Philadelphia is the largest city in the province of Pennsylvania, in the Northern Confederation of the Confederation of North America. It was the largest city in British North America before the North American Rebellion, and remained an important social, artistic, and literary center after New York took that role.
Philadelphia was the site of the Second Continental Congress until William Howe took the city in 1777, near the end of the Rebellion. After the establishment of the Confederation, Philadelphia continued to be an important port and became the operational center of Malcolm McGregor's manufacturing empire, though its financing came from New York.
Like New York and Michigan City, Philadelphia suffered greatly from gang violence in the 1860's. The city was also the site of major rioting during the Starkist Terror of 1899 and the Friends of Black Mexico disturbances of 1916.
In 1878 the fractious Liberal convention in Philadelphia proved a fitting prelude to the fractious general election, where Liberal candidate John McDowell was chosen by the Council only on the eleventh ballot.