1.08.2012 – 1.08.2012  29 °C

Early start today because it is American Revolution day! We caught the free shuttle from our hotel down to Independence Hall (where everything began..). To go on a tour of the hall you need to apply for tickets. We were very fortunate because most people seemed to have slept in (owing to the wet weather) and so, on our tour there were only twenty odd people.

The tour began with us seeing the old Philadelphia court house where some of the first discussions about the revolution were held. Next over into the Hall of Congress where the first congress of the colonies of America were held. It was in this room that the founding fathers of America decided to rise up against the British and create their own free country. Why did the revolution occur? This was the main question that I wanted answered today… It sounds like it all came about because the British govt decided to increase taxes on the colony to pay for its ongoing wars with France and Spain. The first extra tax was the stamp act. A fairly innocent tax- every official document that needed to be rubber stamped (or actually stamped) would pay a small tithe to the British treasury.. By the sounds of it, this tax actually impacted every part of the colonies! Another more famous tax was the tea tax… we all know the outcome of this tax! Strangely enough the American colonists weren’t too happy about paying extra taxes (that they weren’t even consulted about) so this started the discussions with the British. Originally the plan of the founding fathers was to just get some sort of say in the British parliament- they didn’t want autonomy they just wanted a say in the way the American colonies were governed.

I guess, this is one of the key differences between the Au settlement and US settlement… most of the settlers to the US were free people who had come here to make a profit or to find a better life, whereas most of the original settlers to Au were prisoners… who of course had no say whatsoever in the running of the colony because they were serving time for crimes committed in Britain.

The British governors were not interested in the American colonists having some sort of say in the running of the colonies so eventually the colonies had to declare for Independence. George Washington was asked to run the armies of the rebellion (because remember the founding fathers had signed an act of treason).. Three years later, thousands dead, the American’s won their independence… It must be noted that without French military support (who blockaded the British navy into the Nth Atlantic) the rebels would probably have never won their Independence!

Today, the US has 52 states, at the time of Independence 13 colonies signed the Declaration—New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Nth Carolina, Sth Carolina, Georgia, . Thomas Jefferson is the author of the Declaration of Independence (although it was edited by every congressmen who attended the early congresses) and it really is a fairly inspiring document.. The first few words of the second paragraph still resonate with every American (and most tourists who read it—me included) “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”. America is one of the first countries in the world to truly embrace full democratisation of the govt (by this I mean that both the head of state and the parliament were elected by the people for the people).. It is interesting to note though, that the Senate wasn’t voted on by the general public til the 20^th C, similar to the President!

George Washington is usually referred to as the first president of the USA. He was not elected by the general population but was appointed by the first parliament after his excellent General ship of the armies. I say “referred to as first president” because during the War of Independence other men did occupy the leadership of the colonies but they weren’t the “president of the United States of America”. Like most fledgingly nations, it was a nation that was not really cohesive. This culminated in the secession of the Southern States in the mid 1800s. Even from the early founding of the country the differences between the Northern and Southern States was quite profound!

For example, Washington DC was created as a city because the Southern States wanted the capital to be located in Richmond or Charleston and the Nth States wanted the capital to be in Baltimore, Boston or New York. To compromise both sides agreed to build a new capital- Maryland and Virginia gave up some of their lands to build this capital- which was agreed to be its own territory so that no one state had control over the capital!

We headed out of Independence Hall and over to see the Liberty Bell. Hmm… what to say about the bell?… Well, its big, it’s made of copper and tin and it no workie anymore.. In fact, it has a huge split on one edge and hasn’t been in use (as a bell) since the 1840s. It is famous, because it was rung during the lead up to the revolution to tell congressmen to attend Indep Hall and to announce the Declaration of Independence. To be honest, its just a big bell—and it is pretty impressive how it has its very own museum complete with metal detection and security guards.. I mean, It’s a bell!!!!!

After spending some time looking at the bell (do you know that you can’t even get within a metre of the bell because of security) we headed into the main square to grab ourselves a sandwich. Right near the sandwich shop was a memorial to George Washington and his servants. Interesting point, George Washington owned slaves. One of the first laws that he signed was to enable servant’s owners to chase down and take back run away slaves. One of his own slaves ran away and he sent part of the army after his slave, so that she could be captured and returned as his property… Puts another slant on how wonderful George Washington was (or is venerated as)…

Next stop, we headed into Benjamin Franklin’s neighbourhood. Ben Franklin lived in Philly before and after the revolution and had his home and businesses not too far away from the Indep Hall. Benjamin Franklin the founding father is also the man who proved that lightening is a form of electricity—you know the man with the kite? I had no idea (til today) that it was one and the same person… I knew that they were both Ben Franklins but had never put two and two together to think that they may have been the same person!

Benjamin Franklin was also the man who first proposed fire insurance in Philly. The idea being that a group of houses would all pool money to be able to afford for a fireman to keep any eye on the houses. If the house burnt down, and was part of the cooperative, then the fire dept would attempt to save the house. Not insured? Your house would burn! He also designed houses to ensure they would be as fire safe as possible. He made his money as a printer (and ran the most successful printing business in Pennsylvania and also founded the US mail. Seriously, there weren’t many pies that hadn’t been touched by Mr Franklin. I never knew that the founding father was such a talented engineer as well as entrepreneur!

A couple of interesting anecdotes about B Franklin; his son was the Royal Governor of Pennsylvania so he tried very hard to find a diplomatic resolution to the issue of colonial governance. Eventually he had to choose one side over the other and his belief in freedom won out! Franklin was also the key diplomat for the rebellion. He is the person who went to France as an emissary and secured French involvement in the war (which ultimately turned the tide of the war with Britain).

Our day in Philadelphia concluded with a cold drink in a local watering hole, where we passed the time chatting to a local Irishman who works in the pub business.

Song of the Day– Bruce Springsteen, Streets of Philadelphia