Carlisle was found in 1751 as a county seat of the newly-created Cumberland County. Both the town and the county were intended by the colonial General Assembly and the Penn family in Philadelphia to be the opening of the frontier west of the Susquehanna River. This meant a fiery and violent era of frontier drama for over ten years. World wars swept over the town and county and brought such figures as Benjamin Franklin, Hugh Mercer, Henry Bouquet, and John Forbes to the square of Carlisle.
The French and Indian War of the 1750s and the 1760s trained a generation of leaders for the American Revolution in the 1770s and the 1780s. The first battalion of what became the United States Army was raised here. The town was home to three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Men and women from the town went off to war and returned with fame and rank that lifted Carlisle to new distinction. Part of the recognition of the new status was the founding of Dickinson College in 1783, the first college chartered in the new nation.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment