News Article

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Subject
Instructor
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Philadelphia, The original American Melting Pot, from NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, July 6, 2008
I decided to choose this article because it generally talks about the American Revolution. American Revolution was one of the topics that we discussed in class and in particular we discussed the historical development of Americans. This article was published during the independence day of the Americans whereby the NPR’s Weekend Edition traveled to Philadelphia to interview historical backgrounds of America. NPR had important objectives to achieve in their interview which was to understand what it means to be an American today. Also, how America has changed since the 18th century. The NPR Weekend Edition proposed this place because it is regarded to be the nation’s first capital. Hence, people around that place had some historical information about America (Rose & Hansen 1).
This article states that Modern Philadelphia consisted of more than 1.5 million people coming from different backgrounds. It was regarded to be a commercial and cultural powerhouse of the country. It specifically mentions that the first draft provided in the early years during the revolution up to the Constitutional Convention was done in Philadelphia. It says that in 1776, Philadelphia was the biggest and one of the most important cities in North America and that was during the eve of American Revolution. During that time, the population consisted of a mix of African-Americans, Colonists and some immigrant groups (Rose & Hansen 1).

Additionally, the article says that the original residents were the Indians that is the Lenni-Lenape Indians and it is believed that they lived along the valley of Delaware. During the 16th century, small groups of Dutch and Sweden moved to that region (Rose & Hansen 1). This article clearly states that William Penn was the first person to recognize these settlements in Philadelphia and this was chartered officially in 1701. In those days, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) were the largest group and dominated the city. The promise of freedom made by Quakers led to many immigrants from Europe arrive in that region in the early 1700s.
Philadelphia grew as people living along the valley increased and later contributed to the Revolution and founding of the nation. This article says that Philadelphia is regarded as the melting pots of the current languages, religions, and people in Europe (Rose & Hansen 1). Things changed when Washington D.C was made the new capital in the 1800s, making Philadelphia lose its political significance. Therefore, this article genuinely proofs that Philadelphia is a vital part of the American Revolution.
WORKS CITED
Rose, Jael, and Liane Hansen. “NPR Choice Page.” Npr.Org, 2008, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92155970. Accessed 28 Nov 2018.