" Even after
Philadelphia became quite a good-sized town, it had no poor-house,
for none was needed; everybody seemed to be able to take care of
himself.
When the Revolution began, the people of Pennsylvania and of the
country north and south of it sent men to Philadelphia to decide what
should be done. This meeting was called the Congress. It was held
in the old State House, a building which is still standing, and in
1776 Congress declared the United States of America independent of
England. In the war, the people of Delaware and New Jersey fought
side by side with those of Pennsylvania.
William Penn spent a great deal of money in helping Philadelphia and
other settlements. After he returned to England he was put in prison
for debt by a rascally fellow he had employed. He did not owe the
money, and proved that the man who said that he did was no better
than a thief. Penn was released from prison; but his long confinement
in jail had broken his health down. When he died, the Indians of
Pennsylvania sent his widow some beautiful furs, in remembrance of
their "Brother Penn," as they called him. They said that the furs
were to make her a cloak, "to protect her while passing through this
thorny wilderness without her guide.
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