State Library Provides Primary Sources to Learn about America250

The State Library of Pennsylvania invites you to engage with its unique collections and explore what Pennsylvania was like 250 years ago, when leaders gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 

Interact with primary sources selected from the collections of the State Library to illustrate various themes of Pennsylvania from its inception to about 1800. Through the lens of historical works such as Benjamin Franklin’s newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette, the publications of the period shine a light on what Pennsylvanians were thinking, feeling, and doing as our nation was forming. 

This project by the State Library of Pennsylvania is part of a larger initiative, America250, and its counterpart specifically for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, America250PA.

Explore more about the commonwealth in the colonial, revolution, and early republic eras on the State Library’s America250 digital exhibition webpage.