Issue  No. 7

Summer 2006

The Newsletter of the Department of History at Manhattanville College
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     PHILADELPHIA STORY          The Annual History Department     Field Trip, 2006

The History Department's 2006 annual field trip saw a hardy group of 25 students, faculty and staff departing campus early in the morning of Saturday March 23rd bound for one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in the United States, the City of Brotherly Love, also known as Philadelphia.  Founded and developed in 1682 by William Penn, a Quaker, Philadelphia was a planned city founded on principles of freedom and religious tolerance.  During most of the 18th century, it was the second largest English speaking city in the world after London, the most populous city of England’s North American colonies, and the second capital of the newly United States.  Throughout that time, it eclipsed Boston and New York City in political and social importance, with Benjamin Franklin playing an extraordinary role in Philadelphia's rise.   Our trip’s itinerary focused in particular on Independence National Historical Park,  which preserves several sites associated with Philadelphia’s importance as a major center of the independence movement during the American Revolutionary War and comprises much of the historic area of downtown (or "Center City"). 

The stately (yet unfortunately closed for repairs) Declaration House, in which Thomas Jefferson is believed to have substantially drafted the Declaration of Independence, was our first brief stop, after which we braved both rain showers and extraordinary security procedures to visit the iconic Liberty Bell, which these days is housed in its own glass and steel Liberty Bell Center. Its most famous ringing, on July 8, 1776, summoned citizens for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress. Previously, it had been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress, in 1774, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord, in 1775.  It was originally cast in 1752 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, for use in the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall).

A National Park Service ranger-guided tour of Independence Hall itself, directly across the street, was our next stop. Originally built and inhabited by the colonial government of Pennsylvania as their State House, it later served as the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783. The Declaration of Independence was approved here on July 4, 1776, though it had actually been voted for two days earlier, and read aloud in the area now known as Independence Square.  The Unitied States Constitution was drafted in this  building and signed in 1787.  

Beyond Independence Hall itself, perhaps the most intriguing building that we visited within the National Historic Park complex was Congress Hall, in which both houses of Congress met during Philadelphia’s brief tenure as the new nation’s capital from 1790 to 1800.  The restored two-story building was constructed for the House of  Representatives chamber on the lower floor and the much plusher Senate chamber directly above it.  In 1793, President George Washington was inaugurated here for a second term. Four years later, in a precedent-setting ceremony in the House of Representatives chamber, the reins of power were passed from Washington to John Adams.   Perhaps most importantly, the Bill of Rights was ratified while Congress met in these rooms.

After various quick stops for sustenance and other necessities, we  found our way next to a building less famous but arguably just as fraught with historical significance as any other in Philadelphia; Carpenters’ Hall, a beautiful Georgian structure owned and operated by the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia since 1770. This organization, embodying the legacy of the European medieval guild system, was founded in 1724 and remains the oldest extant trade guild in the United States. It’s at Carpenters' Hall that the First Congress of the United Colonies of North America—the First Continental Congress--met from September through October of 1774. The building also has a long history as an assembly place and has been the home to numerous tenants in the arts, sciences and commerce. Many famous institutions met in Carpenters' Hall: Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society, the First and Second Banks of the United States.  We also learned that it was on the buildings upper floor that revolutionaries, including Benjamin Franklin,negotiated secretly with envoys from France to secure that country’s allegiance and recognition.  

Our next stop was for many of us unexpectedly interesting and impressive: a bank. Modeled on the Parthenon in elaborate Greek Revival style, the Second Bank of the United States, which was chartered by President Madison  in 1816 with a charter lasting 20 years and presided over by Nicholas Biddle, an urbane Phialdelphian .  In the late 1820s a titanic clash erupted between Biddle and President Andrew Jackson over the Bank.  Jackson and his Democratic Party supporters (primarily farmers, Westerners, and state bankers) argued that  there was a serious threat to the democratic republic posed by the Bank’s unaccountable  economic power. Ultimately Jackson triumphed when he vetoed Congress's 1832 re-charter. Jackson considered his 1832 re-election victory  a mandate of his anti-bank policy the bank ceased to function in 1836.  From 1845 to 1935 the building served as the Philadelphia Customs House. Its barrel-vaulted structure and graceful Ionic columns are now a museum and home to an extraordinary Portrait Gallery of revolutionary heroes and Federal statesmen, signers of the Declaration and Constitution, military men and foreign emissaries.  Many of the works were painted by Charles Willson Peale, the foremost portraitist of his day. Other artists include James Sharples and Thomas Sully.  

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Senior Evaluation Projects, 2006

Ahearn, Brendan. The Recipe for Conspiracy [JFK Assassination Conspiracies' Appeal].
Baldini, John. The Turning Point: D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Baran, David.  Attaturk.
Benziger, Michael.  A History of California Winemaking.
Chrapala, Jay.  A History of Surfing.
Court, Liana From Sicily to New York: The Experience of a Southern Italian Woman, Illustrated through a Case Study of Maria Batolutta Miuccio.
D'Alora, Michael R.  The Civil War & the Battle of Gettysburg; the Three Days that Saved America.
Dancer, Barry. James Longstreet: A Scapegoat Redeemed.
Franek, John. Sport's Influence on the American Public.
Garcia, Christie-Belle, Exile of “Baby Doc” Duvalier:  The Missed Opportunity.
Gunderson, Susan.  Henry Wirz; Scapegoat for Civil War Crimes at Andersonville.
Hagen, Paul B.  Ceranic Civilization; How Clay Shaped Society.
Hall, Sara Elizabeth.  The Desegregation Struggle in the United States; A Study of Attitudes, People, Movements, and Court Cases During the Time Period of  1940-1965.
Hiller, Sean.  The Indian Slave Trade; The Forgotten Slave Trade.
Hoffart, Steve.  Farming the Prairies: The Story of the Hoffart Family Farm.
Hooks, Julina. African America; Visions of a Forgotten Past.
Kennaugh, Jess.  The Chaging Role of Teachers in the United States 1950-2000.
Landin, Devin.  Kensico: Westchester’s Lost Village.
Loughlin, Sheena.  The Turning Point; The Role of the Tet Offensive in the De-escalation of the Vietnam War.
Maier, Melissa.  The Genius of Hitler.
Miller, Christopher.  The Machiavellian Condition in  Modern History.
Pugliese, Michelle.  Mexico’s Educational System in Historical Perspective.
Reichelt, Jamie.  History in Motion [History of Dance in 20^th century America]
Resch, Tyler.  Canada's 20th-Century Military History.
Rivera, Dene.  A Night at the Abbey; A Play and Historical Exploration  [Performed at            Westchester Community College, Valhalla, N.Y., April 29, 2006]
Rodriguez, Ryan.  The Battle of Gettysburg & its Effect on American History.
Schimmel, Steven.  A Brief Examination of American Foreign Policy in Selected Central American Countries During the Cold War.
        Sheil, Diana.  A Pirate Affair: America in the Barbary Wars, 1801-05.
Tompkins, Andrew.  German Nationalism and Anti-Semitism Between 1870 and 1945.
Vivolo, Angelina J.  Twentieth Century America as Revealed by Changing Women’s Fashion.
Wood, Joseph.  Government Use of Television for Wartime Propaganda and its Social Effects on the American People.

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A short walk just a few blocks to Market Street brought us to Franklin Court, which today contains restorations of five buildings, three of which Benjamin Franklin had built as rental properties, as well as a printing office and an operating post office and postal museum.  Franklin Court also contains a steel "ghost structure" outlining the site where Franklin's own house once stood. Underground is a museum with all manner of “Franklinalia”: displays, interactive (but not quite fully operative) exhibits, and a remarkable live musical performance on one of Franklin’s oddest yet strangely evocative inventions, the glass armonica.

The final stop on our itinerary was the remarkable Christ Church, constructed between 1727 and 1744 and considered one of the nation's most beautiful surviving 18th century buildings. The baptismal font where William Penn was baptized was sent to Philadelphia in 1697 from London and is still in use in the church.  Christ Church's congregation included fifteen signers of the Declaration of Independence. Revolutionary War leaders who attended services here include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris and Betsy Ross; the pews where they sat are indicated with small plaques and American flags.  Reverend William White, rector of Christ Church, served as Chaplain to both the Continental Congress  and to the United States Senate.  Christ Church is also the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church in the United States. In September of 1785, deputies from several states met in Christ Church and organized as a general convention, of which White was chosen president. He prepared a draft constitution for the church and was also largely responsible for the first American Book of Common Prayer (1789).

By early evening, with darkness quickly descending, most of us were more than ready for dinner.  Not for us any modern convenience food, however.  Culinary history was on the menu!  At the reconstructed City Tavern, originally built in 1773 (and which John Adams called "the most genteel tavern in America”), we feasted on such authentically 18^th century American fare as Chesapeake crab cakes, West Indies Pepperpot Soup, Cornmeal Fried Oysters, Roasted Duckling, Prime Rib of Beef, Pork Chop Apple-Wood Smoked, and Medallions of Veal.  Desserts were similarly historical, with a few contemporary touches (éclairs, anyone?).   Cider and mead and Diet Coke (??) washed it all down and the over-21’s among us supped on other mood-enhancing beverages

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We returned to our bus historically and gastronomically well sated, but not without a final look on our way at the Christ Church Burial Ground, the final resting place of Ben Franklin, who was surely beaming down on us as we departed his City of Brotherly Love to return to our Manhattanville home.

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