Day 8 Philadelphia

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Today was a chilly and cloudy day. The snow was still covering the grass and the kids love it. The tour took us to Independence Square. This is the place where the US was born, In this building the delegates of the thirteen colonies met in the Assembly Hall to sign the Declaration of Independence and later the Constitution of the United States. As a result, the Second Continental Congress named Banjamin Frankyn ambassador and sent him to France in order to get support for the upcoming war. In the adjacent building, Old City Hall, the US Supreme court met from 1791 to 1800. The first US Congress also met in the adjacent Congress Hall from 1790 to 1800.

In front of the Independence Square is the Decalration House. In this house Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of the Indpendence in 1776 while the Second Continental Congress was in session.

The Liberty Bell was first heard in 1753 atop the Pennsylvania State House. Originally the purpouse of the bell was to summon the Pensylvania Assembly. This assembly discussed about the Stamp Act and other actions of the British parliament took to collect taxes from the colonies to pay for the war with France. As a result of these actions the First Continental Congress met in 1774 in a nearby house named the Carpenters Hall. The Liberty Bell has an inscription that says "Proclaim Liberty thoughout the nation and all the inhabitants"

With time the Bell became a symbol of freedom. In 1885 the bell traveled in its own railroad thorohout America.Crowds gather to greet the bell. This reunited the people of the US under a symbol. The last time the bell was heard was in 1944 as the allies troops were invading Europe to free them from the Nazi regime.

We had lunch in an Amish restaurant. The food was excellent. The Amish are a group of very religious people that live in different parts of the USA. They live as if they were in the 19 century. Today they don't use electric power, instead of cars, they drive a cerriage moved by a horse. Their children study until grade 8 and the boys are considered to sustain a family at the age of 16. For those whose at age 18 are not yrt married and wants to explore the world, the Amish let them go for a year, Once the year has past, the boy needs to decide whether it will retun to the community or stay in the outside world. His decsion is final, meaning that once it decides to remain in the outside world, he will never return to the community. In the case of the girls, they married at a young age. They never leave the community. The dress they use in the marriage ceremony is saved to be used in her funeral.

Before going to rest, we went to see Daniel's in the lions den. This is an impressive drama that mix music, drama and coreography in a theater like production that does not have anything to envy the Broadway Musicals.

The day ended relatively early. The group is tired and need to rest, Tomorrow we head to Washington and we needed a little bit of rest. Many people in the group has catched a cold. Today we have to leave Dr. Romero in the hotel to recover from a fever. we hope he will get better for tomorrow.

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Photos

Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell has engraved the message "Proclaim Liberty"

The flag of the thirteen colonies
This flag was sawn by Betsy Ross

House of the Suprem Court
This palce is where the first Supreme Court of the US met between 1791 to 1800

Assembly Hall
This is the place where delegates of the thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence on July the 4th 1776