Editing American Philosophical Society (section)

== History ==
[[File:Feke - Benjamin Franklin.png|thumb|[[Benjamin Franklin]] in 1746]]
[[File:American Philosophical Society - Library Hall (53590617275).jpg|thumb|[[Library Company of Philadelphia|Library Hall]] in 2024]]
[[File:American Philosophical Society Thomas Jefferson Garden.jpg|thumb|Thomas Jefferson Garden adjacent to Library Hall]]
[[File:Franklin Hall meeting preparation.jpg|thumb|Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Hall, named for [[Benjamin Franklin]], the organization's founder]]

The American Philosophical Society was founded as the '''Philosophical Society''' in 1743 by [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[James Alexander (lawyer)|James Alexander]], [[Francis Hopkinson]], [[John Bartram]], [[Philip Syng|Philip Syng Jr.]], and others<ref>Duer, William Alexander. [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofwilliamale00duerw#page/4/mode/2up ''The life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Major-General in the Army of the United States during the Revolution''] New York: Wiley & Putnam for the New Jersey Historical Society, 1847. p.5</ref><ref>[http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/biography/14388.html "Philip Syng, Jr."] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928122446/http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/biography/14388.html |date=September 28, 2018 }}, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved December 31, 2015.</ref> as an offshoot of an earlier club, the [[Junto (club)|Junto]].

Early members included: [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[John Dickinson]], [[George Washington]], [[John Adams]], [[Thomas Jefferson]],<ref name="AAA">{{cite web |year=2011 |title=American Philosophical Society selected records, 1784–1954 |publisher=[[Archives of American Art]] |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/american-philosophical-society-selected-records-10947 |access-date=June 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927115401/https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/american-philosophical-society-selected-records-10947 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[James McHenry]], [[Thomas Paine]], [[David Rittenhouse]], [[Peter Stephen Du Ponceau]], [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]], [[Owen Biddle Sr.|Owen Biddle]], [[Benjamin Rush]], [[James Madison]], [[Michael Hillegas]], [[John Marshall]], [[Charles Pettit]], and [[John Andrews (clergyman)|John Andrews]].

It was common at the time for intellectual societies to invite members from around the world, where the society recruited members from other countries, including [[Alexander von Humboldt]], the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], [[Baron von Steuben]], [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], and [[Princess Dashkova]]. The society lapsed into inactivity by 1746, but was revived in 1767.

On January 2, 1769, the society united with the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge under the name '''American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge'''. Franklin was elected the first president.<ref>[[New International Encyclopedia]]</ref> During this time, the society maintained a standing Committee on American Improvements; one of its investigations was to study the prospects for a canal to connect the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the [[Delaware River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Goodrich |first=Carter |title=Government Promotion of American Canals and Railroads, 1800–1890 |year=1974 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-8371-7773-1}}</ref> The [[Chesapeake and Delaware Canal]], which had been proposed by Thomas Gilpin,&nbsp;Sr., was built in the 1820s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kozel |first=Scott M. |title=Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C & D Canal) |url=http://www.pennways.com/CD_Canal.html |work=PENNWAYS: Roads to the Future |publisher=Scott M. Kozel |access-date=September 6, 2012 |year=2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513024733/http://www.pennways.com/CD_Canal.html |archive-date=May 13, 2015}}</ref>

Following the [[American Revolutionary War]], the society looked for leadership to [[Francis Hopkinson]], one of the signatories of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. Under his influence, the society received land from the government of Pennsylvania, along with a plot of land in Philadelphia, where Philosophical Hall now stands.

[[Charles Darwin]], [[Robert Frost]], [[Louis Pasteur]], [[Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz]], [[John James Audubon]], [[Linus Pauling]], [[Margaret Mead]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], [[Maria Mitchell]], and [[Thomas Edison]] were all prominent members of the society.

Many members of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]] were among the APS's first board members and contributors; the APS and SOC still maintain an informal, collegial relationship.