Historical Society of Pennsylvania Presents The Changing Faces of Independence: Pennsylvania in the 1800s

How has the makeup of who is an American changed since the American Revolution? How have the people in that changing face of America continuously reinvigorated and reasserted the founding ideals of the country? By examining the documents left by our ancestors in the time leading up to America’s 100th birthday, this display will ask those questions of their descendants. This exhibit draws on collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. It will be curated in partnership with ethnic and genealogical societies that seek to connect Americans to their ancestors through research, programs, and networking opportunities.

By the time of the nation’s Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia in 1876, enormous waves of German and Irish immigrants had arrived in Pennsylvania, and significant migrations of free and enslaved people of African descent had moved from the South, using the Underground Railroad and following Emancipation during and after the Civil War. What do the records of their lives suggest about how they saw their roles as Americans and as newly arrived Pennsylvanians?