use of all her real estate for life, and the personal estate is divided among the husband and See also:children share and share alike; if there be no issue the husband has the use of all her real estate for life and all her personal estate absolutely; if the wife leaves a will the husband has the choice between its terms and his right by courtesy. Whenever there is neither issue nor kindred the surviving husband or wife has all the estate. The principal grounds for an See also:absolute See also:divorce are impotency, See also:adultery, wilful or malicious See also:desertion, cruel and barbarous treatment, personal abuse and conviction of any such See also:crime as See also:arson, See also:burglary, See also:embezzlement, See also:forgery, See also:kidnapping, See also:larceny, See also:murder, See also:perjury or See also:assault with See also:intent to kill. Before filing a See also:petition for a divorce the See also:plaintiff must have resided within the state at least one year. A suit for a divorce on the ground of desertion may be commenced when the See also:defendant has been absent six months, but the divorce may not be granted until the desertion has continued two years. The party convicted of adultery is forbidden to marry the co-See also:respondent during the lifetime of the other party. A marriage of first See also:cousins or a bigamous marriage may be declared void. Pennsylvania has no See also:homestead law, but the property of a debtor amounting to $300 in value, exclusive of the wearing See also:apparel of himself and See also:family and of all Bibles and school-books in use, is exempt from See also:levy and sale on See also:execution or by See also:distress for See also:rent; and the exemption extends to the widow and children unless there is a See also:lien on the property for See also:purchase money. The See also:child-labour law of 1909 forbids the employment of children under eighteen years of age in blast furnaces, tanneries, quarries, in managing elevator lifts or hoisting See also:machines, in oiling dangerous machinery while in See also:motion, at switch tending, as brakesmen, firemen, See also:engineers, motormen and in other positions of similar See also:character. The same law prescribes conditions under which children between fourteen and eighteen years of age may be employed in the manufacture of white-See also:lead, red-lead, paints, See also:phosphorus, poisonous acids, tobacco or cigars, in See also:mercantile establishments, stores, hotels, offices or in other places requiring protection to their health or safety; and it forbids the employment of boys under sixteen years of age or of girls under eighteen years of age in such factories or establishments more than ten See also:hours a day (unless it be to prepare for a short day) or for more than fifty-eight hours to be chosen for the same term of service each voter shall vote for one only, and when three are to be chosen he shall vote for no more than two; candidates highest in vote shall be declared elected."a See also:week, or their employment there between nine o'See also:clock in the evening and six o'clock in the See also:morning, except that in the factories requiring continuous See also:night and day employment boys not under fourteen years of age may be employed partly by day and partly by night not exceeding nine hours in any twenty-four. The employment of children under fourteen years of age in coal-mines is forbidden, as is also the employment of children under fourteen years of age in any See also:cotton, woollen, silk, See also:paper, See also:bagging or flax factory, or in any See also:laundry, or the employment of children under twelve years of age in any mill or factory whatever within the commonwealth. Prisons and Charities.—Penal and charitable institutions are under the supervision of a board of public charities of ten members, established in 1869, and a committee in lunacy, composed of five members of this board, appointed under an act of 1883. An agitation begun by the Philadelphia society for assisting distressed prisoners in 1776, checked for a time by the War of Independence, led ultimately to the passage of a statute in 1818 for the See also:establishment of the Western See also:Penitentiary at Allegheny (opened 1826) and another of 1821 for the establishment of the Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia (opened 1829). In the former penitentiary prisoners are congregated; in the latter they are kept in solitary confinement. An act of 1878 provided for a third penitentiary in the middle district, but through the efforts of Governor See also: A state institution for feeble-minded of western Pennsylvania at See also:Polk, Venango county, was opened in 1897 (act of 1893), and the eastern Pennsylvania state institution for feeble-minded and epileptic at Spring City, Chester county, was opened in 1908 (act of 1903). There are institutes for the See also:blind at Overbrook and Pittsburg, and for the See also:deaf and dumb at Philadelphia and Edgewood See also:Park, an oral school for the deaf at Scranton, a See also:home for the training of deaf children at Philadelphia, a soldiers' and sailors' home at Erie (1886), a soldiers' orphans' industrial school (1895) at See also:Scotland, See also:Franklin county, the Thaddeus See also:Stevens industrial school (1905) at Lancaster, hospitals for the treatment of persons injured in the mines, at See also:Ashland (1879), See also:Hazleton (1887) and Shamokin (1907), and cottage hospitals at Blossburg, Connellsville, See also:Mercer and Philipsburg (all 1887). In addition to the institutions under state See also:control a large number of local charities receive aid from the public See also:treasury. In 1907-1908, $14,222,440 was appropriated for institutions: $7,479,732 for state institutions, $1,240,108 for semi-state institutions, $4,757,100 for general hospitals, $149,500 for hospitals for consumptives, and $745,900 for homes, asylums, &c. The system of juvenile courts, created under a statute of 1901, has done much to ameliorate the condition of dependent and delinquent children.
See also:Education.—During the colonial period there were many sectarian and neighbourhood subscription See also:schools in which the poor could receive a See also:free education, but public schools in the See also:modern See also:American sense were unknown. The famous Friends' public school, founded in Philadelphia in 1689 and chartered in 1697, still exists as the See also: Out of a total See also:expenditure of $30,021,774 for the fiscal year 1909, $7,875,083 was for educational purposes, of which $6,810,906 was for common schools, being appropriations to the
counties, There is a biennial school appropriation of $15,000,000. In addition the district See also:directors levy local rates which must not be greater than the state and county taxes combined. The Pennsylvania state college at State College, Center county, was established in 1855 as the farmers' high school of Pennsylvania, in 1862 became the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and received its present name in 1874 after the income from the See also:national land See also: The state was also carried along by the movement which began about 1825 for the expenditure of public funds on internal improvements. On turnpikes, See also:bridges, canals and railways $53,352,649 was spent between 1826 and 1843, the public debt in the latter year reaching the high-water See also:mark of $42,188,434. An agitation was then begun for See also:retrenchment, the public See also:works were put up for sale, and were finally disposed of in 1858 (when the debt was $39,488,244) to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for $7,500,000. Under authority of a constitutional amendment of 1857 a sinking fund commission was established in 1858. Aside from a temporary increase during the See also:Civil War (1861–65) the debt has been rapidly reduced. The constitution of 1873 and subsequent legislation have continued the commission, but the See also:sources of See also:revenue have been very much curtailed, being restricted to the interest on the deposits of the fund and interest on certain Allegheny Railroad bonds. The total debt on the 30th of November 1909 was $2,643,917, of which the greater part were 31 and 4 % bonds, maturing on the 1st of February 1912. The sinking fund at the same date amounted to $2,652,035 leaving a See also:net surplus in the sinking fund of $8118. The sinking fund was formerly divided among certain favoured See also:banks in such manner as would best advance the See also:political interests of the organization which controlled the state; but just after the reform victory in the election of 1905 the sinking fund commission instituted the policy of buying bonds at the See also:market See also:price, and the debt is now being reduced by that method. The See also:financial institutions of Pennsylvania other than national banks are created by state charters limited to twenty years and are subject to the supervision of a commissioner of banking. See also:History.—The chief features of Pennsylvania history in colonial days were the predominance of Quaker influence, the heterogeneous character of the population, liberality in matters of See also:religion, and the fact that it was the largest and the most successful of proprietary provinces. The earliest See also:European settlements within the present limits of the state were some small trading posts established by the Swedes and the Dutch in thelower valley of the Delaware River in 1623-1681. Between 165o and 166o See also:George See also:Fox and a few other prominent members of the Society of Friends had begun to urge the establishment of a See also:colony in America to serve as a refuge for See also:Quakers who were suffering persecution under the " See also:Clarendon See also:Code." William Penn (q.v.) became interested in the See also:plan at least as early as 1666. For his charters of 168o-1682 and the growth of the colony under him see PENN, WILLIAM.
During Penn's life the colony was involved in serious boundary disputes with Maryland, Virginia and New York. A See also:decree of See also:Lord See also:Chancellor See also:Hardwicke, in 1750, settled the Maryland-Delaware dispute and led to the survey in 1763-1767 of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland (lat. 390 43' 26.3" N.), called the Mason and Dixon line in honour of the surveyors; it acquired considerable importance later as separating the free and the slave states. In 1784 Virginia agreed to the See also:extension of the line and to the establishment of the western limit (the present boundary between Pennsylvania and Ohio) as the See also:meridian from a point on the Mason and Dixon line five degrees of See also:longitude west of the Delaware river. The 42nd parallel was finally selected as the northern boundary in 1789, in 1792 the Federal government sold to Pennsylvania the small triangular See also:strip of territory north of it on Lake Erie. A territorial dispute with See also:Connecticut over the Wyoming Valley was settled in favour of Pennsylvania in 1782 by a court of See also:arbitration appointed by the See also:Continental Congress.
Upon William Penn's See also:death, his widow became proprietary. See also:Sir William See also:Keith, her See also:deputy, was hostile to the council, which he practically abolished, and was popular with the assembly, which he assiduously courted, but was discharged by Mrs Penn after he had quarrelled with See also: But the assembly did its part in assisting General Braddock to outfit; and after Braddock's defeat all western Pennsylvania suffered terribly from Indian attacks. After the proprietors subscribed £5000 for the protection of the colony the assembly momentarily gave up its contest for a tax on the proprietary estates and consented to pass a money bill, without this provision, for the expenses of the war. But in 176o the assembly, with the help of See also:Benjamin Franklin as See also:agent in England, won the great victory of forcing the proprietors to pay a tax (£566) to the colony; and thereafter the assembly had little to contest for, and the degree of civil See also:liberty attained in the province was very high. But the growing power of the Scotch-Irish, the resentment of the Quakers against the proprietors for having gone back to the Church of England and many other circumstances strengthened the See also:anti-proprietary power, and the assembly strove to abolish the proprietorship and establish a royal province; John Dickinson was the able See also:leader of the party which defended the proprietors; and See also:Joseph See also:Galloway and Benjamin Franklin were the leaders of the anti-proprietary party, which was greatly weakened at home by the See also:absence after December 1764 of Franklin in England as its agent. The question lost importance as independence became the issue. In 1755 a volunteer See also:militia had been created and was led with great success by Benjamin Franklin; and in 1756 a line of forts was begun to hold the Indians in check. In the same year a force of pioneers under John See also:Armstrong of Carlisle surprised and destroyed the Indian See also:village of Kittanning (or Atique) on the Allegheny river. But the frontier was disturbed by Indian attacks until the suppression of See also:Pontiac's See also:conspiracy. In December 1763 six See also:Christian Indians, Conestogas, were massacred by the " See also:Paxton boys " from Paxton near the present Harrisburg; the Indians who had escaped were taken to Lancaster for safe keeping but were seized and killed by the " Paxton boys," who with other backwoodsmen marched upon Philadelphia early in 1764, but Quakers and Germans gathered quickly to protect it and civil war was averted, largely by the See also:diplomacy of Franklin. The Paxton See also:massacre marked the close of Quaker supremacy and the beginning of the predominance of the Scotch-Irish pioneers. Owing to its central position, its liberal government, and its policy of religious See also:toleration, Pennsylvania had become during the 18th century a refuge for European immigrants, especially persecuted sectaries. In no other colony were so many different races and religions represented. There were Dutch, Swedes, English, Germans, Welsh, Irish and Scotch-Irish; Quakers, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, See also:Lutherans (Reformed), Mennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders, and Moravians. Most of these elements have now become merged in the general type, but there are still many communities in which the popular See also:language is a corrupt German See also:dialect, largely Rheno-Franconian in its origin, known as " Pennsylvania Dutch." Before the Seven Years' War the Quakers dominated the government, but from that time until the failure of the See also:Whisky Insurrection (1794) the more belligerent Scotch-Irish (mostly Presbyterians) were usually in the ascendancy, the reasons being the growing numerical strength of the Scotch-Irish and the increasing dissatisfaction with Quaker neglect of means of defending the province. As the central colony, Pennsylvania's attitude in the struggle with the See also:mother country was of vast importance. The See also:British party was strong because of the See also:loyalty of the large Church of England See also:element, the See also:neutrality of many Quakers, Dunkers, and Mennonites, and a general See also:satisfaction with the liberal and free government of the province, which had been won gradually and had not suffered such catastrophic reverses as had embittered the people of Massachusetts, for instance. But the Whig party under the lead of John Dickinson, Thomas Mifflin and Joseph See also:Reed was successful in the state, and Pennsylvania contributed greatly to the success of the War of Independence, by the important services rendered by her statesmen, by providing troops and by the financial aid given by Robert Morris (q.v.). The two Continental Congresses (1774, and 1775–1781) met in Philadelphia, except for the months when Philadelphia was occupied by the British army and Congress met in Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania, and then in See also:Prince-ton, New Jersey. In Philadelphia the second Congress adopted the See also:Declaration of Independence, which the Pennsylvania delegation, excepting Franklin, thought premature at the time, but which was well supported by Pennsylvania afterwards. During the War of Independence battles were fought at See also:Brandy-See also:wine (1777), See also:Paoli (1777), Fort Mifflin (1777) and See also:Germantown (1777), and Washington's army spent the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge; and Philadelphia was occupied by the British from the 26th of See also:September 1777 to the 18th of June 1778. The Penns lost their governmental rights in 1776, and three years later their territorial interests were vested in the common-wealth in return for a grant of 120,000 and the See also:guarantee of titles to private estates held in severalty. They still own considerable property in and around Wilkes-Barre, in Luzerne county, and in Philadelphia. The first state constitution of September 1776 was the work of the See also:Radical party. It deprived the Quakers of their part in the control of the government and forced many Conservatives into the Loyalist party. This first state constitution was never submitted to popular vote. It continued the unicameral legislative system, abolished the office of governor, and provided for an executive council of twelve members. It also created a curious See also:body, known as the council of censors, whose See also:duty it was to assemble once in seven years to decide whether there had been any infringements of the fundamental law. The party which had carried this constitution through attacked its opponents by withdrawing the charter of the college of Philadelphia (now the university of Pennsylvania) because its trustees were anti-Constitutionalists and creating in its See also:place a university of the state of Pennsylvania. The Constitutional party in 1785 secured the annulment by the state assembly of the charter of the Bank of North America, which still retained a congressional charter; and the cause of this action also seems to have been party feeling against the anti-Constitutionalists, among whom Robert Morris of the bank was a leader, and who, especially Morris, had opposed the paper money policy of the Constitutionalists. These actions of the state assembly against the college and the bank probably were immediate causes for the insertion in the Federal Constitution (adopted by the See also:convention in Philadelphia in 1787) of the clause (proposed by James Wilson of Pennsylvania, a friend of the college and of the bank) forbidding any state to pass a law impairing the See also:obligation of contracts. The state ratified the Federal Constitution, in spite of a powerful opposition—largely the old (state) Constitutional party—on the land of December 1787, and three years later revised its own constitution to make it conform to that document. Under the constitution of 1790 the office of governor was ,restored, the executive council and the council of censors were abolished, and the bicameral legislative system was adopted. Philadelphia was the seat of the Federal government, except for a brief period in 1789–1790, until the removal to Washington in 1800. The state See also:capital was removed from Philadelphia to Lancaster in 1799 and from Lancaster to Harrisburg in 1812. The state was the See also:scene of the Scotch-Irish revolt of 1794 against the Federal See also:excise tax, known as the Whisky Insurrection (q.v.) and of the German protest (1799) against the house tax, known as the See also:Fries See also:Rebellion from its leader John Fries (q.v.). In 1838 as the result of a disputed election to the state house of representatives two houses were organized, one Whig and the other Democratic, and there was open violence in Harrisburg. The conflict has been called the " Buckshot War." The Whig House of Representatives gradually See also:broke up, many members going over to the Democratic house, which had See also:possession of the records and the chamber and was recognized by the state Senate. Pennsylvania was usually Democratic before the Civil War owing to the democratic character of its country population and to the close commercial relations between Philadelphia and the South. The growth of the protectionist movement and the development of anti-See also:slavery sentiment, however, See also:drew it in the opposite direction, and it voted the Whig national ticket in 184o and in 1848, and the Republican ticket for See also:Lincoln in 1860. A split among the Democrats in 1835, due to the opposition of the Germans to internal improvements and to the establishment of a public school system, resulted in the election as governor of Joseph Ritner, the anti-Masonic See also:candidate. The anti-Masonic excitement subsided as quickly as it had risen, and under the leadership of Thaddeus Stevens the party soon became merged with the Whigs. During the Civil War (1861–65) the state gave to the Union 336,000 soldiers; and Generals McClellan, See also:Hancock, See also:Meade and See also:Reynolds and Admirals See also:Porter and See also:Dahlgren were natives of the state. Its nearness to the field of war made its position dangerous. Chambersburg was burned in 1862; and the See also:battle of Gettysburg (July 1863), a defeat of See also: The calling in of Pinkerton detectives from Chicago and New York to See also:settle a strike iii the Carnegie steel works at Homestead in 1892 precipitated a serious See also:riot, in which about twenty persons were killed. It was necessary to See also:call out two brigades of the state militia before the disorder was finally suppressed. The labour unions took See also:advantage of this trouble to force Pennsylvania, See also:Indiana, Illinois, See also:Minnesota, Colorado and several other states to pass anti-Pinkerton statutes making it illegal to import irresponsible armed men from a distance to quell local disturbances. On the political side the chief features in the history of the state since 1865 have been the adoption of the constitution of 1873, the growth of the Cameron-See also:Quay-Penrose political machine, and the attempts of the reformers to over-throw its domination. The constitution of 1838, which superseded that of 1790, extended the functions of the legislature, limited the governor's power of appointment, and deprived negroes of the right of suffrage. The provision last mentioned was nullified by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States. The chief object of the present state constitution (1873) was to prohibit local and special legislation. It increased the number of senators and representatives, created the office of lieutenant-governor, substituted biennial for annual sessions of the legislature, introduced minority representation in the choice of the higher judiciary and of the county commissioners and auditors and provided (as had an amendment adopted in 185o) for the election of all judges by popular vote. The political organization founded by See also:Simon Cameron (q.v.) and strengthened by his son, James Donald Cameron, See also:Matthew See also:Stanley Quay and Boies Penrose (b. 186o), is based upon the control of patronage, the distribution of state funds among favoured banks, the support of the Pennsylvania railway and other great corporations, and upon the ability of the leaders to persuade the See also:electors that it is necessary to vote the straight Republican, ticket to See also:save the protective system. Robert E. See also:Pattison (1850-19o4), a Democrat, was elected governor in 1883 and again in 1891, but he was handicapped by Republican legislatures. In 1905 a Democratic state treasurer was elected. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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