Travel, United States

Thursday Morning Walk-About in Historic Philadelphia

I pulled up to the Sheraton Society Hill in historic Philadelphia around 4:00pm on Wednesday afternoon.  I then went about my normal business trip routine – work for a few hours, hit the gym, and then shower before heading out to dinner.  I was excited to be in Philadelphia and was eager to take in some sites before dinner.  Unfortunately, it was dark outside and I suffer from night blindness.

Historic Philadelphia

Historic Philadelphia

I have never been much of a history buff.  Sure, I aced it in school, but I was good at remembering facts only to regurgitate them for a test and then forget them moments later.  To be honest, I found history boring.  Yeah, yeah, we learn from our past.  I get that.  But sitting down to study the actions of dead dudes required more discipline than I possessed.  To this day, I can’t tell you the story behind the Liberty Bell.  Who gave it to us and why is there a crack in it?  I don’t even know why our nation’s Capitol moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.  My walk-about didn’t answer these questions either.  It was hurried and brisk.  I set the alarm for six, got dressed as soon as it went off, and started my hour long tour hitting the big items for a photo opportunity.  That left enough time to eat, shower, and check-out by eight so that I could make my client appointment.

Independence Hall

Independence Hall

I wandered the streets of historic Philly snapping off photos with my Droid.  I may sound corny, but I tried to envision what it looked like back then without the honking horns or diesel fumes wafting from city buses.  My first stop was The First Bank of the United States.  I then walked down Chestnut Street to Independence Hall, the birthplace of America, and Congress Hall, the first United States Capitol.  It was well before operating hours and all I could do was read some entry level placards.  Next, I walked over to the Liberty Bell Center.  While it was closed, I could still catch a glimpse of the bell through the front windows.  It wasn’t as large as I envisioned, yet it still weighs in at over 2,000 pounds.

Congress Hall

Congress Hall

First Bank of the United States

First Bank of the United States

The Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell

My walk-about wrapped up at the site I was most looking forward to seeing – the first president’s house.  Parts of the house stood as a skeleton of what once was with a shell of walls erected.  The remainder of the home was still being excavated.  Workers were oddly on display as zoo animals going about their tasks of digging out the foundation.  The site itself was quite disappointing, but not because the work wasn’t complete yet.  It was actually fairly interesting to see the excavation in progress.  I was disappointed to see a disproportionate amount of the display dedicated to the slaves that George Washington kept and the hipocrasy of drafting a Constitution of freedom when his own servants weren’t free.  In my humble opinion, there is a time and a place for everything.  The site of the first president’s house is not the place for a diatribe against our founding fathers.

The First President's House

The First President’s House

The First President's House

The First President’s HouseThe First President’s House

I by no means am defending slavery.  Slavery is a terribly dark chapter in our nation’s history that I would never want to see relived.  I don’t think many Americans would argue against that statement.  But I look to put things into historical context.  Up until the founding of our country, almost the entire of humanity owned slaves.  According to societal standards, there was nothing wrong with George Washington owning slaves.  The history of the world was behind the practice.  Wearing that lens, I took issue with placards calling out the “Constitutional Atrocities” of slavery.  The site should instead be dedicated to the vision of the men who created this great country.  Men who were intelligent enough to realize that they didn’t know all the answers and crafted a form of governance that was innovative enough to change as the norms of society evolved.  Changes that eventually included the abolishment of slavery. Now ask me, should the inclusion of slavery be tossed out of the site altogether?  No.  It is important for people to know that slavery was a part of the history this country and to see the harsh conditions slaves lived in.  However, the facts can be presented more as a context of the time than a judgment.

The First President's House

The First President’s House

The First President's House

The First President’s House