Geography and Industry

The Appalachian Mountains pass right through the heart of Pennsylvania. With the Delaware River Valley helping form the eastern part of the state, Pennsylvania has everything from rugged mountains to smooth river bottoms.

But Pennsylvania isn't just a land of mountains and plains. It is also a land of large rivers. Along with the large and powerful Delaware (and the Susquehanna, which flows through the state and down into the Chesapeake Bay), Pennsylvania also has the mighty Ohio River, which begins in the western part of the state. In fact, the Ohio begins right in the middle of what is now the city of Pittsburgh! The city was originally the site of a fort built where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers merge to form the Ohio River. This is where Pittsburgh's once famous Three Rivers football stadium got its name!

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The Iroquois Language

Did you know that the Iroquois language has no sounds that are made with your lips pressed together? It's true! Their names for themselves, as well as the rest of their language, do not include sounds like “m,” “b,” or “p.” That is why they have names like Ho-de-no-sau-nee, and Hiawatha, and Thayendaneegeeah. Try saying these names without touching your lips together. Can you do it?

History

There were many powerful tribes of Native Americans living in what is now Pennsylvania before European settlement. These included the Delaware, the Suquehannock, and the Shawnee.

Many people don't know that there were more Europeans exploring and colonizing the New World than just the French, English, and Spanish. In Pennsylvania and neighboring New Jersey, two other countries struggled to control new colonies: the Swedish and the Dutch!

The Swedes were forced out by the Dutch, who were then forced out by the English. The Duke of York (the brother of the English king) gave Pennsylvania to an English Quaker named William Penn. Why did he just give all this land away? It's because he owed Penn money! So he gave away a colony that English soldiers had taken away from the Dutch a few years before. Penn asked for the land as payment of the debt, because he wanted to start a colony there for other Quakers.

Pennsylvania was very important during the American Revolution. Everyone knows that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. But do you know where it was signed? The Declaration of Independence was signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that place is now a national historical landmark. American and British forces fought a number of battles in Pennsylvania during the Revolution, at places including Brandywine and Germantown. Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia when the British army invaded Pennsylvania and captured the city. In order to keep an eye on the British, General Washington's Continental Army spent a terrible winter not far away, at Valley Forge.

Since the American Revolution, Pennsylvania has been an integral part of the Industrial Revolution. After all, the state is the site of the first oil well in the United States. It also has some of the largest coal deposits in the world. When the Industrial Revolution began, Pennsylvania was an ideal place for steel mills to spring up because the state had plenty of coal to power the mills. Men like Andrew Carnegie made millions from building up the steel industry, mostly in Pennsylvania!

You might know Andrew Carnegie's name because when he died he left most of his money to a fund that set up free public libraries all over the country. Many cities and towns that couldn't have afforded a library otherwise had one as a result of his generosity. Is there a Carnegie Library where you live?