Pennsylvania

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434 373 persons is nowadays the normal amount of people in a city. In 1790 it was the total population of Pennsylvania, and with 119,283 km² that would mean about 0, 3 km² for every person. Hundred years later the number of inhabitants was 5.3 million, and the increase did not stop there. In the year of 2000 Pennsylvania had a population of 12, 2 million people and is no less then on the 6th state in population.
Pennsylvania’s nickname is “The Keystone State” because of its placement between the Northeastern states and the Southern states, also for the reason that it’s linking the Atlantic seaboard and the Midwest. Pennsylvania is bordered by New York to the north and by West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey to the south. The state is bordered by Ohio in the west.
The Allegheny Mountains run from the Southwest to the Northeast, and the state is almost totally covered by mountains, ridges, plateaus and rolling hills located by valleys. No U.S. State is blessed with more deep and useful rivers. The most valuable is the Delaware, along Pennsylvania’s east border. The U.S. Congress admitted its importance for America’s economy by establishing the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. Pennsylvania is the home of many historical national capitals, such as Philadelphia (1776, 1777, 1778-1783, 1790-1800), Lancaster (1777) and York (1777-1778). Both Philadelphia and Lancaster has been the state capital of Pennsylvania, but nowadays it’s Harrisburg that holds the possession of the title. Harrisburg isn’t the largest city in population; in fact it is on the 11th place in the state. Lots of thing can happen over the next years so that position will probably not last, at least not if you look at earlier numbers.

History
In the very earliest Pennsylvania was home to the Delaware (or Lenni Lenape), Susquehanna, Iroquois, Eriez, Shawnee and other Native American tribes. However, that was before the area was settled by Europeans, and later became what was called New Sweden. The settlement of New Sweden was founded in 1638 and included parts of the states Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1655 the state area was incorporated to the New Netherlands colony, but it didn’t take long until the British reclaimed the area; only nine years after the Dutch’s conquest, the brother of Charles II stole the area from them.
The king of England, Charles II, granted a piece of area, which included present Pennsylvania, to William Penn in 1682. Charles II had a large loan with Penn’s father and solved that by giving the land to the younger William Penn. He founded a colony in the area and named it Penn’s Forest, which in Latin translates to Pennsylvania.
In the early 1700’s many German immigrants came to Pennsylvania making parts of the state mainly German speaking. You also talk about Pennsylvania Dutch, an accent of German that the Amish, for example, are speaking.
Pennsylvania was one of the thirteen states that revolted against British rule in 1776. That is called the American Revolution and two years after the revolution Pennsylvania ratified the United States Constitution making it the second state in America.
During the 19th and 20th century lots of industries was developed in Pennsylvania. Oil, steel and coal-manufacturing are only examples of the very important industries in the state.
Pennsylvania received immigrants from Europe in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. They came for work, and it wasn’t unusual with quarrels between organized labors and the state’s industrial concerns.

Philadelphia
....or Wiccacoa as Swedish settlers called the city was grounded
on October 27, 1682.The city was developed from scratch by William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia means “city of brotherly love” in Greek. Penn wanted the city to be a model to the philosophy of freedom and religious tolerance. The Declaration of Independence and the US
Constitution was drafted and signed in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. That makes the city one of the most important ones in America’s history. Philadelphia is the fourth most populous city in the United States with 1,470,151
inhabitants.

Did you know that...
... in 1946 Philadelphia became home to the first computer
... the first daily newspaper appeared in Philadelphia the year of 1784.
... the first American flag was made in the city by Betsy Ross

Grace Kelly
Have you ever heard of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco? Do princess, classic movie star and mother to princesses Caroline and Stéphanie ring a bell? Anyways it all started in Philadelphia, PA when Grace Patricia Kelly was born November 12, 1929. Her father John Brendan Kelly Sr. was a millionaire and had won a gold-medal in sport rowing at the Olympics. That made the family very important in the Philadelphia society, and her family opposed when she became a fashion model and got her breakthrough in 1951 with the movie “Fourteen Hours”. She became extremely
successful and won an Academy Award for her role in “The Country Girl” in 1955. Next year she made her last role as Tracy Samantha Lord in “High Society” as she married Prince Rainer of Monaco April 19, 1956. She was by reports surprised
to hear that Prince Rainer expected her to give up her career entirely, but followed his requirements. Prince Rainer and Grace had three children: Princess Caroline, born 1957, princess Stéphanie, born 1965, and the current ruler of Monaco, Albert II, born 1958. Grace lived a stressful life with lots of duties, but she never complained and even tried to take on more work! In her period as an actress she participated in 29 movies and lots of documentaries. Her life finished tragically tough: In September 13, 1982 she was taking a car trip with her youngest daughter Stéphanie. Grace suffered a stroke while driving and crashed the car. Stéphanie suffered no major injuries, but Grace went into unconsciousness and never woke up again… She was declared dead the day after the accident, and we’ll always remember the queen of actresses who became a real-life princess!

Amish
You didn’t have many choices as a 16th century Christian; either you belonged to the Catholic Church or to no church at all. Every infant in Europe were baptized as soon as they were born. In the churches only Latin was spoken, and as common person you had no chance of understanding that without good, and expensive, education. When the printing press was invented in 1455 it was the bible that was mass-produced first. Even tough illiteracy was wide-spread more people could now read and interpret the religion. Many people broke up from the Catholic Church, such as Martin Luther, and formed there own church. The reformation made the society more optional and everyone could join the church which stood for their own thoughts.
Menno Simons was born in Netherlands the year of 1496. When he was 40 years old he broke up from his church and joined the Anabaptist. They were a group of people that believed it to be wrong baptizing infants, and thought that every person should decide if they wanted to confess their faith. Soon after joined the group, Menno Simmons became their leader, and is so associated with them that we nowadays call them the Mennonites.
The Mennonites and Anabaptists became a persecuted group in the sixteenth century. By the 17th century many Mennonites joined the state church in Switzerland were they were located. Those who didn’t join were in a split whether to stay in communion with the others or not. Those against remaining in communion with them are known as the Amish.
The Amish was founded in 1693 and the name comes from the one who started it all: the Swiss bishop Jacob Amman. The Amish and the Mennonites both settled in Pennsylvania when William Penn wanted to experiment with the state’s religious tolerance. The first large Amish groups arrived in Pennsylvania between the 1720’s and the 1730’s.
The Amish don’t usually don’t use machines or other technologies that may seem obvious to us. The Bible doesn’t say anything about those things, and because of their strong faith they follow it very strictly.
Even though they split, the Mennonites and the Amish are very much alike in their beliefs concerning baptism, non-resistance and basic Bible-doctrines. They are different in the matters of dressing, technology, language, worshipping, and interpretation of the Bible.
Amish people speak an accent of German called Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German. The Amish call it Deitsch which means German in their language.
Rumspringa
As an Amish 16-year old you have the opportunity to do whatever you want for the first time. The first years as an Amish are strictly bounded, and you must follow the Amish beliefs at every time. In Rumspringa no one cares what you do; you make your own opportunities. You leave your family for almost a year and just live your life. By the time a year has gone you have to decide whether you want to stay in the “real world” or return to the Amish Community and become baptized. Either decision closes the other. If you
return you can never leave the Amish, and even worse, if you don’t return you can’t have contact with your family inside the Amish.

The Spirit of a Rose - a novel based on Rumpspringa
Imagine yourself on a green summer meadow. The sun is warming you and you feel totally safe. Surrounding you are millions of flowers and you could choose to pick any one you want. Pelargonium, tulip, poppy, lily. Everything could be yours, it’s up to you. You turn around quickly, and in the reflection of your eyes is a rose…

Some days I just want to scream. I live in the Amish society of Pennsylvania. Every day is the same, praying, working and going to school. You might think that I’m over exaggerating, but I’m not. We’re not aloud to do anything! I could run away if I wanted to, my family wouldn’t care. All they’re interested in is being faithful to God, and they expect every one else to think the same way as them. But I’m different! Well, of course I believe there is some kind of power from above, but what kind of power isn’t relevant. I can’t wait until next week when Rumspringa starts. This year it’s my turn to have the time of my life. I’ve heard lots of stories about the life on the outside. My older cousins told me they have machines and something called neon lights. The only modern thing here is a telephone for emergency calls. This week will go slow, but then I will show the world how life should be lived…


This is a copy of the last note in Katie Fisher’s diary. 12 months after this she decided not to return to the Amish community, and another three months later she was ruthlessly murdered by a serial killer in Philadelphia. It proves that things aren’t always as pretty as in your mind. Life is like a rose, it may look lovely, but its thorns will hurt you if you get a closer look…


Politics
In the U.S. every state has a governor that is a president with less area to take care of. As a governor you must have worked in the political world for a while to get used to the stressful life as a governor. Every fourth year there’s an election in the state where the inhabitants can vote for a
new governor. In the United States governors are directly elected which means that the new governor gets the majority of the votes by the people. In indirectly elections the inhabitants vote for electors that there-after has to choose their new leader.
As a governor in the U.S. you have certain privileges. The
governor authorizes death penalties if the state has that kind of punishments. In Pennsylvania three people have been executed since 1976 and 233 prisoners are awaiting their last meal.
I don’t think that Capital Punishment (death penalty)
is a good way of preventing crimes. I thought that
punishment was a way of teaching people that they’ve done wrong. If you get killed, how does that make you a better person? Instead of killing criminals you should have a program that teaches them how to become a better member of the society. A lifetime in prison isn’t exactly a good punishment either but I think it’s more fair than Capital Punishment.
The Democratic Party
In 1792 Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic - Republican Party. The party dissolved in 1828 and supporters of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the U.S., formed the Democratic Party. Nowadays there are two major parties in the United States: the Democrats and Republicans. The democrats has been liberal than its competitor since 1986. Bill Clinton is the most recent democratic president and he served between 1993 and 2001.
The Democrats political system is in my opinion very aware of the future. For example, they want to make effort in preventing crime rather than developing more penalties for it. That is great because it’s better with no crimes than having lots of prisoners. The Democrats have also stated that they will never stifle free expression and they are also against discrimination because of religion and ethnicity. Fighting against discrimination would be good, but hopefully it isn’t just a thing they say just to get votes in the elections. I think that every person in the world have the same value as all the others, but too many politicians have sadly a double morality, where they say one thing and act in another.
Since I don’t live in the United States I cannot judge them on my former experiences, so with my knowledge of them I think that the Democrats seem like a fair party.
Edward Rendell
Ed Gene Rendell was born on January 5, 1944 in New York City, New York. He served as a mayor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1992 to 2000 before running for governor in 2002. He became the 45th governor of Pennsylvania on
January 21, 2003 and was named America’s mayor by Al Gore, the Vice President of the U.S.between 1993 and 2001. Ed is a democrat and was considered running as Vice-president for John Kerry in 2004, but was eventually John
Edwards was chosen. Rendell is married to Marjorie Rendell, a federal judge. Together they have a son, Jesse, who was born in 1971. In 2006 a new governor will be selected by the
inhabitants in Pennsylvania. If Ed Rendell seeks for re-election, he might become guvernor again.

Weird laws in Pennsylvania- but are they really true?
•You may not catch a fish with your hands.

•Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.

•A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.

•You may not sing in the bathtub.

•Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass. If the horses appear skittish, the motorist must take his car apart, piece by piece, and hide it under the nearest bushes.

•Motorized vehicles are not to be sold on Sundays.

•It it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.

•You may not catch a fish by any body part except the mouth.

•Dynamite is not to be used to catch fish.

•One''''s pants may be worn no lower than five inches below the waist.

•It is required that a woman have a permit to wear cosmetics.

• You cannot walk backwards eating peanuts in front of the Barnstormers Auditorium during a performance.

• Horses are not to be tied to parking meters.


Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At first the team was called Pittsburgh Pirates, but changed name in 1941 to Steelers after the city’s prominent steel industry. The team has won many championships; the latest was this years Super Bowl watched by millions of Americans on national television.

The Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are another American football
team based in P...