The people of Philadelphia
News •
Though Philadelphia has had most of the characteristics of an ethnic and racial melting pot nearly from its start, it lacks the steaming hurly-burly visible everywhere in its behemoth neighbour, New York City, about 90 miles (150 km) northeast. Philadelphians by and large are not a street people, and their orientation has been so traditionally toward the home that the city became known as a “city of homes.” Philadelphians are also great joiners, giving the city more social and other clubs than any other in America. Many of these are based in ethnic neighbourhoods, others are city wide, and still others serve the affluent “Main Liners” who reside in the plush suburbs that grew up in past centuries along the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak).
Much of this tradition dates from Philadelphia’s early years, from the beliefs and attitudes not only of the Quakers but also of such German pietist sects as the Mennonites, who stressed personal religious experience rather than institutionalized formulations. A basic sobriety underlying these tenets led to many stringent laws that remain in both the city and state. On the other hand, these groups strove for tolerance in all matters. Pennsylvania was among the few colonies admitting Roman Catholics and Jews, and the Quakers long were leaders in seeking justice and the alleviation of inhumanity in racial and other human relations. Philadelphia still has innumerable small, endowed charities of Quaker origin to provide the poor with fuel or food—as well as one of the oldest and strongest municipal commissions on human relations.
During the 1800s the Protestant sects were joined by Roman Catholics, initially Irish and German and later Italian, Polish, and Slavic. Eastern European Jews also immigrated, eventually comprising a significant portion of the city’s population. Cultural conflicts and competition for housing and jobs created tensions between the old stock groups and the new arrivals. A series of anti-Catholic nativist riots rocked Philadelphia in the Jacksonian period, with an especially violent riot in 1844; Catholics gradually gained acceptance, and two Philadelphia Catholics, the immigrant St. John Neumann and the native born St. Katharine Drexel, were canonized. Although immigrants came to Philadelphia in the hundreds of thousands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city had a relatively low proportion of foreign-born when compared with other major cities at that time. Some Irish, Italian, Polish, and Jewish newcomers did find opportunities for considerable economic advancement in Philadelphia; for many, however, hopes never materialized and progress toward full acceptance was slow.
Philadelphia has been the focal point of one of the historically most important Black communities in the nation. During the early national and antebellum periods, many Black leaders came from or centred their activities in Philadelphia, and the free Black community there was intensely involved in many efforts to abolish slavery, assist fugitive slaves, and advance the general social and economic well-being of Blacks. In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was organized in the city. Between 1829 and 1860, however, the Philadelphia Black community was victimized by several antiblack mob actions. At the beginning of the 20th century Philadelphia was the site of the largest Black community of any northern city. The migration of Southern-born Blacks to the city continued to augment the city’s Black population throughout the first half of the 20th century. Discrimination in housing resulted in the creation of overcrowded Black districts, but activists including the Rev. Leon Sullivan, perhaps best known for the Sullivan Principles and work against apartheid in South Africa, struggled to overcome these problems. By the late 20th century about 40 percent of all Philadelphians and well over 50 percent of the public school population were Black. The suburbs, by contrast, were about 95 percent white.
The economy
Industry
Many of Philadelphia’s business enterprises were established in the 1700s, but the city’s economy has changed greatly. Such old and once-dominant industries as textile mills met stiff competition from the South and from abroad. Industry was given a boost by World War II but began to decline later; thousands of jobs were lost in the 1960s. Nonmanufacturing and service industries, however, continue to increase employment and now dominate the economy. High-technology industries such as communications, computer software, and Internet commerce became important in the late 20th century. Printing and publishing and food processing are major factors in the modern economy. Manufactures include chemicals, industrial machinery, fabricated metal products, electronics, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, apparel, paper products, rubber and plastic products, and primary metals. A decline has been evident in the migration of both people and businesses from the city to the suburbs. The Valley Forge area, best known as a Revolutionary War historic site, has become a nest of business and industrial locations. Much of this relocation is under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.
One of the mainstays of the economy in Philadelphia and much of eastern Pennsylvania from before the birth of the nation was the naval yard, which employed tens of thousands of workers in its prime. Ship building emerged as an important part of the economy in the late 18th century, and the Continental Congress commissioned five ships from Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. A naval shipyard was opened in 1801 by an act of Congress of 1799, and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard became one of the most important production sites for the navy. During World War II some 50 new ships were built there and hundreds more were repaired. Ship production continued over the next several decades, but the navy’s needs changed, and the duties of the yard gradually turned to repair and overhaul. In 1991, the Defense Base Closure Commission recommended that the shipyard be closed, and the yard received its final commission, which was completed in 1995. The yard closed in 1996. Efforts were made to keep the yard going even before it closed, and in 1997 an agreement was reached with a major Norwegian shipbuilder. Ship production began again in 2000, and the first ship built at the new Kvaener Philadelphia Shipyard was completed on March 2003.