Excerpt from Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History Pennsylvania justly merits the proud title, "The Keystone State." Her history more than her geography gave her commanding relations to the sister colonies clustered along the western margin of the Atlantic. Her great founder and first English owner, William Penn, is the noblest character in America's colonial history. In Pennsylvania every creed and every nationality was not only tolerated but welcomed. Her colonial life was more complex than that of any sister colony. To mould this life, so unlike in nationality, in religion, in civic ideals, and in industrial experience, into a unified people is one of the noblest records in the annals of any nation. To the credit of her people this was done without persecution and without coercion. Three great groups of people laid the foundations of the Commonwealth. The Quakers, under the great Penn, occupied the territory within a radius of thirty-five miles, giving themselves to commerce in Philadelphia and to agriculture in the fertile valleys of Bucks, Chester, and adjacent counties. Beyond these, in a zone fifty miles wide, settled the sturdy and patient Germans, giving birth to German-American literature, establishing Protestant missions among the Indians, tilling with signal success the fair acres of Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, Cumberland, and contiguous counties, founding the great textile industries of the Schuylkill Valley, and developing a home life unique for its strength and its simplicity. Beyond these, in the valleys between the Blue and the Alleghany Mountains, lived the sturdy Scotch-Irish pioneers, pushing the frontier to the Ohio Valley, repelling Indian attacks, provoking strife by their restless haste to penetrate the wilderness, and establishing churches and schools in every valley and upon every hill-top of the interior. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Keystone State, so nicknamed because it was geographically situated in the middle of the thirteen original colonies and played a crucial role in the founding of the United States, has remained at the heart of American history. Created partly as a safe haven for people from all walks of life, Pennsylvania is today the home of diverse cultures, religions, ethnic groups, social classes, and occupations. Many ideas, institutions, and interests that were formed or tested in Pennsylvania spread across America and beyond, and continue to inform American culture, society, and politics. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth is the first comprehensive history of the Keystone State in almost three decades. In it distinguished scholars view Pennsylvania's history critically and honestly, setting the Commonwealth's story in the larger context of national social, cultural, economic, and political development. Part I offers a narrative history and Part II offers a series of "Ways to Pennsylvania's Past" -- nine concise guides designed to enable readers to discover Pennsylvania's heritage for themselves. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth is the result of a unique collaboration between The Pennsylvania State University Press and The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The result is a remarkable account of how Pennsylvanians have lived, worked, and played through the centuries.

What stories do we tell about America’s once-great industries at a time when they are fading from the landscape? Pennsylvania in Public Memory attempts to answer that question, exploring the emergence of a heritage culture of industry and its loss through the lens of its most representative industrial state. Based on news coverage, interviews, and more than two hundred heritage sites, this book traces the narrative themes that shape modern public memory of coal, steel, railroading, lumber, oil, and agriculture, and that collectively tell a story about national as well as local identity in a changing social and economic world.

Excerpt from A History of Pennsylvania When historical societies for study and research in Pennsylvania history - local and general - are multi plying all over the State, no apology is needed for writing a book on the subject. Pennsylvania has a history of more than two centuries. It consists, like that 'of the other States which separated from Great Britiain to form the American Union, of a Colonial, a Revolutionary, and a Constitutional period. It has always been a part of another history: first of Eng land, and then of the United States. This is true, not alone in a nominal, but in a real sense. United States history, whether its political, social, or indus trial side, is of a composite nature. Every State helps to make it. The contribution of the thirteen original States is the greatest, because they have a Colonial and 'a Revolutionary history. In Pennsyl vania these periods are especially interesting and im portant, though they have been sadly neglected. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.