The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 25, Number 4 | Page 34

The city of Philadelphia was the capital and largest metropolis of the British North American colonies and the
new United States. It was chosen as the site for the Continental Congresses, the capital of the United
Colonies / States during the War of Independence, and then the seat of the Federal republic. The city was the
political center of the newly independent country, the core of its social life, and in trade and commerce its pre
-eminent city. Not large by European standards, William Penn’s "Greene Country Towne" was a model of
simplicity, a fine city in the opinion of many foreign travelers of the period, who commented on its lovely
appearance. Many people thought it the most beautiful city in the United States, and compared it favorably
with Old World capitals. No matter where the were born or lived, virtually all of the Founders spent
considerable time in Philadelphia, and it was in that city where many of their leadership qualities were made
manifest.
Throughout this interactive day, we will connect with these men and women in the very locations where they
helped shape the destiny of a country, and the world at large.
Tentative itinerary:
0800:
Group departs from the Woodcrest PATCO Station
Sites
→ President’s House
→ Independence Visitor Center
→ Liberty Bell
→ Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier
→ Mikveh Israel Cemetery
→ Mother Bethel AME Church
→ Old Pine Street Church and Graveyard
→ Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
→ Old St. Mary’s Church and Graveyard
→ St. Peter’s Church and Graveyard
→ The Philadelphia Contributionship
→ Independence Hall
→ Congress Hall
→ Old City Hall / Supreme Court
→ Second Bank of the US / Portrait Gallery
→ Todd House
→ First Bank of the US
→ Carpenters Hall
→ Franklin Court / B. Franklin Post Office & Museum
→ Christ Church
→ Elfreth’s Alley
→ Betsy Ross House
→ Christ Church Burial Ground – Ben Franklin’s Grave
1600:Group returns to the Woodcrest PATCO Station
Historical Figures to be Studied
→ Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, Henry Knox, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Haym
Salomon, Benjamin Franklin, George Meade, Stephen Moylan, John Barry, Thomas Fitzsimons, Dolley
Madison, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Stephen Decatur, Nicholas Biddle, Andrew Jackson, Richard Allen, Rebecca
Gratz, Benjamin Nones, Samuel Adams, Francis Lightfoot Lee, John Hancock, Roger Sherman, Richard
Stockton, James Wilson, William Livingston, William Paterson, Robert Morris, James Monroe, James
Madison, Betsy Ross, John Marshall, Aaron Burr, Henry Clay, Patrick Henry, Soldiers and Patriots
Known & Unknown
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