<P> Pennsylvania played a central role in the American Revolution, and Philadelphia served as the nation's capital for a portion of the 18th century . Starting in the 18th century and continuing into the 20th century, Pennsylvania was the second most populous state in the country, and Philadelphia was the second most populous city in the nation . Pennsylvania also expanded its borders into what is now known as northwestern, northeastern, and southwestern Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh grew into one of America's largest and most prominent cities . During the Civil War, Pennsylvania played an important role in the Union's victory . After the war, Pennsylvania grew into a Republican stronghold and a major manufacturing and transportation center . After the Great Depression and World War II, Pennsylvania moved towards the service industry and became a swing state . </P> <P> Pennsylvania's history of human habitation extends to thousands of years before the foundation of the Province of Pennsylvania . Archaeologists generally believe that the first settlement of the Americas occurred at least 15,000 years ago during the last glacial period, though it is unclear when humans first entered the area known as Pennsylvania . There is an open debate in the archaeological community regarding when the ancestors of Native Americans expanded across the two continents down to the tip of South America, with possibilities ranging between 30,000 and 10,500 years ago . The Meadowcroft Rockshelter contains the earliest known signs of human activity in Pennsylvania, and perhaps all of North America, as it contains the remains of a civilization that existed over 10,000 years ago and possibly pre-dated the Clovis culture . By 1000 C.E., in contrast to their nomadic hunter - gatherer ancestors, the native population of Pennsylvania had developed agricultural techniques and a mixed food economy . </P> <P> By the time that European colonization of the Americas began, several Native American tribes inhabited the region . The Lenape spoke an Algonquian language, and inhabited an area known as the Lenapehoking, which was mostly made up of the state of New Jersey, but incorprated a lot of surrounding area, including eastern Pennsylvania . The Susquehannock spoke an Iroquoian language and held a region spanning from New York to West Virginia, that went from the area surrounding the Susquehanna River all the way to the Alleghany & Kanawha Rivers (about level with modern day Pittsburgh). They were both affected by European disease and constant warfare with several neighbors and groups of Europeans . As they lost numbers and land, they abandoned much of their western territory and moved closer to the Susquehanna River & the Iroquois & Mohawk to the north . North of the Alleghany River was the Iroquoian Petun, known mostly for their vast Tobacco plantations . They were fragmented into three groups--the Petun of New York, the Wyandot of Ohio & the Kentatentonga who crossed the Alleghany into southwest PA & northern WV--during a period known as the Beaver Wars, approx. 1640 - 1680 . Afterward, they were briefly replaced by the Eries & Chonnonton, who had invaded from Canada, before they too were conquered by the Iroquois Confederacy . South of the Alleghany River was, allegedly, a nation known as the Calicua . They were believed to be Iroquoian, but also inhabited the area where the Monongahela Culture sat, which predated Iroquoian influence in the Ohio River Valley by several hundred years . Archaeological sites from this time in this region are scarce & the very few historical sources even mention them--most of these sources only coming from those who met Calicua traders further east on the Alleghany . Other tribes would pass through, such as the first Shawnee, after they broke away from the Virginian Algonquian tribes along the east coast . They soon after merged with other tribes in Ohio, Kentucky & West Virginia to form a massive confederacy that held much of the eastern Ohio River Valley until the Shawnee Wars in 1811 - 1813 . Like the other indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Native Americans of Pennsylvania suffered from a massive loss in population caused by disease following the beginning of the Columbian Exchange in 1492 . The Monongahela culture of southwestern Pennsylvania suffered such large losses that it was nearly extinct by the time Europeans arrived in the region in the 17th century . </P> <P> Long - term European exploration of the Americas commenced after the 1492 expedition of Christopher Columbus, and the 1497 expedition of John Cabot is credited with discovering continental North America for Europeans . European exploration of the North America continued in the 16th century, and the area now known as Pennsylvania was mapped by the French and labeled L'arcadia, or "wooded coast", during Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage in 1524 . Even before large - scale European settlement, the Native American tribes in Pennsylvania engaged in trade with Europeans, and the fur trade was a major motivation for the European colonization of North America . The fur trade also sparked wars among Native American tribes, including the Beaver Wars, which saw the Iroquois Confederacy rise in power . In the 17th century, the Dutch, Swedish, and British all competed for southeastern Pennsylvania, while the French expanded into parts of western Pennsylvania . </P>

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