Independence Hall
Independence Hall was built in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
beginning in 1732 and finished
in 1756. It was known then as
the Pennsylvania State House.
It is most well known as the
birthplace of the United States
for it was here that the
Declaration of Independence
was signed and the
Constitution of the United
States was debated and
signed.
Because it was the place where
our independence from Great
Britain started, the name was
changed to Independence Hall.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
In 1776, soon after the beginning of the American
Revolutionary War, the leaders of the war got together to write
a letter to the King of England. They wanted to explain why
they were fighting to be their own country, independent of
In the letter they explainedEngland.
that they believe that all men are
created equal, all men have some rights given to them by God,
and that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. They continued by listing all the bad things the
king has done to them and that because the king continues to
treat them so badly they must separate from England and
become their own country. Which will allow them to follow
the things they believe in and have the rights they feel they are
The bell tower of
Independence Hall housed
the bell that rang to call the
people to the first public
reading of the Declaration of
Independence on July 8,
1776. The bell is engraved
with the following words:
"Proclaim LIBERTY
throughout all the Land unto
all the inhabitants thereof.“
When ringing the bell in
memory of George
Washington's birthday in
1846, a crack expanded in the
bell and made it unringable.
Today, the "Liberty Bell" is on
exhibit in Independence
National Historic Park.
The liberty Bell is a well known
American symbol that represents
liberty.
Did You know????
July 4th is not the day the Declaration of Independence
was signed. It is the day Congress adopted the
document and had it printed so that it could be
distributed and read to the public.
None of the signers were present at that reading.
On July 19, Congress ordered the document to be written on parchment and all
Congress' members were ordered to sign it.
Most members signed it on August 2, with the rest signing on later dates bringing
the
total amount of signatures to 56.
George Washington did not sign the
Declaration of Independence because
he was busy fighting the British!
The Signers of the Declaration
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson,
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter
Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
We Won
the
WAR!!!!!
The Constitution of The United States of
America
After we won the war against the British ( American Revolutionary War) and
became our own country, it was decided that we needed to come together to
write up some rules for how the government of this new country should work.
The Constitution was written in 1787 by a group of men who came from all 13 states.
We call these men “The Framers.”
Little by little, the framers worked out compromises, and this is what they came up
with (but shorter and in simpler words):
We, the people of the United States, are writing this Constitution in order to have
justice, to have peace, to be able to defend ourselves, to be better off, and to be free not just for ourselves, but for all our children and descendants.
The Constitution is not perfect. When it was written, they
knew that it would have to be improved. The Framers added a
way to make changes. This is called an "
". The
Constitution has been changed 18 times since it was written.
Some amendments that were added are:
,
,
.