Welcome to You Ask Andy

Margaret Sweeney, age 10, of Lancaster, Pa., for her question:

WHY IS PENNSYLVANIA CALLED A COMMONWEALTH?

Pennsylvania has a lot of special things that make her unique among the 50 United States. She's the No. 1 state in the production of steel and pig iron, and actually produces 100 percnt of the anthracite hard coal in America. The state is also among the very top in leadership of manufacturing and food processing.

It was in Pennsylvania where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. The ConstitutionalConvention met in Philadelphia in 1787, and the city was also  the nation's capital from 1790 until 1800.

Pennsylvania is officially called a commonwealth. Only three other states have this unique classification: Kentucky, Massachusetts and Virginia.

The word commonwealth means a grouping of people who have the right to make their own laws. It also means a republic which is a group of citizens who elect representatives to manage their government. The United States, of course, is a republic and it is also a commonwealth.

When Pensylvania ratified the U.S. Constitution on Dec. 12, 1787, and thus became the second state in the Union, the people stipulated that they wanted that extra word ''commonwealth'' added to clearly define their independent position.

Nickname for the great state of Pennsylvania is Keystone State which comes from the fact that it is the center, or keystone, of an arch formed by the original 13 states. It is also called the Quaker State by some people because William Penn, the leader who gave the state its name, and many of the early settlers were members of the Quaker religion.

The Battle of Gettysburg, the confrontation during the Civil War that actually marked the turning point in the fighting, was fought on Pennsylvania soil between July 1 and¬ July 3 in 1 8 63 .

The state seal for Pennsylvania features an eagle which represents strength, bravery and wisdom. Also included is a ship, a plow and bundles of wheat which stand for the state's commerce and agriculture. At the bottom of the seal is a cornstalk and an olive branch symbolizing prosperity and peace.

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has "Virtue, Liberty and independence'' as its state motto. Its state bird is the ruffled grouse with mountain laurel as the state flower. The handsome hemlock, an evergreen of the pine family which has short, blunt needles and small cones, is Pennsylvania's official state tree.

 

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