Philadelphia

Although we had gotten to know a little about our friends Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe; we felt that something was missing. We needed to see the place where these Founding Fathers had all gathered and created “the grand experiment” called America—we needed to visit America’s birthplace, Philadelphia. Since Cathy was attending her nephew’s first birthday in North Carolina, I, Tom, made the trip on my own.

Philadelphia is about 140 miles from our home in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, an easy 2.5 hour trip up I-95. The Philadelphia historical area is bordered by the Delaware River and 7th Street (east to west) and Race Street and Spruce Street (north to south). Since I had lived in Philadelphia in the late 1980’s, I knew my way around. I originally intended to save money by parking on the street but was not able to find a legal spot, so I opted for a parking garage. All day parking just outside the historical area was $17.50.

My main goal was to visit Independence Hall, since that is the place where both the Declaration of Independence AND the Constitution were conceived, created, and signed. So I headed immediately to the Independence Visitor Center to get my free entry ticket. But I got distracted as I walked down Chestnut Street.

The Signer
In a small park on Chestnut Street, right next to the Second Bank of the United States, stands a larger than life statue of a man of the Colonial era. He is called The Signer and he holds a document high overhead in one hand and flourishes a quill pen in the other. It is a dramatic pose.
I have always been interested in this statue. Why? Because when I lived in Philadelphia in the mid-1980s, I was friends with a man who claimed to be the model for The Signer. To this day, I don’t know if he was telling the truth. But he could strike The Signer’s pose dead on. That, and the date of the statue (1980) made me believe that his claim could be true. So I’ve decided that someone had to be the model for the statue, so why not him?

Independence Visitor Center
Once I had taken the obligatory shots of The Signer, I scurried off to the Independence Visitor Center to get a mandatory ticket to Independence Hall. Tickets are issued that allow entry to 80 people every fifteen minutes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., roughly 2,500 tickets per day. When I arrived at the Visitor Center it was 11:30 a.m. and they were running low on tickets. My brief stop at The Signer might cost me. When I got to the ticket counter, they had but five more tickets--I had made it with seconds to spare. However, I would have to wait until 4:30 for the tour. But that was no problem; I was happy just to get a ticket. Plus there are plenty of other sites to see.

The Visitor’s Center has two small movie theaters, both of which I visited. One shows a 20 minute film called Choosing Sides. The film describes four young characters of the Colonial period who must make decisions about their loyalties: a patriot, a loyalist, a Quaker, and the last can only be described as the fence sitter (but I can’t be sure since I fell asleep and missed this part.) The second theater shows a 30 minute film called Independence. Hollywood director, John Houston, is the director. The film begins as a zombie show as several key figures from the Revolutionary era literally return from the grave: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Rush. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, is unjustly neglected and only has a cameo. For most of the film, the actors are bathed in a fog to represent the unholy act of the rising from the dead. Following the re-enactment of the signing of the Constitution, Ben Franklin returns to the grave with the mournful warning, “you have a Republic if you can keep it.”

Predidents' House
Just across the street from the Visitor’s Center is an open air exhibit on the site of the house that both Presidents Washington and Adams rented during 1790-1800 when the capital was in Philadelphia. They rented the house from Robert Morris, a wealthy patriot who sadly ended up in debtor’s prison. The exhibit sits atop the glass enclosed foundations of the original house, now 10 feet below street level. The house is but a five minute walk from where the Congress met in the Pennsylvania State House next to Independence Hall.

Strangely, the majority of the exhibit is devoted to the evils of slavery. I’m not sure why such an exhibit is located at that particular spot, but I guess it’s as good a spot as any to highlight this evil practiced by four of the first five presidents. The slavery exhibit focuses on the slaves owned by Washington and his wife, Martha. Under Pennsylvania’s “gradual emancipation” law at the time, slaves brought in from out of state could claim their freedom after six months. However, clever slave owners such as Washington, rotated their slaves out of state so that they could not claim their freedom. In addition, Washington signed the Fugitive Slave Act which required the return of slaves who crossed state lines.

One of the Washington’s slaves, a woman named Oney Judge, did manage to escape while in Philadelphia. President Washington had his steward, Frederick Kitt, run an advertisement for her capture. “Ten dollars will be paid to any person (white or black) who will bring her home….” (She was never caught and lived to a ripe old age in New Hampshire.)

Carpenter’s Hall
This relatively little known building is a must see. Not because of what it looks like, but because of the four major events that happened there. First, the First Continental Congress met here in the fall of 1774 to discuss their grievances against England following the passage of the so called Intolerable Acts. (The Intolerable Acts were a series of acts passed by Great Britain in response to the Boston Tea Party. These acts called for the closure of Boston Harbor, stronger control over the Massachusetts government, restrictions on the trials of royal officials, and quartering of troops in the homes of private citizens.) That Congress consisted of representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies. Georgia did not attend because they needed England’s help in dealing with their Indian problem at the time. This First Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Association, which restricted trade with England.

Second, in December of 1775, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, and Francis Daymon met with Julien Achard De Bonvouloir of France to discuss French military support for the Revolution. France, an avowed enemy of the British, was eager to assist the colonies. The meeting was held in tight secrecy because France, obviously, did not want the British to know of their possible involvement.

Third, in June of 1776, an “Extra-Legal Body” of Pennsylvania citizens declared the official Pennsylvania Assembly invalid and opted to join the other colonies in the fight against England.

And last, this building was the temporary site of the First Bank of the United States until the actual First Bank building was constructed a few blocks away. The original vaults still exist in the basement.

The building, which has been in continuous use for more than 230 years, still contains some original Windsor chairs from the First Continental Congress. The Carpenter’s Company, consisting of 180 professional in the building, engineering and architectural professions, still meets here.

First Bank of the United States
The First Bank of the United States is not open to the public so I could only admire it from the outside. The Romanesque building is a monument to Alexander Hamilton who fought hard for a national bank. The bank enabled the states to combine their Revolutionary War debt as well as create a common currency. The South resisted the notion of a Federal bank claiming it was unconstitutional. However, George Washington signed a bill chartering the bank in 1791.

Second Bank of the United States
Because the charter for the First Bank ran for only 20 years, it expired during the term of James Madison. It took another half decade and the accumulation of additional war debt (from the War of 812) to convince Congress to charter the Second Bank in 1816.

The Second Bank building, modeled on the Parthenon, was open. It is now a gallery containing the portraits of dozens of the major figures of the Revolution. A majority of the portraits are by Charles Wilson Peale but there are others by Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Sully. The building also contains a large statue of George Washington by William Rush. There is also a full length painting of Lafayette looking regal in his cape.

Old City Hall
The Old City Hall, located next to Independence Hall, housed the Supreme Court from 1791 until 1800. It looks much like the modern courtroom of today except for the prisoner’s box in the middle of the room. One of the park rangers remarked that many people think the first Chief Justice was John Marshall but it was, in fact, John Jay, the co-author of the Federalist. John Marshall actually argued a case here and lost. The only original furnishing remaining is the Chief Justice’s uncomfortable looking wooden chair.

Congress Hall (Old name: County Courthouse)
On the other side of Independence Hall is the County Courthouse, now called Congress Hall. It was in this building that Congress met for the first ten years of the new republic (1791 to 1800). Here also the First Bank of the United States was originally established (1791), the Navy established (1798), and the Alien and Sedition Acts passed (1798).

The House of Representatives met downstairs and the Senate met upstairs. The House of Representatives had a similar configuration to that of today with much room for mingling and listening to debates. The Senate Chamber upstairs is smaller but more impressive. The Great Seal of the United States, created in 1782, is painted on the ceiling. The eagle holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. The eagle’s head faces toward the olive branch, symbolizing the United States’ preference for peace while always being prepared for war.

Great Essentials Exhibit
In the west wing of Independence Hall is the Great Essentials Exhibit which contains original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. (I’m not sure what an “original copy” actually is.) The light is kept low to preserve the documents, making them difficult to view. However, it was nice to be so close to these historical documents. (No tickets are needed to view this part of Independence Hall.)

Independence Hall (Pennsylvania State House)
And then finally it was time to visit Independence Hall. All day I had been thanking my good fortune for snagging one of the last tickets for the tour. However, as I waited in the line to enter the building, I learned that the Park Service allows people without tickets to get in if the 80 person limit had not yet been reached during any quarter hour segment. During my tour, they let in about 50 people without tickets—so I could have easily scored a tour without a ticket.

Much of Independence Hall is original but it was reconstructed in 1828. It is currently undergoing renovation and the clock tower is covered in scaffolding.

The highlight of Independence Hall is the Assembly Room where the Second Continental Congress met from May 1775 until December 1776. In this room sat many of the same delegates as the First Continental Congress with the addition of such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. It was here that the Declaration of Independence was conceived. Our guide, Larry, said that Thomas Jefferson wrote ninety percent of the Declaration of Independence. (I was disappointed that he didn’t give credit to the other authors: John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Benjamin Franklin.) The Declaration was accepted here on July 4, 1776 and on July 8, John Nixon read the Declaration of Independence in State House Square (now called Independence Square). Following the reading the King’s coat of arms was burned.

That same summer, the Congress began work on the Articles of Confederation. This was a document that outlined the governing of the new states. It was put to the states for ratification in 1777 and passed by 1781. However, the Articles of Confederation was a weak document that only loosely regulated the states and did not allow for the collection of taxes. Without funding, the government could not operate.

In the summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 states met in this room to fix the Articles of Confederation. James Madison was successful in arguing that the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced and not amended. This gathering became known as the Constitutional Convention. Notables from past Congresses, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were absent. However, James Madison convinced George Washington to attend and Washington was quickly elected as president of this Constitutional Convention. He sat in what later became known as the Rising Sun chair. The term was coined by Benjamin Franklin who pronounced the carving of the half sun on the back of the chair as a rising rather than a setting sun, representing the rising of the American republic. On the 17th of September 1787, the Constitution was signed by the delegates and put forward to the states for ratification. (The ratification was completed by June 1788.)

Following the tour, I asked Larry, who is African American, “What is the most meaningful thing for you ”? He said the most important thing for him was the Founders’ ability to compromise to move the Constitutional process forward. They realized that they would have to compromise on slavery or no deal on the Constitution was possible. They had to do the same with state’s rights, although I believe these two issues are closely linked. Larry was also taken by the amendment process that allowed the Constitution to accommodate new information and interests.

Liberty Bell Center
Because the long line of earlier in the day had disappeared, I made a quick stop at the Liberty Bell Center. (Hint: you can actually view the bell from the outside the building through a special window designed for the purpose.) Inside, a series of exhibits describes the history of the Liberty Bell and how it had been subsequently used world-wide as an icon for freedom. During World War Two, the Liberty Bell icon was prominent on Liberty Bonds used to raise money for the war effort. The bell, with its prominent crack, is placed at one end of the Center and is constantly guarded by a National Park ranger. (The bell was attacked by a person with a hammer not long ago.)

Final Thoughts
On Slavery. It is the human condition to view history backwards rather than forward. But sometimes we should try to view it from the perspective of those we study so that we can better understand their viewpoint. So, to understand the actions of the Founding Fathers we need to look at history from their perspective, not ours. Each was born into a pre-existing culture and were shaped by it, just as we are by ours.

The institution of slavery—principally to provide labor for plantations—was deeply entrenched in southern colonies when the Founders were born and raised. The Virginians—Washington, Jefferson, and Madison—were raised in this slave dependent culture while John Adams, whose father was a Massachusetts preacher, was not. Although the Founders were outraged enough to challenge the intolerable yoke of British oppression, most had no similar outrage against slavery. Most seemed to be disturbed by it, but not profoundly. They were unwilling to challenge slavery in any meaningful way.

One very important thing to remember is that the delegates from the southern colonies were immovable in their support for slavery. All the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were aware that—in the near term—there would be no challenging the concept of slavery without also destroying the creation of the Constitution.

On Memorial Day. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, Larry reminded us that owe our freedom to George Washington and his soldiers. That is a good ending to this day.