Historical Name: Independence Hall
Common Name: Black Locust
Latin Name: Robinia pseudoacacia
The Independence Hall Black Locust stands majestically at the entrance to one of the most important buildings in American history. In the years leading to 1776, disputes between the American colonists and King George III of England increased. Shots were fired in Lexington and Concord, and though few wanted an armed conflict with England, that became inevitable. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in a hall in Philadelphia to create the Continental Army and choose George Washington as its leader. On July 4, in that same hall, the Declaration of Independence was unanimously adopted. After the Revolutionary War, the Articles of the Confederation, which established the framework of government, were ratified in Independence Hall. The United States Constitution was then written in 1787. This tree was grown from a seed taken from the black locust located outside Independence Hall, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)