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Famous People From Pennsylvania

Fri, 12 May 2006 08:50:51 -0000

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Mining (from Pennsylvania) -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia

Mon, 01 May 2006 19:05:18 -0000

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Mining

Coal is by far the most valuable mineral in the state.

This soft coal is used largely by mills and factories and electric-power plants.

Cement is the second most valuable mineral. Most of it comes from Northampton and Lehigh counties. The Keystone State ranks after Texas and California in cement production. Third in value is stone. Limestone is quarried primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has valuable deposits of petroleum. The first commercial oil well in the United States was drilled at Titusville by Edwin L. Drake in 1859. Today the richest oilfields are in McKean, Warren, Venango, Elk, and Forest counties. This northwestern corner of the state also yields natural gas. Sand and gravel are found in many parts of the state.

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Agriculture (from Pennsylvania) -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia

Mon, 01 May 2006 19:02:49 -0000

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Agriculture

Pennsylvania has many fertile valleys suitable for farming. There are about 56,000 farms in the state, totaling nearly 7.8 million acres (3.2 million hectares). The average farm size is about 150 acres (61 hectares). Lancaster is the state's richest agricultural county and the top ranked county east of the Mississippi in market value of products sold.

About three fourths of the farm income is derived from livestock and poultry and their products. Milk is the chief agricultural product. Cattle and calves are next in value. Pennsylvania ranks number two among the states in egg production and number three in chicken production. Pigs and turkeys are also raised.

Hay, the leading crop, is grown throughout the state. Corn, wheat, and oats rank high in value. Truck crops and potatoes are grown in the southeast and northwest, and apples are grown in Adams County. Lancaster County produces cigar-leaf tobacco. Chester County grows many mushrooms, making Pennsylvania first in the country for mushroom production. It ranks among the top five states in the production of apples, grapes, and peaches.

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Manufacturing (from Pennsylvania) -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia

Mon, 01 May 2006 18:58:49 -0000

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Manufacturing

Pennsylvania has long been one of the great manufacturing states of the nation. The value of its manufacturing is more than eight times the combined income from its farms, mines, forests, and fisheries.

Only New York, Ohio, and California have more industrial workers than Pennsylvania, which has 22 percent of its workers employed in factories and mills. New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and Ohio are the only states that outrank Pennsylvania in value added by manufacture. Industries are unevenly distributed around the state, with the largest concentrations around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The Keystone State's high rank in manufacturing is due mainly to its access to raw materials.

Pennsylvania limestone and coal from both Pennsylvania and West Virginia to the furnaces. The processing of iron and steel led to the growth of many other industries that use these metals.

Pennsylvania is a leading state in the production of primary metals. Blast furnaces, steel mills, and foundries, however, no longer make up the most valuable industry in the state. Most of the steelworks are in the Pittsburgh area. A huge steel mill near Morrisville began operation in 1952.

Today first place in value is held by the processing of food and food products. Dairy products, beverages, bakery products, and candy are the largest items in this group. Other valuable industries are the production of nonelectrical and electrical machinery, fabricated metal products, electronic equipment, and chemicals and allied products. Major industries also include clothing

stone, clay, and glass products; printing and publishing; precision instruments; and the manufacture of transportation equipment.

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Natural Resources (from Pennsylvania) -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia

Mon, 01 May 2006 18:55:56 -0000

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Natural Resources

Pennsylvania has a wealth of natural resources for industry. Anthracite and bituminous coal, as well as petroleum and natural gas, supply great amounts of fuel for manufacturing. Deposits of limestone are useful in making steel and cement.

The conservation of water resources is particularly important, since the state uses about 16 billion gallons (61 billion liters) of water a day. About four times this amount is used to generate electricity at power plants, especially along the lower Susquehanna.

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Thomas Paine

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:20:42 -0000

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The author of the American Revolution and a strong Abolitionist, Thomas Paine was a political writer who dared to ask the questions that were punishable by death. He was as much defiant of the Monarch powers that hunted him down as he was defiant of the religious powers that ostracized him from civilization. When Paine was only eight years of age, he immediately began to doubt the Bible. He had heard a sermon on atonement; the sermon described how god had murdered his only son to revenge himself when there was no other way. Upon hearing this appalling doctrine, this child of innocence and beauty -- the young Thomas Paine -- became an infidel and disagreed with the Bible. From these bright, inquisitive beginnings in childhood, Thomas Paine made great strides for the advancement of Rationalism.

Thomas Paine is heroically known for writing the influential pamphlet Common Sense. Over 500,000 copies were distributed. Through the wonderful use of language, Paine was capable of grasping the passions of every colonist and revitalizing their natural desire for freedom and liberation. The colonies were the yoke of an Imperialist reign that had wealth as the only end in mind. As the kings, queens, and princes trampled over the rights of their own citizens, thinkers arose who would come to oppose the rule of these tyrants. The most impressive of these thinkers was Thomas Paine.

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Thomas Paine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:17:56 -0000

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Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809), intellectual, scholar, revolutionary, deist and idealist. A radical pamphleteer, Paine anticipated and helped foment the American Revolution through his powerful writings, most notably Common Sense, an incendiary pamphlet advocating independence from Great Britain.

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Thomas Paine

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:11:25 -0000

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THOMAS PAINE

On January 29, 1737, Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. His father, a corseter, had grand visions for his son, but by the age of 12, Thomas had failed out of school. The young Paine began apprenticing for his father, but again, he failed. So, now age 19, Paine went to sea. This adventure didn't last too long, and by 1768 he found himself as an excise (tax) officer in England.

His career turned to journalism while in Philadelphia, and suddenly, Thomas Paine became very important. In 1776, he published Common Sense, a strong defense of American Independence from England. He joined the Continental Army and wasn't a success as a soldier, but he produced The Crisis (1776-83), which helped inspire the Army.

he died on June 8, 1809 at the age of 72 in New York City.

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William Penn

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:08:12 -0000

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When William Penn left England on his first voyage to Pennsylvania,his head was full of visions and hopes for this new Land of Promise "six hundred miles nearer the sun." He wanted to see if he and his fellow Quakers could establish here a new society based on wider freedoms than the Old World knew; and he wanted also to see whether it was true, as he thought, that men and women were better and happier for this freedom.

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PHMC: Pennsylvania Capital

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:06:58 -0000

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Harrisburg has been the capital of Pennsylvania since 1812, by an act approved on February 21, 1810. Philadelphia and then Lancaster were earlier capital cities.

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William Penn, by Bill Samuel - QuakerInfo.com

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:03:05 -0000

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William Penn (1644-1718) is surely one of the best known of Friends from the early years of Quakers. He was born and spent most of his life in England, but is noted for the role he played in early American history. There are a number of different aspects of Penn's life that are noteworthy

Penn was interested in matters of the spirit from his childhood. At the age of twelve he heard a traveling Quaker minister, Thomas Loe. Penn was apparently reached by the message that Loe brought. Penn sought the authentic Christian message, not institutional religion.

When Penn was 16, his father sent him to Oxford University. There he rejected Anglicanism and attended unauthorized prayer meetings. He was expelled for his religious nonconformity. His father then sent him to a Protestant college in France, where he completed his education.

At the age of 23, Penn again crossed paths with Thomas Loe and became a Friend (Quaker).

One of the things Penn is best known for is being proprietor of the colony of Pennsylvania. In 1681, Penn and 11 other Quakers bought the proprietary rights to East New Jersey. In payment for a debt King Charles II owed his father, Admiral Sir William Penn, Penn persuaded the king to grant him a vast province on the west bank of the Delaware River. It was named Pennsylvania, which means Penn's woods, after his father.

Penn and the Quakers provided a relatively enlightened government. The penal system was designed to reform not just punish, all prisoners except capital prisoners were entitled to bail, work houses were substituted for dungeons, and the the death penalty was limited to murder and treason instead of the 200 crimes in England. Public education was available for all children. Penn designed Philadelphia and other towns with a grid pattern of streets, buildings and public squares to promote health and fire safety.

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Introduction

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:59:23 -0000

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William Penn, Proprietor

William Penn is known, of course, as the founder of Pennsylvania. He is also known as a famous Quaker and for his 'Great Treaty' with the Delaware. What is 'known' however, is often obscured by myth. For example, Penn did not name his colony after himself (as he feared would be assumed), but after his recently departed father. He had wanted to call the colony 'New Wales' or 'Sylvania' but King Charles II intervened, suggesting instead 'Pennsylvania'. It was the father after all, who left Penn his wealth, including the King's debt to him--which Charles II paid in full with a hefty chunk of New World land. Also, Penn only became a Quaker in his twenties, shortly after posing for his only painted portrait--the one with the lad in a full suit of armor. Peace-loving indeed. Yet peace is what he was loved and memorialized for, especially for his treaty with the Leni Lenape (Delaware). "I desire to gain your Love annd Friendship by a kind, Just and Peaceable Life" he wrote to them from England. And he followed up with that desire with his "holy experiment."

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Quick Biography of Benjamin Franklin

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:56:06 -0000

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Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. In all, Josiah would father 17 children.

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Benjamin Franklin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:47:26 -0000

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Benjamin Franklin (

One of the earliest Founders, Franklin was noted for his curiosity, writings, ingenuity and diversity of interests. His wise and scintillating writings are proverbial to this day.

As an agent in London before the Revolution, and Minister to France during, he more than anyone defined the new nation in the minds of Europe. His success in securing French military and financial aid was the turning point for American victory over Britain. He invented the lightning rod; he was an early proponent of colonial unity; historians hail him as the "First American".

Born in Boston, Massachusetts to a tallow-maker, Franklin learned printing from his older brother and became a newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, becoming very wealthy. He spent many years in England and published the famous Poor Richard's Almanack and the Pennsylvania Gazette. He formed both the first public lending library and fire department in America as well as the Junto, a political discussion club.

He became a national hero in America when he convinced Parliament to repeal the unpopular Stamp Act.

Franklin was interested in science and technology, carrying out his famous electricity experiments and invented the Franklin stove, medical catheter, lightning rod, swimfins, glass harmonica, and bifocals. He also played a major role in establishing the higher education institutions that would become thee University of Pennsylvania and the Franklin and Marshall College. In addition, Franklin was a noted linguist, fluent in five languages.

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Pennsylvania population map.png: Information From Answers.com

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 14:31:06 -0000

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pa.gif (GIF Image, 907x638 pixels) - Scaled (88%)

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 14:23:29 -0000

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Pennsylvania: Economy

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 14:15:37 -0000

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Economy

Iron smelting, made possible by abundant supplies of ore and of hardwoods for the furnaces, became important in the 18th cent. In the 19th cent., after the Bessemer process made the use of its great bituminous deposits economical, Pennsylvania quickly emerged as the nation's leading steel producer, but the industry has since declined dramatically.

nother Pennsylvania resource, anthracite coal, found in the northeast, long made the state a dominant force in American railroading. Heavy industry has declined in general, but the state still manufactures metal products, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, machinery, chemicals, and a wide variety of plastic, rubber, stone, clay, and glass products.

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

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Monongahela River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:43:49 -0000

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The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the United States. At Pittsburgh, it meets the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River.

The Monongahela Valley was the site of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Earlier, it was the site of a famous, if small battle that was one of the first in the French and Indian War (Braddock Expedition). It resulted in a sharp defeat for British and Colonial forces against those of the French and their Native American allies.

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Ohio River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:42:33 -0000

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The Ohio River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, 1,579 km (981 mi) long in the eastern United States.

Of great significance in the history of North America dating from the time of the Native Americans, the river was a primary transportation route during the westward expansion of the early U.S. It flows through or along the border of six states, and its watershed encompasses 14 states, including many of the states of the southeastern U.S. through its largest tributary, the Tennessee. During the eiighteenth century it was the southern boundary

The river is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at The Point of Pittsburgh. From Pittsburgh, it flows to the northwest through western Pennsylvania, before making an abrupt, almost 180 degree, turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia state line, from which point it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio. The river then follows a roughly southwestern and then western course between Kentucky and Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois until it joins the Mississippi from the east at Cairo, Illinois. [1]

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Susquehanna River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:40:14 -0000

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The Susquehanna River is a river in the northeastern United States. At approximately 410 mi (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the American East Coast. The Susquehanna forms from two main branches, with the North Branch, which rises in upstate New York often regarded as an extension of the main branch. The shorter West Branch, which rises in western Pennsylvania, is sometimes regarded as the principal tributary, joining the Norrth Branch near Sunbury in central Pennsylvania. The river drains a large watershed within the Allegheny Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains, cutting through water gaps in the lateral mountain ridges in a broad zigzag course to flow across the rural heartland of southeastern Pennsylvania, emptying in the north end of the Chesapeake Bay.

In the 18th century, William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania Colony, negotiated with the Lenape to allow white settlement in the colony between the Delaware River and the Susquehanna. Local legend claims that the name of the river comes from an Indian phrase meaning "mile wide, foot deep," referring to the Susquehanna's unusual dimensions, but while the word is Algonquian, it simply means "muddy water."

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