Pennsylvania: Polity Style: 1681-2024 |
| 4/14 Mar 1681 |
part of the territory in North America is granted to William Penn as "true and absolute" proprietary and constituted as "province and Seigniorie" under the name of Pensilvania in accordance with a charter issued by command of the King of England on 4/14 Mar 1681 (Pennsylvania Archives, 4th series, 1:1-18) [1] |
| 4/14 Mar 1681 - 25 Jul 1776 |
Province of Pennsylvania |
| 26 Apr/6 May 1693 |
due to "great Neglects and miscarriages in the government" and the absence of the proprietary, the Province of Pennsylvania is placed under "Immediate care and protection" of the King and Queen of England, represented by the Captain General and Governor-in-Chief whose commission of 21/31 Oct 1692 is read and published at a public ceremony in Philadelphia on 26 Apr/6 May 1693 (Pennsylvania Provincial Council Minutes, 1:364) |
| 26 Mar/5 Apr 1695 |
the proprietary of Pennsylvania is restored to the government of the province in accordance with letters patent issued by command of the King and Queen of England on 20/30 Aug 1695 at Westminster, read and published at the meeting of the Council on 26 Mar/5 Apr 1695 in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania Provincial Council Minutes, 1:472-475) |
| 24 Jun 1776 |
the obligations of allegiance to the King of Great Britain are declared dissolved in accordance with a declaration adopted by the Provincial Conference of Committes of Pennsylvania on 24 Jun 1776 (Pennsylvania Conference of Committees 1776, pp. 24-25) |
| 4 Jul 1776 |
the British colonies represented in the Continental Congress are proclaimed "free and independent states" in accordance with a declaration approved by the Congress on 4 Jul 1776, session of the Congress, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Journals of the Continental Congress, 5:510-515) |
| 8 Jul 1776 |
the Declaration of Independence approved by the Continental Congress is proclaimed at a public ceremony in Philadelphia (The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 2481, 10 Jul 1776, p. 2) |
| 25 Jul 1776 |
the Declaration of Independence is approved by a resolution passed by the Convention ("representatives of the freemen of the state of Pennsylvania, in general convention assembled") on 25 Jul 1776 (Pennsylvania Convention Proceedings 1776, p. 11) |
| 25 Jul 1776 - 28 Sep 1776 |
State of Pennsylvania [2] |
| 28 Sep 1776 |
the Constitution of Pennsylvania is adopted and signed by the members of the Convention (Pennsylvania Convention Proceedings 1776, pp. 58-65) |
| 28 Sep 1776 - |
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania [3] |
| 5 Mar 1778 |
the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union are approved, the delegates of Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress are authorized to proceed with ratification in accordance with a resolution passed by the General Assembly (House of Representatives) of Pennsylvania on 5 Mar 1778 at Lancaster (Pennsylvania General Assembly Journal, 1777-1778, pp. 52-58) |
| 9 Jul 1778 |
the engrossed copy of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union is signed and ratified by the delegates of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina to the Continental Congress, session of the Congress, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Journals of the Continental Congress, 11:677) |
| 1 Mar 1781 |
Pennsylvania
formed part of the United States upon the taking effect of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (Journals of the Continental Congress, 19:213-223) |
