The Pennsylvania Provincial Conference, officially the Provincial Conference of Committees of the Province of Pennsylvania, was a Provincial Congress, which met in

Carpenters' Hall Carpenters' Hall, in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the official birthplace of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a key meeting place for colonial delegates during the early part of the American Revolut ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

between June 18 and June 25, 1776. The 97 delegates in attendance (out of 103 appointed) involved themselves in issues relating to declaring Pennsylvania's support for

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

and to planning for a subsequent gathering that would develop Pennsylvania's new

Frame of Government A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. They achieved these objectives by formally: * Declaring Pennsylvania's independence from the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, thus birthing the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

, * Mobilizing the

Pennsylvania militia The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 pe ...

for the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, * Organizing elections to select delegates to a constitutional conventionwhich framed the

Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 (ratified September 28, 1776) was the state's first constitution following its declaration of independence and has been described as the most democratic in America. It was drafted by Robert Whitehill, Timot ...

. As the last holdout among the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

to declare independence, the conference's actions had a profound impact on American public opinion and facilitated the issuing of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

shortly afterward by the Continental Congress.

Delegates

Following is a list of those who attended the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference. From Bedford County: * David Davidson * David Espy * John Piper From Berks County: * Mark Bird * Valentine Eckerd * Henry Haller *

Joseph Hiester Joseph Hiester (November 18, 1752June 10, 1832) was an American politician, who served as the fifth governor of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823. He was a member of the Hiester family political dynasty, and was a member of the Democratic-Republica ...

* David Hunter *

Nicholas Lutz Nicholas J. Lutz (21 February 1835 St. Louis-lès-Bitche, France - 31 March 1906 Somerville, Massachusetts) was a French glassmaker who received his training at the ''Cristalleries de St. Louis'', and later emigrated to the United States where he ...

* Jacob Morgan * Bodo Otto * Charles Shoemaker * Benjamin Spiker From

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

: * Joseph Hart * John Kidd * Benjamin Single * John Wallace *

Henry Wynkoop Henry Wynkoop (March 2, 1737March 25, 1816) was an American politician, who was member of the Continental Congress (from 1779) and later a United States representative for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the First United States Congres ...

From

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

: * Caleb Davis * Evan Evans * William Evans * Samuel Fairlamb * Lewis Grono * Thomas Horkley * Thomas Levis * Colonel Hugh Lloyd * William Montgomery * John Morton * Elisha Price * Richard Reiley * Richard Thomas From

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

: * Hugh Alexander * William Clark * John M. Clay * John Colhoon * John Creigh * William Elliot * John Harris * James M. Lane * Hugh McCormick From Lancaster County: * William Augustus Atlee * William Brown * James Cunningham * Bartram Galbraith * Andrew Graaf * David Jenkins * Lodowick Lowman * Alexander Lowrey * John Smiley From Northampton County: * David Deshler * Benjamin Dupue * Nicholas Depue * Neigal Gray * Robert Levers * John Wetzel From

: * Jacob Barge * John Bayard * Joseph Brewster * Samuel Brewster * William Coates * John Cox * Joseph Dean *

Sharp Delany Sharp Delany (-1799), was a colonel in the American Revolutionary War a legislator and the first Collector of Customs in Philadelphia, appointed by George Washington. Biography Sharp Delany’s place of birth is in dispute. Often stated to have ...

* George Goodwin * Francis Gurney * William Lowman * Christoper Ludwig * Benjamin Loxley * Christopher Marshall * Timothy Matlack *

Thomas McKean Thomas McKean (; March 19, 1734June 24, 1817) was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father. During the American Revolution, he was a Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, ...

* Samuel Morris * James Moulden * James Mulligan *

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

* George Schlosser * Jacob Schriner *

Jonathan Bayard Smith Jonathan Bayard Smith (February 21, 1742 – June 16, 1812) was an American politician and merchant from Philadelphia who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Smith served as a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congres ...

From

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is the most populous of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,603,797. It is coextensive with Philadelphia, the nation's ...

: * Frederick Antes * Mathew Brook *

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...

Enoch Edwards Enoch Edwards may refer to: * Enoch Edwards (trade unionist) * Enoch Edwards (surgeon) {{hndis, Edwards, Enoch ...

* Henry Hill * Robert Lewis * Robert Loller * Joseph Mather From Westmoreland County: * Edward Cook * James Perry From York County: * Richard M. Chester * James Egar * David Kennedy * Robert McPherson * William Rankin * James Read * Henry Slagle * James Smith

References

External links

A Background to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
via ''ushistory.org'' {{Authority control History of the Thirteen Colonies History of Philadelphia 1776 in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania in the American Revolution

Delegates

See also

References

External links