# 56 American Revolution Museum

# 56  American Revolution Museum

Tue.  September 24, 2019

We left our campsite in Hatfield, PA and joined the multitude of drivers on the Pennsylvania toll roads and drove into Philadelphia.  It took an hour and a half to travel 34 miles.

The Museum of the American Revolution opened April 19, 2017.  That date reflects the anniversary of the first battle of the war which occurred at Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1875. 

The museum is located near Independence Hall, and maintains an unmatched collection of the Revolutionary era weapons, personal items, documents, and works of art.

Like most museums we have visited, the first floor includes the entry desk, the museum store, a theater, and a café.  A traveling exhibit opened here on September 28, 2019.  The theater presents a film called Revolution, which gives an excellent overview of what is shown in the museum.

The grand circular staircase leads visitors to the main exhibits on the second floor.  In my case I used the elevator.

Visitors move through the four sections in more or less chronological order.  The first section entitled Becoming Revolutionaries (1760-1775).   The tour starts with being ruled by the British and King George III and how colonists viewed that.  When George started taxing the colonists without representation in Britain, discontent began.  At the time King George III commanded the largest empire in the world. 

Life size dioramas and film clips guide you through the exhibit. One of the highlights shows colonists pulling down the statue of King George.

Boston’s Liberty Tree lived up to its reputation of being very captivating.  This tree creates a canopy over this room of the exhibit.  I found it fascinating. The Colonists used the trees as symbols and gathering places.  The piece of wood inside the circle was donated to the museum after a hurricane blew it down.

Here is the original Liberty tree.

Washington commanded an unprepared army of farmers, woodsmen, merchants, etc.  The men came from different areas and beliefs, that often clashed with each other.  AND they were up against the greatest army in the world.   As we went through this museum I appreciated the  man that Washington was, and his part in making our country.

Bunker Hill was a loss but shocked both sides.  The Revolution is real!

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The Declaration of Independence needed all 13 colonies to agree...not a simple task considering the divergent beliefs of each state.

The second section of the museum covers The Darkest Hour (1776-1778) .  King George was not happy with the declaration and sent a huge force into NY Harbor.

Many of the colonial army were young boys.

George also brought in 20,000 German speaking troops called Hessians.

The Native Americans also had to chose to whether to support the King or the Colonists.  The Oneida Nation side with the Colonists.  A small exhibit puts you right in the front lines at the Battle of Brandywine with lots of noise and light bursts.

An exhibit of Colonial arms.  The rifles were quite long.

The winter patriots included the winter of Valley Forge.  I didn’t realize that Martha Washington was also at Valley Forge.

The third section focused on A Revolutionary War (1778-1783).  The American Congress created a navy in 1775, but had little resources to match the king’s navy. So, they hired privateers who owned the ship but licensed by the Congress to attack the British.   The replica ship here represents about half of a privateer ship.  A docent stationed here can supply all kinds of information. What helped was the help France and Spain gave the Revolution.  Their addition to the war provided too many fronts for George to maintain them all.

Dragoons were young men loyal to the revolution but pressed into service for the king.

We didn’t think much about how the war affected the people in the South, and the dilemma created that all men were free while hundreds lived in slavery.   Some slaves and black free men aligned with the King and others aligned with the colonies.  Both groups hoped for freedom.

Now that they had won their Independence, the colonists had to figure out what kind of country they wanted.

The fourth and last part of this exhibit is called A New Nation (1783-present).  It speaks to unfinished victories and the Ongoing Revolution.  The Constitution needed writing. Women worked to get the right to vote.  We are still working on providing the rights for all people.  As you exit this section several mirrors hang under the caption the new revolutionaries.

Beyond the main exhibits you go into a theater environment that tells the history of Washington’s War Tent.  At the end of the presentation, the curtain raises and reveals the original tent used by Washington and handed down through his family.  I found this presentation very impressive.

The only negative I had was a touring school group with a teacher who shouted in a strident voice.  I adjusted my viewing to stay out of range.  I needed a quieter environment to comprehend all the information this museum presents.  You may want to put this on your bucket list too.

This museum exceeded our expectations.   Of course we enjoyed a bite in the café and a stop in the museum store.

Heading to Washington D.C.