Birthplace of America

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA.

We left DC early in the morning and planned to arrive in New York by late afternoon, but with a short stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

Our trip had started with seeing the Musical, 1776.  We saw the original Declaration of Independence the next day at the National Archives.  And now, at Independence Hall, it was time to see where that document had been signed.

The assembly room where congress discussed, debated mightily and ultimately formed a new nation.

This piece is the only original wood work in the room.

George Washington sat in this very chair, "The Rising Sun Chair." Benjamin Franklin said he often sat in congress, looking at the sun on the back of the chair,  and couldn't tell if it was a rising or setting sun.  But as the constitution was being signed, he said he had "great happiness to know it was a rising and not a setting sun."

This is the house where Thomas Jefferson was living at the time he wrote the Declaration of Independence:

Carpenters' Hall, located right near Independence Hall, was the site of the First Continental Congress:

We saw the Liberty Bell, too.

Our Founding Fathers signed that Declaration knowing full well that doing so might lead them to the gallows for committing treason.

Later, George Washington called the drafting of the US Constitution, "little short of a miracle."

Both of these historic, miraculous, even divinely inspired events took place here.  It was sure neat to see it.

Our short three hour stop in Philly had come to an end.

New York, here we come!