December 12 – Pennsylvania's Ratification Date


Posted on December 12, 2015


First, there were many different nations of native peoples, including the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Then, there were 13 British colonies, each with their own slightly different flavor, based on who had settled them, when and why.

At last, there was just one nation – the United States of America. The brand new nation had won its Revolutionary War against Britain – and so on the date of the war's end, there was a new nation with 13 states...right?

Not so fast...There was a failed attempt at a national structure under the Articles of Confederation, and then there was a Constitutional Convention, with lots of discussion, debate, and even arguments. And then there was the process of each of the 13 colonies-would-be-states deciding whether or not to ratify the finished Constitution.

It's only natural that some states voted to ratify more quickly than others. Pennsylvania, it turns out, became State # 2 when it vote to ratify the Constitution on this date in 1787.


What's up in Pennsylvania?

If you go to Pennsylvania, you can see the world's largest clothespin, the world's largest paint can, the world's largest Yogi Bear, and the world's largest shoe!






You can visit the Crayola Factory, SIX (count 'em, six!) potato chip factories, the factory where Peeps are made, and of course the Hershey Chocolate Factory.




The Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania, makes around 12 million crayons a day! Take a photo tour of this amazing place here. The factory tour, called The Crayola Experience, has a fun family vibe.





You can check out a bookstore that claims to be the oldest in the world that has been operating continuously, and you can visit the nation's oldest still-operational drive-in movie theater.



Some of the fantastic cities you can visit include:
  • Indiana (yes, it's a city in Pennsylvania!) - the childhood home of Jimmy Stewart – which is decorated every year in the theme of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. And Indiana County is called the Christmas Tree Capital of the World!


  • Bethlehem and Nazareth (again, yes, these are cities in Pennsylvania), home of the Peeps factory and of a famous guitar factory, respectively.

  • Centralia, which has been on fire ever since 1962 (an underground coal-mine fire – yikes!).
  • Punxsutawney, home of a famous groundhog named Phil. (Think Groundhog Day, seeing one's shadow, and six more weeks of winter.)

  • Kennett Square, the Mushroom Capital of the World. Mushroom farmers in the region produce more than a million pounds of mushrooms every week!

  • Pittsburg, with the amazing Cathedral of Learning.

  • Pennsylvania, home of the Liberty Bell.


Also on this date:



































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