Bible Encyclopedias
Pennsylvania

Fauna

Under the protection of a game commission which was created in 1895, of some game preserves which have been established by this commission, and of various laws affecting wild animals and birds, the numbers of Virginia deer, black bear, rabbits, ruffed grouse, quail and wild turkeys have increased until in some of the wilder sections they are quite plentiful, while the numbers of weasels, minks, lynx and foxes have been diminished. Squirrels, racoons, woodchucks and skunks are common, and musk-rats, porcupines and opossums are found in some sections. Two species of venomous snakes - the rattlesnake and the copper-head - occur in the sparsely settled regions. The avifauna include - among the birds of prey - the red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, marsh hawk, Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned hawk and sparrow hawk; the great horned owl, the barn owl and the screech owl; and bald eagles are not uncommon in the mountainous regions along the larger rivers. The " turkey-buzzard " - turkey-vulture - (very valuable as a scavenger) is seen occasionally, especially in the south and south-west. The game birds include the ruffed grouse, quail and English pheasant (which have increased rapidly under protection), besides woodcock, snipe, many species of ducks and a few Canada geese. The song and insectivorous birds - thrushes, flycatchers, vireos and woodpeckers - of this latitude, are well represented, and the high plateaus (particularly the Pocono plateau) have especial ornithological interest as the tarrying-places, during the migratory seasons, of many species of birds whose natural breeding ground is much farther north. Perch, sunfish, trout, bass, pike and pickerel abound in many of the streams. Yellow perch are especially plentiful in the lakes on the Pocono plateau. Pike-perch and a few blue pike are taken in the Susquehanna, where shad are no longer plentiful since work was begun on McCall's Ferry dam, and in 1908 the entire catch for the river was valued at about $20,000, but in the Delaware there are valuable shad 'and herring fisheries. The blue pike, whitefish and herring, obtained on Lake Erie are of;,;, considerable commercial importance. In 1908 the total catch on Lake Erie was valued at $200,869, 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 fish distributed from these during 1908 was about 662,000,000; they consisted chiefly of pickerel, yellow perch, walleyed pike, white fish, herring, blue pike, trout and shad.

Flora

Except on some portions of the Pocono plateau, Pennsylvania was originally well forested, and, although most of the merchantable timber has been cut, about one-half of the state is still woodland. On the higher elevations the trees are mostly white pine, yellow pine and hemlock, but in the valleys and lower levels are oaks, hickories, maples, elms, birches, locusts, willows, spruces, gums, buckeyes, the chestnut, black walnut, butternut, cedar, ash, linden, poplar, buttonwood, hornbeam, holly, catalpa, magnolia, tulip-tree, Kentucky coffee-tree, sassafras, wild cherry, pawpaw, crab-apple and other species. The flora is most varied in the Susquehanna Valley below Harrisburg, and on Presque Isle are some plants peculiar to the Lake region. The state has forest reserves (918,000 acres in 1910) in 26 counties, the largest areas being in Potter, Clinton, Center, Cameron, Lycoming, Huntingdon, Union and Mifflin counties; and there is an efficient department of forestry under a state commissioner of forestry. A state forest academy (the only one in the United States) is at Mont Alto, where there is one of the three state nurseries; its first class graduated in 1906. In 1909 the state legislature passed an act authorizing any city, borough or township of the first class to acquire, subject to the approval of the commissioner of forestry, a municipal forest; and it authorized the distribution of seedling forest trees, at cost, to those who would plant and protect them, for growing private forests.

Climate

The temperature is quite mild and equable in the south-east province where the ocean influences it and where the mountains bounding it on the north and north-west are some protection from the colder winds. The crests of the higher ridges in the central province are delightfully cool in summer, but the adjacent valleys are subject to excessive heat in summer and severe cold in winter. The mean 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 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 47° 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 (December, January and February) is 34°, the mean temperature in summer (June, July and August) is 74°, and the range of extremes here for a long period of years ending with 1907 was within 103° and 6°. At 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 maxima on the mountains are usually 8° to 10° less than in the valleys directly below them; Saegerstown, 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 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 month in all parts of the state. January is the coldest in some and February in others. The average annual rainfall is 44 in. It is 50 in. or more in some regions along the south-east border of the mountain 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 spring. In the mountain region and in the vicinity of Lake Erie there is often a fall of several inches of 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 westerly, but they are frequently interrupted by warm breezes from the south, or moisture-bearing currents from the east.

Soils

The most productive 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 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 gravel or there is some sandy loam mixed with clay.

Agriculture

Pennsylvania is noted for its mineral 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 farm-land was improved, and in several crops the state has long ranked high. The number of farms increased from 127,577 in 1850 to 224,248 in 1900, the increase resulting in part from a reduction of their size but more largely from the appropriation of new lands for farming purposes. The average size in 1900 was 86.4 acres. Nearly 60% of them contained less than Ion 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 onl y 34,529 by share tenants, and 2 3,737 by cash tenants. Hay, Indian corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, fruits, vegetables and tobacco are the principal crops. Of the total crop acreage in 1899 nearly two-fifths was devoted to hay and forage, and the value of the hay crop in 1909 1 (when the crop was 3,74 2, 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 rye, and 5.3% was of 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 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 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 dairy business, for which much of the hay crop is needed, has grown with the growth of the urban 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 ($35,86 0, 110) was exceeded only in New York. The number of other cattle has fluctuated somewhat, but there were 917,000 in 1910 as against 623,722 in 1850. Horses increased in number 1 Statistics for 1909 and 1910 are from the Year 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 sheep and 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 Pittsburg, and in Erie and 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 most numerous in the south-east and south-west counties. The state ranks high in the production of potatoes, cabbages, lettuce and turnips, and it produces large crops of sweet Indian corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, musk-melons, asparagus and 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 Pittsburg. The culture of tobacco, which was introduced as early as 1689, was a small industry until the middle of the 19th century, but it then developed rapidly except during a brief interruption caused by the Mexican 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 pears are the principal 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 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 coalproducing state in the Union, and as much of the iron ore of the Lake Superior region is brought to its great bituminous coal-field for rendering into pig-iron, the value of the state's mineral products constitutes a large fraction of the total value for the entire country; in 1907, when the value of the mineral products of the state was $ 6 57,7 8 3,345, or nearly one-third that of all the United States, and in 1908 when the total for the state was $473,083,212, or more than one-fourth that of the whole United States, more than fourfifths of it was represented by coal and pig-iron. With the exception of two small areas in Colorado and New Mexico, Pennsylvania contains the only anthracite-coal region in the country. This is in the east of the state, and although it has a total area of about 3300 sq. m., its workable measures are mostly in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill and Northumberland counties in an area of less than 500 sq. m. This coal was discovered as early as 1762 near the site of the present city of WilkSs-Barre and during the War of Independence it was used at Carlisle in the manufacture of war materials, but it was of little commercial importance until early in the next century. In 1815 the output was reported as only 50 tons, but it steadily rose to 74,347,102 tons (valued at $158,178,849) in 1908. Besides having practically all the anthracite, Pennsylvania has the thickest bituminous coal-measures, and most of the coal obtained from these is of the best quality. They form the northern extremity of the great Appalachian coal-field and underlie an area of 15,000 sq. m. or more in the west of the state. The Pittsburg district, comprising the counties of Allegheny, Washington, Fayette and Westmoreland, is exceptionally productive, and the coal in Allegheny and Washington counties is noted for its gas-producing qualities, while in Fayette and Westmoreland counties is obtained the famous Connellsville coking coal. The bituminous coal was first used at nearly the same time as the anthracite and it was first shipped from Pittsburg in 1803. In 1840 the state's output was 464,826 tons. It increased to 1,000,000 tons in 1850, to 11,760,000 tons in 1875, to 79,842,326 tons in 1900, to 150,143,177 tons in 1907; and was 117,179,527 tons in 1908, when it was 35.2% of that of the entire country and was valued at $118,816,303. In 1880 the output of coal (anthracite and bituminous) in Pennsylvania was 66% of that of the entire country; in 1908 it was 48.2%; but in the latter year the Pennsylvania mines produced more coal than the combined production of all the countries of the world excepting Great Britain, Germany and Austria-Hungary, and it was nearly four times as much as the total mined in Austria, nearly five times as much as that mined in France, and seven times as much as the output of Russia in that year. Extending from the south-west corner of the state through Greene, Washington, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Venango, Clarion, Forest, Elk, Warren, McKean and Tioga counties is the Pennsylvania section of the Appalachian oil-field which, with the small section in New York, furnished nearly all of the country's supply of petroleum for some years following the discovery of its value for illuminating purposes. The mineral was made known to white men by the Indians, who sold it, under the name of Seneca oil, as a cure for various ills, and burned it at some of their ceremonies. The early settlers in west Pennsylvania also found that some unknown people had dug pits several feet in depth around the oil springs apparently for the purpose of collecting the oil. But it was not until the middle of the 19th century that its value as an illuminating oil became known, and not until 1859 was the first petroleum well drilled. This was the Drake well, on the flats of Oil Creek at Titusville; it was about 70 ft. in depth, and when 25 barrels were pumped from it in a day its production was considered enormous. By the close of 1861 wells had been drilled from which 2000 to 3000 barrels flowed in a day without pumping, and the state's yearly output continued to increase until 1891, when it amounted to 31,424,206 barrels. Since then, however, wells have been going dry, and when,. in 1895, the output fell to 19,144,390 barrels it was exceeded by that of Ohio. It went down quite steadily to 9,424,325 in 1908, and in that year Pennsylvania was out-ranked as an oil-producing state by Oklahoma, California, Illinois, Texas and Ohio. In drilling for some of the first oil wells gas escaped, and in a few instances this was used as a fuel for generating steam in the boilers of the drilling-engines. In some instances, too, wells which were drilled for oil produced only gas. A little later, about 1868, successful experiments were made with gas as a manufacturing fuel, and in 1872 the gas industry was fairly well established near Titusville by drilling a well and piping the gas for consumption both as fuel and light. The value of the state's output increased from approximately $75,000 in 1882 to approximately $19,282,000 in 1888, and the total value of its output during these and the intervening years was more than 80% that of all the United States. 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 deposits 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 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 rich ore could be obtained there at less cost from the Lake Superior region resulted in a decline of iron-mining within the state until, in 1902, the product amounted to only 822,932 long tons, 72.2% of which was magnetite ore from the Cornwall mines in Lebanon county which have been among the largest producers of this kind of ore since the erection of the Cornwall 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 onefifth 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 cement, and in 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 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 Canal. Competition produced in Lehigh county the first successful 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 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 dolomites suitable for building purposes are obtained chiefly in Montgomery, Chester and Lancaster counties, and even these are generally rejected for ornamental work on account of their 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 main building of Girard College and the United States Naval Asylum were erected and the long rows of red-brick residences were trimmed. There are limestone quarries in nearly two-thirds of the counties and great quantities of the stone are used for flux in the iron furnaces, for making quicklime, for railway ballast and for road making. The total value of the limestone output in 1908 amounted to $4,057,471, and the total value of all stone quarried was $6,371,152. In Dauphin county is a quarry of bluish-brown Triassic sandstone that has been used extensively especially in Philadelphia, for the erection of the so-called brown stone fronts. On the Pocono plateau is a large deposit of a finegrained dark-blue stone of the Devonian formation which is known as the Wyoming Valley stone, and, like the New York " bluestone," which it closely resembles, is much used for window and door trimmings, steps and flagging. Several of the western counties contain Carboniferous or sub-Carboniferous sandstones that are used locally for building and for various other purposes. In 1908 the value of Pennsylvania sandstone and bluestone was $1,368,784. Northampton, Lehigh and York counties contain the most productive slate quarries in the country, and in 1908 the value of their output was $3,902,958; the Northampton and Lehigh slate is the only kind in the United States used for school blackboards. There is an extensive area in the south-east part of the state containing shale clay of a superior quality for making common brick. Kaolin abounds in Chester and Delaware counties, and fire-clay in several of the western counties. In 1908 the state ranked first in the value of its output of brick and tile ($ 18 ,9 81 ,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. 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 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 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 garnet in Delaware county.

Manufactures

The state ranks second to New York in the value of its manufactures, which increased from $155,044,910 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 port on the Atlantic seaboard, by a network of eanals which in the early years was of much importance in connecting the port with the Mississippi river 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 steel. The manufacture of iron was established on a commercial basis in 1716-1718, when a furnace was built on Manatawney Creek above Pottstown, and before the close of the colonial era Pennsylvania had risen to first rank among the iron-producing colonies, a position which it has always held among the states of the Union. So long as 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 chief importance in the eastern section, but with the gradual increase in the use of bituminous coal, or of 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% 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 leather by the abundance of hemlock bark; the manufacture of pottery, terra-cotta and fire-clay products by the abundance of raw material; the manufacture of silk and silk goods by the large number of 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 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 machineshop products, consisting most largely of steam locomotives, metalworking machinery and pumping machinery, $119,650,913; pigiron, $107,455,267; leather, $69,427,852; railway cars and repairs by steam railway companies, $61,021,374; refined petroleum, $47,459,5 02; silk and silk goods, $39,333,520; tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, $39,079,122; flour and grist-mill products, $38,518,702; refined sugar and molasses, $37,182,504; worsted goods, $35,683,015; and malt liquors, $34,863,823. The most marked advances from 1900 to 1905 were in worsted goods (61.4%) structural iron-work (60%), and tin and terne-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 ships and steam locomotives 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, Johnstown, Duquesne, McKeesport, Sharon, Braddock and Dubois, also in the west part of the state and of Reading, Harrisburg, Steelton, South Bethlehem, Pottstown, Lebanon, Phoenixville and 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 railway cars to Altoona, Meadville, Dunmore, and repair of railway cars to Altoona, Meadville, Dunmore, Chambersburg, Butler and Philadelphia.

Transport and Commerce

The new road cut through the Juniata region in the march of the army of Brigadier-General John Forbes, against Fort Duquesne in 1758, was a result of the influence of Pennsylvania, for it was considered even then a matter of great importance to the future prosperity of the province that its seaport, Philadelphia, be connected with navigation on the Ohio by the easiest line of communication that could be had wholly within its limits. As early as 1762 David Rittenhouse and others made a survey for a canal to connect the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna rivers, and in 1791 a committee of the state legislature reported in favour of a project for establishing communication by canals and river improvement from Philadelphia to Lake Erie by way of the Susquehanna river. Before anything was done, the need of improved means of transportation between Philadelphia and the anthracite coal-fields became the more pressing. The Schuylkill Canal Company, chartered in 1815, began the construction of a canal along the Schuylkill river from Philadelphia to Mount Carbon, Schuylkill county, in 1816, and completed it in 1826. In 1818 the Lehigh Navigation Company was formed to improve the navigation of the Lehigh river from its confluence with the Delaware to Coalport, and two years later coal was successfully carried down the Lehigh and Delaware rivers to Philadelphia in " arks " or rectangular boxes, two or more of which were joined together and steered by a long oar. So prosperous was the business that in1827-1829the company built a number of locks which made the Lehigh navigable in either direction, and in1827-1832the state did the same for the Delaware between the mouth of the Lehigh and Bristol. The Union. Canal Company, incorporated in 1811, completed a canal from Middletown on the Susquehanna to Reading on the Schuylkill in 1827. In 1824 the state legislature authorized the 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 years the state committed itself to a very extensive system of 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 Columbia on the Susquehanna, a canal up the Susquehanna and the Juniata from Columbia to Hollidaysburg, a portage railway from Hollidaysburg through 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 the mouth of the Lehigh; considerable work had also been done on 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 burden of 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 condition there were bars in the Delaware river below Philadelphia which obstructed the navigation of vessels drawing more than 17-20 ft. of water, but in 1899 the Federal 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 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 side of the 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 Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago and St Louis through Harrisburg and Pittsburg; from Baltimore, Maryland, to Sodus Point on Lake Ontario (Northern Central) through Harrisburg and Williamsport; from Williamsport to Buffalo and to Erie, and from Pittsburg to Buffalo; the Philadelphia & Reading; the Lehigh Valley; the Erie; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; the Baltimore & Ohio; and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg.

The state has one port of entry along the Atlantic coast, one on the Ohio river, and one on the Great Lakes. Philadelphia, the Atlantic port, exports chiefly petroleum, coal, grain and flour, and imports chiefly iron ore, sugar, drugs and chemicals, manufactured iron, hemp, jute and flax. In 1909 the value of its exports, $80,650,274, was greater than that of any other Atlantic port except New York, and the value of its imports, $78,003,464, was greater than that of any except New York and Boston. Pittsburg ranks high among the interior ports of the country in foreign commerce and first among the cities of the United States in the tonnage of its domestic commerce. Erie is quite unimportant among the lake ports in foreign commerce, but has a large domestic trade in iron ore, copper, wheat and flour.

Population

The population of Pennsylvania was 434,373 in 1790; 602,365 in 1800; 810,091 in 1810; 1,049,458 in 1820; 1,348,233 in 1830; 1,724,033 in 1840; 2,311,786 in 1850; 2,906,215 in 1860; 3,521,951 in 1870; 4,282,891 in 1880; 5,258,014 in 1890; 6,302,115 in 1900; 7,665,111 in 1910. Of the total in 1900, 985,250, or 15.6%, were foreign-born, 156,845 were negroes, 1639 were Indians, 1927 were Chinese and 40 were Japanese. Nearly 95% of the foreign-born was composed of natives of Germany (212,453), Ireland (205,909), Great Britain (180,670), Poland (76,358), Austria (67,492), Italy (66,655), Russia (50,959), Hungary (47,393) and Sweden (24,130). Of the native population (5,316,865) 90.7% were born within the state and a little more than two-fifths of the remainder were natives of New York, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, New England, Delaware and West Virginia. Almost two-thirds of the Indians were in Cumberland county where, at Carlisle, is a United States Indian Industrial School. In 1906 the total number of communicants of different religious denominations in the state was 2,977,022, of whom 1,717,037 were Protestants and 1,214,734 were Roman Catholics. 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: Metho dist (363,443), Lutheran (335,643), Presbyterian (322,542), Reformed Church (177,270), Baptist (141,694), Protestant Episcopalian (99,021), United Brethren (55,574), United Evan gelical Church (45,480), Disciples of Christ (26,458), German Baptist Brethren (23,176), Eastern Orthodox Churches (22,123), Mennonites (16,527), Congregational (14,811), Evangelical Association (13,294), Friends (12,457), Church of God or " Winnebrennerians " (11,157), and Moravian (5322).

Of the total population in 1900, 3,223 ,337, or 51 1%, were urban (i.e. in places having a population of 4000 or more), 762,846, or 12.15%, were semi-urban (i.e. in incorporated places having a population less than 4000) and 2,315,932, or 36.75%, were rural (i.e. outside of the incorporated places). From 1890 to 1900 the urban population increased 854,730, or 36%, and the semi-urban 134,077, or 18.4%, but the rural increased only 55,195, or 2.4%. The populations of the principal cities in 1900 were as follows: Philadelphia, 1,293,697 Pittsburg, 321,616; Allegheny, 129,896 (subsequently annexed to Pittsburg); Scranton, 102,026; Reading, 78,961; Erie, 52,733 Wilkes-Barre, 51,721; Harrisburg, 50,167; Lancaster, 4 1 ,459; Altoona, 38,973; Johnstown, 35,936; Allentown, 35,416; McKeesport, 34, 22 7; Chester, 33,988; York, 33,708; Williamsport, 28,757; New Castle, 28,339; Easton, 25,238; Norristown, 22,265; Shenandoah, 20,321; Shamokin (borough), 18,202; Lebanon, 17,628.

Administration

Pennsylvania has been governed under constitutions of 1776, 1790 and 1838; the present government is under the constitution of the 16th of December 1873 with amendments adopted on the 5th of November 1901. An amendment to the constitution to be adopted must be approved by a majority of the members elected to each house of the general assembly in two successive legislatures and then, at least three months after the second approval of the general assembly, by a majority of the popular vote cast on the adoption of the amendment. All male citizens over 21 years of age, who have been citizens of the United States for one month, residents of the state for one year and of the election district for two months immediately preceding the election, have the right of suffrage, provided they have paid within two years a state or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least two months and paid at least one month before the election. The Australian or " Massachusetts " ballot, adopted in 1891 under a law which fails to require personal registration, by a provision like that in Nebraska makes it easy to vote a straight ticket; party names are arranged on the ballot according to the number of votes secured by each party at the last preceding election.

Executive

The office of governor, superseded in 1776 by a president and council of twelve, was restored in 1790. Under the present constitution the governor serves for four years and is ineligible for the next succeeding term. The governor and lieutenant-governor must be at least 30 years old, citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of the state for seven years last preceding election; no member of Congress or person holding any office under the United States or Pennsylvania may be governor or lieutenantgovernor. The governor controls a large amount of patronage, appointing, subject to the advice and consent of two-thirds of the senate, a secretary of the commonwealth and an attorney-general during pleasure, and a superintendent of public instruction for four years, and may fill vacancies in various offices which occur during the recess of the senate. He has a right of veto, extending to items in appropriation bills, which may be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house. His power of pardon is limited, being subject to the recommendation of three members of a board which consists of the lieutenant-governor, secretary of the commonwealth, attorneygeneral 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, weather service, assessments, industrial statistics, and railroads, canals, telegraphs and telephones. There are also many statutory administrative officials and boards, such as the adjutant-general, insurance commissioner, board of 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 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 metropolitan domination provision is made that no city or county shall be entitled to more than one-sixth of the total number of senators. Sessions are biennial. The 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 impeachment, while the House of Representatives initiates 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 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, quarter sessions of the peace and general gaol delivery, and the orphans' courts, although there are 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 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 1850 provided that all judges should be elected by the people.?

1 The constitution of 1873 made provision for minority representation as follows: " Whenever two judges of the supreme court are 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 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.

Local Government

The local government is a combination of the county system of the South and the township system of New England. The county officers are sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, registers of 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 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 1870 the people of Philadelphia were forced to contribute more than $20,000,000 for the construction of a city-hall. To guard against such encroachments in the future the constitution of 1873 imposed the most detailed limitations upon special legislation. The object of the provision, however, has been in a large measure nullified by the system of city classification, under which Philadelphia is the only city of the first class. The passage of the " Ripper Bill " of 1901 shows that the cities of the second class are by no means secure. The apparent object of the measure was to deprive the people of Pittsburg temporarily of the privileges of self-government by empowering the governor to appoint a recorder (in 1903 the title of mayor was again assumed) to exercise (until 1903, when the municipal executive should be again chosen by the people) the functions of the mayor, thus removed by the governor under this statute; and this act applied to the other cities of the second class, Allegheny and Scranton, although they had not offended the party managers.

Miscellaneous Laws

A woman's right to hold, manage and acquire property in her own right is not affected by marriage, but for a married woman to mortgage or convey her real estate the joint action of herself and her husband is necessary. The rights of dower and courtesy both obtain. When a husband dies intestate leaving a widow and issue, the widow has the use of one-third of his real estate for life and one-third of his personal estate absolutely; if he leaves no issue but there be collateral heirs or other kindred, the widow has the real or personal estate or both to the value of $5000, the use of one-half the remaining real estate for life, and one-half the remaining personal estate absolutely; if the husband leaves a will the widow has the choice between her dower right and the terms of the will. 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 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 absolute divorce are impotency, adultery, wilful or malicious desertion, cruel and barbarous treatment, personal abuse and conviction of any such crime as arson, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, kidnapping, larceny, murder, perjury or assault with intent to kill. Before filing a petition for a divorce the 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 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-respondent during the lifetime of the other party. A marriage of first cousins or a bigamous marriage may be declared void. Pennsylvania has no homestead law, but the property of a debtor amounting to $300 in value, exclusive of the wearing apparel of himself and family and of all Bibles and school-books in use, is exempt from levy and sale on execution or by distress for rent; and the exemption extends to the widow and children unless there is a lien on the property for purchase money. The 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 machines, in oiling dangerous machinery while in motion, at switch tending, as brakesmen, firemen, engineers, motormen and in other positions of similar character. The same law prescribes conditions under which children between fourteen and eighteen years of age may be employed in the manufacture of white-lead, red-lead, paints, phosphorus, poisonous acids, tobacco or cigars, in 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 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 week, or their employment there between nine o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning, except that in the factories requiring continuous 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 cotton, woollen, silk, paper, bagging or flax factory, or in any 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 establishment of the Western 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 Henry M. Hoyt the plans were changed and instead the Industrial Reformatory was. established at Huntingdon (opened 1889). The House of Refuge of western Pennsylvania, located in Allegheny in 1854 (act of 1850), became the Pennsylvania Reform School in 1872, and was. removed to Morganza, Washington county, in 1876. Few states have done so much as Pennsylvania for the humane and scientific treatment of its dependent and defective classes. Largely as a result of the efforts of Dorothea Lynde Dix, a hospital for the insane was established at Harrisburg in 1851 (act of 1845). A second hospital was opened at Pittsburg in 1853 (act of 1848), but the location was ruined by Pennsylvania railway improvements, and in 1862 it was removed to a new site about 7 m. from the city,. which was called Dixmont in honour of Miss Dix; the hospital is not a state institution, but the state provides for the maintenance there of patients committed by the courts or the poor authorities in the thirteen counties forming the western district. For three other districts three state institutions have been established - at Danville, 1872 (act of 1868), Warren, 1880 (act of 1873), and Norristown, 1880 (act of 1876). An act of 1901 established a homoeopathic hospital for the insane at Allentown. A distinction is made between hospitals and asylums. The asylum for the chronic insane is at South Mountain, 1894 (act of 1891). A state institution for feebleminded of western Pennsylvania at 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 blind at Overbrook and Pittsburg, and for the deaf and dumb at Philadelphia and Edgewood Park, an oral school for the deaf at Scranton, a home for the training of deaf children at Philadelphia, a soldiers' and sailors' home at Erie (1886), a soldiers' orphans' industrial school (1895) at Scotland, Franklin county, the Thaddeus. Stevens industrial school (1905) at Lancaster, hospitals for the treatment of persons injured in the mines, at Ashland (1879), Hazleton (1887) and Shamokin (1907), and cottage hospitals at Blossburg, Connellsville, Mercer and Philipsburg (all 1887). In addition to the institutions under state control a large number of local charities receive aid from the public 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.

Education

During the colonial period there were many sectarian and neighbourhood subscription schools in which the poor could receive a free education, but public schools in the modern American sense were unknown. The famous Friends' public school, founded in Philadelphia in 1689 and chartered in 1697, still exists as the William Penn charter school. An agitation begun soon after the War of Independence resulted in the creation of a school fund in 1831 and the final establishment of the present system of public schools in 1834. The attempt to repeal the law in 1835 was defeated largely through the efforts of Thaddeus Stevens, who was then a member of the state house of representatives. During the years1852-1857the educational department became a separate branch of the state government, the office of county school superintendent was created, the state teachers' association (known since 1900 as the Pennsylvania educational association) was organized, and a. law was enacted for the establishment of normal schools. Since 1893 the state has furnished textbooks and other necessary supplies free of charge, and since 1895 education has been compulsory for all children between the ages of eight and thirteen. Schools must be kept open not less than seven and not more than ten months in the year. Out of a total expenditure of $30,021,774 for the fiscal year 1909, $7, 8 75, 08 3 was for educational purposes, of which $6,810,906 was for common schools, being appropriations to the II counties. There is a biennial school appropriation of $15,000,000. In addition the district 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 national land grant had been appropriated to the use of the institutions; in1909-1910it had 147 instructors, 1400 students and a library of 37,000 volumes. Other institutions for higher education are the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia (1749), an endowed institution which receives very little support from the state; the University of Pittsburgh (1819), at Pittsburg (q.v.); Dickinson College (Methodist Episcopal, 1783), at Carlisle; Haveriord College (Society of Friends, 1833), at Haverford; Franklin and Marshall {German Reformed, 1853), at Lancaster; Washington and Jefferson {Presbyterian, 1802), at Washington; Lafayette (Presbyterian, 1832), at Easton; Bucknell University (Baptist, 1846), at Lewisburg; Waynesburg (Cumberland Presbyterian, 1851), at Waynesburg; Ursinus (German Reformed, 1870), at Collegeville; Allegheny College (Methodist Episcopal, 1815), at Meadville; Swarthmore (Society of Friends (Hicksites), 1866), at Swarthmore; Muhlenberg (Lutheran, 1867), at Allentown; Lehigh University (non-sectarian) 1867), at Bethlehem; and for women Bryn Mawr College (Society of Friends, 1885), at Bryn Mawr; the Allentown College (German Reformed, 1867), at Allentown; Wilson College (Presbyterian, 1870), and the Pennsylvania College for women (1869), at Pittsburg. There are theological seminaries at Pittsburg, the Allegheny Seminary (United Presbyterian, 1825), Reformed Presbyterian (1856), and Western Theological Seminary (Presbyterian, 1827); at Lancaster (German Reformed, 1827); at Meadville (Unitarian, 18 44); at Bethlehem (Moravian, 1807); at Chester, the Crozer Theological Seminary (Baptist, 1868); at Gettysburg (Lutheran, 1826); and in Philadelphia several schools, notably the Protestant Episcopal Church divinity school (1862) and a Lutheran seminary (1864), at Mount Airy. There are many technical and special schools, such as Girard College, Drexel institute and Franklin institute at Philadelphia, the Carnegie institute at Pittsburg and the United States Indian school at Carlisle (1891).

Finance

The revenues of the state are derived primarily from corporation taxes, business licences, and a 5% rate on collateral inheritance. Taxes on real estate have been abolished and those on personal property are being reduced, although the heavy expenditures on the new capitol at Harrisburg checked the movement temporarily. The total receipts for the year ending on the 30th of November 1909 were $28,945,210, and the expenditure was $30,021,774. During the provincial period Pennsylvania, in common with the other colonies, was affected with the paper money craze. From 1723 to 1775 it issued £1,094,650 and from 1775 to 1785 £1 ,172,000 plus $1,550,000. Acts were passed in 1781, 1792, 1793 and 1794 to facilitate redemption at depreciated rates, and the last bills were called in on the 1st of January 1806. The state was also carried along by the movement which began about 1825 for the expenditure of public funds on internal improvements. On turnpikes, bridges, canals and railways $53,35 2 ,649 was spent between 1826 and 1843, the public debt in the latter year reaching the high-water mark of $42,188,434. An agitation was then begun for retrenchment, the public works were put up for sale, and were finally disposed of in 1858 (when the debt was $39,4 88, 2 44) 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 Civil War (1861-65) the debt has been rapidly reduced. The constitution of 1873 and subsequent legislation have continued the commission, but the sources of 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 82,643,917, of which the greater part were 32 and 4% bonds, maturing on the 1st of February 1912. The sinking fund at the same date amounted to $2,652,035, leaving a net surplus in the sinking fund of $8118. The sinking fund was formerly divided among certain favoured banks in such manner as would best advance the 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 market price, and the debt is now being reduced by that method. The 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 kcommissioner of banking.

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 religion, and the fact that it was the largest and the most 7successful of proprietary provinces. The earliest European settlements within the present limits of the state were some small -trading posts established by the Swedes and the Dutch in the lower valley of the Delaware River in 1623-1681. Between 1650 and 1660 George Fox and a few other prominent members of the Society of Friends had begun to urge the establishment of a colony in America to serve as a refuge for Quakers who were suffering persecution under the " Clarendon Code." William Penn (q.v.) became interested in the plan at least as early as 1666. For .his charters of1680-1682and 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 decree of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, in 1750, settled the MarylandDelaware dispute and led to the survey in1763-1767of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland (lat. 39° 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 extension of the line and to the establishment of the western limit (the present boundary between Pennsylvania and Ohio) as the meridian from a point on the Mason and Dixon line five degrees of 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 strip of territory north of it on Lake Erie. A territorial dispute with Connecticut over the Wyoming Valley was settled in favour of Pennsylvania in 1782 by a court of arbitration appointed by the Continental Congress.

Upon William Penn's death, his widow became proprietary. Sir William Keith, her 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 James Logan, secretary of the province. His successors, Patrick Gordon and George Thomas, under the proprietorship of John, Thomas and Richard Penn, continued Keith's popular policy of issuing a plentiful paper currency; but with Thomas the assembly renewed its old struggle, refusing to grant him a salary or supplies because of his efforts to force the colony into supporting the Spanish War. Again, during the Seven Years' War the assembly withstood the governor, Robert Hunter Morris, in the matter of grants for military expenses. 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 1760 the assembly, with the help of Benjamin Franklin as 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 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 anti-proprietary power, and the assembly strove to abolish the proprietorship and establish a royal province; John Dickinson was the able leader of the party which defended the proprietors; and Joseph Galloway and Benjamin Franklin were the leaders of the anti-proprietary party, which was greatly weakened at home by the absence after December 1764 of Franklin in England as its agent. The question lost importance as independence became the issue.

In 1755 a volunteer 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 Armstrong of Carlisle surprised and destroyed the Indian village of Kittanning (or Atique) on the Allegheny river. But the frontier was disturbed by Indian attacks until the suppression of Pontiac's conspiracy. In December 1763 six Christian Indians, Conestogas, were massacred by the " 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 diplomacy of Franklin. The Paxton 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 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, 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 language is a corrupt German 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 Whisky Insurrection (17g4) 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 mother country was of vast importance. The British party was strong because of the loyalty of the large Church of England element, the neutrality of many Quakers, Dunkers, and Mennonites, and a general 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 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. The two Continental Congresses (1774, and 1 7751 781) 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 Princeton, New Jersey. In Philadelphia the second Congress adopted the 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 Brandywine (1777), Paoli (1777), Fort Mifflin (1777) and Germantown (1777), and Washington's army spent the winter of1777-1778at Valley Forge; and Philadelphia was occupied by the British from the 26th of 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 commonwealth in return for a grant of £120,000 and the 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 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 body, known as the council of censors, whose 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 place a university of the State of Pennsyl vania. 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 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 obligation of contracts. The state ratified the Federal Constitution, in spite of a powerful opposition - largely the old (state) Constitutional party - on the 22nd 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 capital was removed from Philadelphia to Lancaster in 1799 and from Lancaster to Harrisburg in 1812.

The state was the scene of the Scotch-Irish revolt of 1794 against the Federal excise tax, known as the Whisky Insurrection (q.v.) and of the German protest (1799) against the house tax, known as the Fries Rebellion from its leader John Fries. 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 broke up, many members going over to the Democratic house, which had 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-slavery sentiment, however, drew it in the opposite direction, and it voted the Whig national ticket in 1840 and in 1848, and the Republican ticket for 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 antiMasonic 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, Hancock, Meade and Reynolds and Admirals Porter and Dahlgren were natives of the state. Its nearness to the field of war made its position dangerous. Chambersburg was burned in 1862; and the battle of Gettysburg (July 1863), a defeat of Lee's attempt to invade the North in force was a turning point in the war.

The development of the material resources of the state since 1865 has been accompanied by several serious industrial disturbances. The railway riots of 1877, which centred at Pittsburg and Reading, resulted in the destruction of about two thousand freight cars and a considerable amount of other property. An organized association, known as the Molly Maguires, terrorized the mining regions for many years, but was finally suppressed through the courageous efforts of President Franklin, Benjamin Gowen (1863-1889) of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad with the assistance of Allan Pinkerton and his detectives. There have been mining strikes at Scranton (1871), in the Lehigh and Schuylkill regions (1875), at Hazleton (1897), and one in the anthracite fields (1902) which was settled by a board of arbitrators appointed by President Roosevelt; and there were street railway strikes at Chester in 1908 and in Philadelphia in 1910. The calling in of Pinkerton detectives from Chicago and New1690-1691-1691-16 931691-1693York to settle a strike in the Carnegie steel works at Homestead in 1892 precipitated a serious riot, in which about twenty persons were killed. It was necessary to call out two brigades of the state militia before the disorder was finally suppressed. The labour unions took advantage of this trouble to force Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, 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-Quay-Penrose political machine, and the attempts of the reformers to overthrow 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 1850) for the election of all judges by popular vote. The political organization founded by Simon Cameron and strengthened by his son, James Donald Cameron, Matthew Stanley Quay and Boies Penrose (b. 1860), 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 electors that it is necessary to vote the straight Republican ticket to save the protective system. Robert E. Pattison (1850-1904), 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.