Pennsylvania History

In the summer of 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, fresh off a victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, decided to invade Union territory. Taking his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania, Lee was drawn to a place where the areas major roads converged at Gettysburg. There, over seventy thousand Southern troops waged a dogged, bloody battle against over ninety thousand Union soldiers in the fields and on the boulder-strewn heights surrounding the town.

Many other mainline Christians viewed the Quakers as a dangerous sect, so much so that they pressured the British Parliament to pass the Quaker Act of 1662. This act set forth in law the “prescribed form” of prayer and worship as designated by the state. It was a formula that specifically left the traditions of the Quakers out. Unable to gain acceptance in England, the Quakers would soon leave the place of their origin altogether and try their luck in a brave new world on another continent.

In the shadows of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a clandestine empire emerged—one that would become synonymous with the essence of organized crime. The Bufalino Mafia Crime Family takes you on a gripping journey through the tumultuous history of the notorious Bufalino crime syndicate. This meticulously researched and fascinating narrative unveils the hidden layers of a mafia family that left an indelible mark on American criminal history.

At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon.

General Robert E. Lee's movement north shifted the war out of the central counties of the Old Dominion into the Shenandoah Valley, across the Potomac, and beyond. The first installment carried the armies through the defining clash at Battle of Brandy Station, after which Lee pushed his corps into the Shenandoah Valley and achieved victory at Second Winchester. Major General Joseph Hooker used his cavalry to probe the mountain gaps, triggering a series of consequential mounted actions. 

The Pennsylvania and the New York Central railroads helped to develop central Pennsylvania as the largest source of bituminous coal for the nation. By the late 19th century, the two lines were among America’s largest businesses and would soon become legendary archrivals. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) first arrived in the 1860s. Within a few years, it was sourcing as much as four million tons of coal annually from Centre County and the Moshannon Valley and would continue do so for another quarter century.

In Frontier Country, Patrick Spero addresses one of the most important and controversial subjects in American history: the frontier. Countering the modern conception of the American frontier as an area of expansion, Spero employs the eighteenth-century meaning of the term to show how colonists understood it as a vulnerable, militarized boundary. The Pennsylvania frontier, Spero argues, was constituted through conflicts not only between colonists and Native Americans but also among neighboring British colonies. 

Gen. Robert E. Lee began moving part of his Army of Northern Virginia from the Old Dominion toward Pennsylvania on June 3, 1863. Lee believed his army needed to win a major victory on Northern soil if the South was to have a chance at winning the war. Transferring the fighting out of war-torn Virginia would allow the state time to heal while he supplied his army from untapped farms and stores in Maryland and the Keystone State. Lee had also convinced Pres. Jefferson Davis that his offensive would interfere with the Union effort to take Vicksburg in Mississippi. 

Lorne Greene is best known to TV fans as Ben Cartwright in Bonanza and Commander Adama in the original series of Battlestar Galactica. The Colonial Keystone: Pennsylvania was released as the biccentennial LP in 1976. This is the digital release of this full-cast audio drama with sound effects. This release is endorsed by the Lorne Greene Estate 

In 1681, King Charles II granted William Penn, a Quaker, sole proprietorship of more than 450,000 acres of land. The colony of Pennsylvania soon offered thousands of European settlers the civil liberties, representative government, and affordable land they wanted.

Of all the original 13 colonies in America, only one owes its conception to one man, and indeed, Pennsylvania was and still remains bound up in the life and character of its founder, William Penn. Here was a man born into a military family who saw his father rise through the ranks of the 17th-century English court to become a friend of the king, and he even considered a military career for himself, only to leave it all behind to become a member of the "Society of Friends", known colloquially as the Quakers.

East to west, north to south, Pennsylvania is filled with unexplainable phenomena. Best-selling author Tony Urban has researched more than 50 purportedly haunted locations from all corners of the keystone state and is here to tell the tales.

How much do you know about the state of Pennsylvania? There’s so much to learn about the Keystone State that even its residents don’t know. In this trivia book, you’ll learn more about Pennsylvania’s history, pop culture, inventions, sports, and more! This book is full of facts about Pennsylvania. Some of the facts you’ll learn in this book are surprising, some are sad, and others may give you the chills. But the one thing they have in common is they’re all interesting!

In The Forgotten, Ben Bradlee, Jr., reports on how voters in Luzerne County, a pivotal county in a crucial swing state, came to feel like strangers in their own land - marginalized by flat or falling wages, rapid demographic change, and a liberal culture that mocks their faith and patriotism.

The early settlement of the region around Pittsburgh was characterized by a messy collision of personal, provincial, national, and imperial interests. Driven by the efforts of Europeans, Pennsylvanians, Virginians, and Indians, almost everyone attempted to manipulate the clouded political jurisdiction of the region. A Colony Sprung from Hell traces this complex struggle. The events and episodes that make up the story highlight the difficulties of creating and consolidating authority along the frontier.

This book surveys the colonial and revolutionary history of the Pennsylvania colony from the day William Penn founded the colony, through decades of political disagreement among members of the Penn family, and between the Pennsylvania government and its citizens. Those disputes resulted in groundbreaking political principles, many of which became the foundation of the new federal government when the US became independent.

A young autistic man with psychic powers is called upon to help solve a missing-persons case in the small mountain town of Renfro, PA. The story includes gangsters, moonshiners, and a touch of autism. 

If you want to learn the history, discover the best places to visit, eat great food, and have fun exploring Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then check out HowExpert Guide to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

William Penn acquired a large section of American land in a debt settlement and transformed it into a thriving colony. He wrote this tract (and others) to recruit British colonists to Pennsylvania. In it, he praises the quality of the weather, the abundance of agricultural opportunities, and their good relations with the native people. His persuasive words capture a sense of “America the beautiful” that drove thousands to seek a new life in the land of opportunity.  

Northeast Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley was truly a dark and bloody ground, the site of murders, massacres, and pitched battles. The valley's turbulent history was the product of a bitter contest over property and power known as the Wyoming controversy.