Day 2- Walking Tour of Philadelphia

On the second day I went on a walking tour of Philadelphia!! Boy did I see a lot!! Instead of writing one solid piece, I decided to break it up into like minded things. Hope you enjoy:


I had yet another fantastic day learning more about America's history.  What I think makes me most interested aren't the common facts I can read in history texts, but the corrections to that history and the flaws and interesting parts to the men involved.

Today I went to Independence Hall here in Philadelphia.  I took this picture quite a distance away, but if you look closely you can see the people in front of it. It's a gorgeous old building.  It is most famous for being the place where both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were debated, created, and signed.   

Here is a video of the assembly room where the Declaration and Constitution were signed. (Not sure if this will work, internet is slow here) Will fix when possible :-) 

But another thing that many people DON'T realize, is that this area served as our nation's first capitol, while work was going on in Washington, D.C. to build it.  You can barely see a small side of the house on the right side of the Hall. That was the building that was used as our FIRST Congressional Hall. The Senate and the House of Representatives both met in that house.

One of the first tests of our country’s Constitution, was when Washington finished his second term.  Who was going to be president??  Would Washington give up power?  Thomas Jefferson and John Adams ran against one another, and Adams won just by 3%.  This was the FIRST time that our president was not elected unanimously. (Can you imagine that? A whole congress and country united behind ONE candidate?!)

If you go up into the upper part of Congress Hall, you will also see two huge portraits hanging up.  One is of King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.  Apparently to remind the United States of their friendship with France, they gave them portraits of themselves.  Isn’t that what you do with your friends??

After that we were off to the American Philosophical Society.

**Many phrases of speech we know today are relics of the past. Have you ever heard of the phrase "stand trial"?  Well in the 18th Century, when you were charged of a crime you actually had to stand the entire duration of your trial on a platform with bars all around it.