Philadelphia is identified with both the 1876 Centennial Exposition and America250’s founding history.
Philadelphia hosted the Centennial Exposition in 1876, the major national and international event marking 100 years since the Declaration of Independence. The city was a natural choice because the Second Continental Congress met there and Independence Hall is located there.
The Declaration of Independence was debated and adopted in Philadelphia in 1776. The Constitution was also drafted and adopted there in 1787. These events made the city a powerful symbol for later anniversary observances, including the swearing-in of America250 commissioners at Independence Hall in 2018.
Philadelphia has therefore played several roles in the chronology of U.S. anniversary history: revolutionary meeting place, centennial host, semiquincentennial planning site, and major destination for national commemoration. It is sometimes confused with Washington, D.C., the modern federal capital, but Washington did not host the founding-era Congress or the 1876 Centennial Exposition.