Philadelphia

Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker and advocate of religious freedom, and served as the capital of the colonial era Province of Pennsylvania. It then played a vital role during the American Revolution and Revolutionary War. It served as the central meeting place for the nation's Founding Fathers in hosting the First Continental Congress (1774) and the Second Continental Congress, during which the Founders formed the Continental Army, elected George Washington as its commander, and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. During the Revolutionary War's Philadelphia campaign, the city fell to the British Army, which occupied Philadelphia for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778.