🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Independence National Historical Park

(The year 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution and 2026 is the 250th anniversary of American Independence, so this month we are beginning a two-year Homeschool American Heritage tour that will invite you and your students to explore parks, historic sites, and national monuments all across the United States. Get out your homeschool atlas and almanac and come along with us!)

Pennsylvania is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Pennsylvania’s most important collections of historic sites: Independence National Historical Park, which commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Independence National Historical Park “represents the founding ideals of the nation, and preserves national and international symbols of freedom and democracy, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both debated and signed inside Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation’s founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the 55-acre (22 ha) park comprises many of Philadelphia’s most-visited historic sites within the Old City and Society Hill neighborhoods. The park has been nicknamed “America’s most historic square mile” because of its abundance of historic landmarks.

The centerpiece of the park is Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America’s Founding Fathers in the late 18th century. Independence Hall was the principal meetinghouse of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. Next to Independence Hall is Carpenters’ Hall, the 1774 meeting site for the First Continental Congress, and Congress Hall, the meeting place of the United States Congress in the 1790s prior to the establishment of Washington, D.C. as the nation’s capital in 1800.

Across the street from Independence Hall is the Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American independence, displayed in the Liberty Bell Center. The park contains other historic buildings, such as the First Bank of the United States, the first bank chartered by the United States Congress, and the Second Bank of the United States, which had its charter renewal vetoed by President Andrew Jackson as part of the Bank War. The Park also contains City Tavern, a recreated colonial tavern, which was a favorite of the delegates and which John Adams felt was the finest tavern in all America. (wikipedia.org)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the park’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the Independence National Historical Park website from the National Park Service.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today!

And to orient your students to the whole Revolutionary period that Americans will be commemorating in the coming months, turn to the overview on pages 298–299 in your recommended homeschool history encyclopedia.

What American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Cygnus Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you'll find a special "Print" button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don't want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

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❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡