Building independence: historical reenactments
Join the Carpenters’ Company of the City and County of Philadelphia and Historic Philadelphia Inc. on weekends from Saturday, September 7th to Saturday, October 26th, 2024 for historical scenes with live actors! These short vignettes will explore the First Continental Congress through the lens of delegates, their families, and everyday folk of the period.
A full schedule and timeline of events will be released closer to the event dates.
Carpenters’ Hall hosted the First Continental Congress from September 5th to October 26th, 1774. Fifty-six delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies attended, including seven delegates from Pennsylvania, to formulate a response to Great Britain’s increasing taxation and censure on the colonies. Carpenters’ Hall, privately owned and operated then as it is today, was the perfect place for the delegates to meet away from the prying eyes of the King’s agents. While this meeting did not produce an immediate call for revolution, it did unite the colonies in a way they had not been united before. As Patrick Henry exclaimed in a passionate speech on the floor of Carpenters’ Hall: “I am not a Virginian. I am an American.”
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of this foundational event in American history, The Carpenters’ Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, founded in 1724, will partner with Historic Philadelphia Inc. on Building Independence. On weekends in September and October, actors in and around Carpenters' Hall will perform vignettes featuring First Continental Congress delegates, their spouses, and even common folk of the time. Rather than a recreation or recitation of the Congress itself, these short scenes will escort visitors through the hard decisions that faced the delegates, educate them on the perspectives of the time, and place the First Continental Congress – and Carpenters’ Hall – into the wider timeline of American independence. Free and open to the public.
Questions about these events or our other Anniversary commemoration activities? Email us at carphall@carpentershall.org.