Philadelphia was the headquarters. Against protests british oppression first mounted. It was written just 200 yards away. This really is the most essential element, the birth of our nation. It ishe street from me, the first bank of the u. S. , Alexander Hamiltons banking system. It is the first building constructed by the usa, so we are truly where the nation began. It is the right place to tell the story. Cannons. See they are part of the city of philadelphias collection. Each one is old enough that it could have been used to fight the revolution. On the wall behind me, you see, concepts. Stone, core ofpiring, lofty ideals freedom, liberty, selfgovernment. 1776, but the revolution continues to this very day. Over here, we have wonderful exterior features of the museum that really help extend our story and is the outside of the building to inform people about the revolution. The first one is a giant sculptural relief, John Trumbull painting the declaration of independence. What you are looking at is the drafting committee that wrote the declaration led by john adams, of course thomas jefferson, presenting to the entire continental congress. That launched about three or four days of debate before the language was finalized on the fourth of july. The sculptural panel really shows you the people who helped create the defining document of the american people. It is the power of the pen. It really is the ideals, the concept, that has made the most important event in our nations history and one of the most important events in world history. The second panel we have, same scale, also in bronze, tells the other story of the American Revolution. That is the power of the sword. This is a replica of a painting, Washington Crossing the delaware. This represents the improbable feat of overcoming impossible odds against the British Military and the battlefield. It was really due to George Washingtons leadership. The painting really dramatizes washingtons leadership that are a number of details about this painting. It absolutely is truthful in capturing washingtons leadership and the sense of purpose and mission of the revolution itself. Both of these sculptural pieces are donations to the museum. They were donated by a naturalized american, a woman born and raised in china but now a naturalized american citizen. She wanted to give these to the museum and the public ingratitude of the freedom and life she has been able to live as an american citizen. We encompass everyone that comes to this nation, no matter when their ancestors came, and if they uphold the values of our nation, then they are part of america. We are entering the rotunda of the museum. This is a welcoming space. Him because he so thoroughly understand classical architecture. We wanted the same sense of scale, proportion, stature. He delivered beautifully. This rotunda is named in his honor. Lets go upstairs. The design of the stairs is intentional to evoke curved, soaring staircases of some of the early homes of the period. They also welcome our visitors to come upstairs to the atrium where the core of our exhibits are. In the atrium, you see some magnificent paintings. They are historic and they capture the spirit of the American Revolution. The one that you are looking at now is by harrington fitzgerald. He is a pennsylvania artist, painted this in the early 19th century and early 20th century. It was Washingtons Army marching into valley forge. Behind me is a magnificent painting. It is a copy. The original, a frenchman. The original hangs in versailles. This was created in the middle of the 19th century. This copy was. It shows the siege of yorktown. Since a french artist painted this for the king, the most prominent individual is general rochambeau. Our general, George Washington, is behind him to the left. It does capture the incredibly Important Role that the french played not only in yorktown but throughout the revolution. This shows a tent, really a french tent. It looks more napoleonic. Not the type of tent George Washington would have used. But it does show how armies would have traveled, living in tents. The crown jewel of our collection is George Washingtons war tent. I am scott stevenson. I am the Vice President of collections, exhibitions and programming. We are standing on the second floor of the museum. This is where our core exhibition, 16,000 square feet of exhibition space, kind of wraps around this court that im standing in. We enter here on my left. And you wrap around through 16 galleries and theaters. Pass behind the big painting that you see on the south end of the court all the way around and you actually exit just opposite of where were standing here. You enter a subject of king george iii. When you leave, youre a citizen of the american republic. We tell a story. The core narrative is about 1760 to 1790. But then we actually carry you through to the present day to explore the legacies of the American Revolution. First we have to step back to 1776 and we actually start with the recreation of the moment on july 9th, 1776, when a group of soldiers and sailers in new york city first heard the words of the declaration of independence and gathered down at the Bowling Green which is now near the raging bull on wall street, a landmark familiar to many viewers, and tore down an equestrian statue of king george iii. Really marking the beginning of the war of independence. The beginning of the American Revolution. And so this is really our first gallery displaying objects from the period. We call this gallery rule britannia. After youve been in that moment of 1776, we take you back 15 years really to the end of what was known as the seven years war, the french and indian war, the accession of the new king george iii, the first britishborn monarch in a century. This is the period in which britain wins this incredible victory in what Winston Churchill called the first first world war. We know it as the french and indian war. This has vastly expanded britains territories from india to africa to the west indies, and particularly north america. More than double the territory that britain laid claim over in north america. And so in the case behind us we have a collection of objects owned and used by colonial americans that speak to the presence of the king in everyday life. One of the great objects here, this is a cast iron fireback made in at Oxford Furnace in new jersey in 1746. This was essentially a big cast iron plate placed in the back of a fireplace that would radiate heat out into the room. As you can see, it includes the arms, the royal arms of the king of england. Right above it, a similar coat of arms. This is for queen anne. It was actually found in the attic of Independence Hall in 1844. It had been taken down to have the new arm of the new king, king george the first, placed up there. This was kind of the symbol of the crown that you would have seen in public and private spaces. It was a reminder of the sovereignty of the king, who was the glue that held the kingdom together. We also have objects that introduce you to british heroes. On the right, a tavern sign. This is on loan to us from a wonderful Historical Society with an amazing collection. General wolf, a british general who died after being mortally wounded at the battle of quebec helped capture french canada for the british empire. He was celebrated by americans. This tavern sign hung by the tavern in honor of general putnam, who fought at the battle of bunker hill. Our second item, we title the price of victory. More empire, more problems. So after the british victory in the seven years war, with this vastly expanded empire particularly in north america, britain faces the challenge, because of course everyones very excited about having this larger empire. But there are now tens of thousands of new subjects that look to king george iii, of course, desiring him to act as their sovereign. Or in the case of people who do not recognize him as the sovereign, like native americans, at least see him as a person they can ask for assistance with their problems. And so you have tens of thousands of native americans, you have more than 70,000 french catholic, and some former spanish colonists, who now are britain claims as its subjects. In addition, you have got 2. 5 million british colonists, people like George Washington, people like benjamin frankly and franklin and others, who have fought a war they believe to enjoy the fruits of that victory in the west. So the king all of a sudden has to face a challenge of how do i balance the interests of all these subjects . How do i on the one hand keep American Indians happy so that they dont rise up and cause costly wars on the frontier. At the same time, honor promises that ive made to people like George Washington who think they fought this war in order to enjoy those lands what do i do about these french catholic citizens who want to continue to practice their faith, etc. The king kind of has to act as the arbiter of all these people. Gallery two, the price of victory, really sets up that problem for the crown of how does it try to balance all these different interests . What is the view from the interior . What is the view from the colonies . What is the view from britain about this problem of empire . So the objects in here and the media piece really pull that story apart. For native people, for instance, in 1763, theyre the first group of people to sort of rise up and push back against an increased british control of their lives and a rebellion known sometimes as pontiacs rebellion. And they pushed the crown to guarantee their sovereignty over their lands in the west. The british conclude that the best way to kind of get their arms around this new empire is to build forts and stations, more than 10,000 British Regular troops in north america. Not necessarily to oppress colonists, but just to keep these various populations separated from one another. And thats a very expensive proposition. British taxpayers have funded this war. Theyve driven their National Debt up very high. In parliament, of course, no one is thinking, well, we should just continue to tax british taxpayers to pay for this. American colonists have enjoyed the benefits of this victory, we should ask them to contribute. So the idea comes up and is eventually passed through parliament of what becomes known as the stamp act. This is actually a depiction on the wall here of the design of that stamp. So this is not a stamp that you put on a letter, of course. This is a very old method of taxation, very familiar to british people, because it was essentially a stamp that was placed on paper. And you can see an original example here. This is a london newspaper and in the lower righthand corner you see that design thats been stamped on that paper. That was a design that meant that a tax had been paid on that paper. And then the newspaper would be printed on it. This would also apply to parchment that you would use for legal documents. It was on playing cards. And so this was the design for the stamp that would have been used in america to help pay for those british troops that were supposed to police the empire. Now of course this was a challenge to colonial american view, because they view themselves, of course, as transplanted english men. They may not have had any english ancestry whatsoever, that was the remarkable thing about being british colonists, is whether you were swedish or dutch or german or came from any number of european backgrounds, once you had become a naturalized british citizen, you believed that you had these fundamental rights as english men. One of the most fundamental of those is the right not to be taxed without your own consent. And that would be given through elected representatives. In the colonies that was through assemblies. In philadelphia, visit Independence Hall, we know it as Independence Hall because of something that happened in 1776. To people in the period that was the pennsylvania statehouse, the place where the Colonial Legislature met. If you go to Colonial Williamsburg in virginia, youll see the house of burgesses. In boston, the old statehouse. These were the legislative assemblies where men met who had been elected and those were the people who were, in the view of colonists, could actually pass taxes. Two visions of empire collide in this room. Is this empire going to be managed locally by colonists . Are colonists going to tax themselves and make the decisions about defense . Or is that going to come from above in this case from parliament . Thats whats represented by the tax stamp behind me here. Of course its very famously benjamin franklin, whos in london at the time, serving as a colonial agent for pennsylvania, recognizes that nobody likes taxes but does not anticipate the absolutely virulent reaction in the colonies. He even recommends some friends of his to become tax collectors then really has to sort of react and recover his reputation a little bit after the stamp act was passed. So the next room which we call resistance is the decade stretching from the stamp act of 1765 to the outbreak of the revolutionary war in 1775. So this is a room that also introduces one of the exhibition techniques we use which is to create these immersive spaces to try to make you feel transported back in time. And so weve recreated here the elm tree that stood in boston in 1765 that became known as the liberty tree. And this was of course a phenomenon that spread through other towns, through other colony in the period, that it was a place where sons and daughters of liberty gathered in a kind of openair political meetings to talk about how they would react to these efforts by the british to impose taxes through parliament on them. Weve actually embedded in the trunk of this tree a piece of wood from the last standing liberty tree. It was standing until 1999 on on the grounds of st. Johns college in annapolis, maryland. This is actually a piece of that tulip popular that was bleen down in a hurricane and some of the wood was salvaged. Its just wonderful to have kids in particular feel like theyre touching a piece of history here. So this also is a gallery in which we explore some of the symbols of the resistance movement. Forms of resistance. So nonimportation. The impulse to boycott goods that were manufactured in britain. And replace them with locally made goods. We think nowadays, this buy local, buy american movement, is something weve invented. But this has roots going all the way back to the 1760s. Save your money, save your country. Thats actually a slogan from the newspaper in the period. Weve also got a display of these wonderful objects that were used to express political sentiments in the period. Ironically, these were all items made by british manufacturers, that of course most manufacturers, their politics followed their wallets. In this case, these were made by english or in this case a chinese porcelain bowl here with arms of liberty printed on it. This mug in the lower left is an item from the collection here at the museum of the American Revolution that says, success to the city of boston, liberty forever. Again, made in england for the american market. This is also a gallery in which you talk about the evolving language of liberty. You see a lot of writings and articulation of these new ideas about not just about british liberty being restored but this increasing idea that perhaps there is something called american liberty that maybe is even distinct from that of britains. And as all of this lofty, soaring language is rising, we also want to always confront that with the reality that this idea of liberty did not apply to everyone. So in this panel here, which we entitle liberty for all, we explore the experience of slavery for people of african descent. This incredible object has survived, is the original printing of the poems of phyllis wheatley, an enslaved woman who lived in massachusetts. Shed been taken into captivity as a child during the french and indian war, actually, from africa. And eventually learned to read and write and published this book of poems in 1773 that actually has signed the flyleaf here. We actually see the signature of phyllis wheatley. This is an incredible privilege to be able to display this and share this with our visitors. Its actually on the left an image of her he produced from the frontispiece of that book which gives an idea of what she may have looked like. So this gallery concludes the kind of timeline of events from the Boston Tea Party in december of 1773, through the opening shots of the revolution war in 1775, and we of course explore some of the symbols of the mounting american resistance here. And one of the ones thats a favorite, weve reproduced from a written description this flag that stood on top of a very tall flagpole in tauton, massachusetts, in the fall of 1774. A red emblem, the type of flag that flew over british ships and ports. It has what we would call the union jack today in the upper canton. Its a good reminder that these were not yet people who were fighting for independence. They were not trying to found an independent republic. They were trying to restore their rights within the british empire. And the presence of that union on their flags of protest, it says liberty and union on there. So it is expressing the sentiments of people resisting what they consider british tyranny. But they are still appealing to king george iii. Their quarrel is with parliament. It is with ministers. It is not yet with the king. And that flag is going to continue to evolve over the next couple of years, but it will eventually turn into what we know as the stars and stripes. So there are several steps in that evolution. In this next gallery that we step into, we basically take you out of that decade of resistance as americans are gradually finding themselves more and more alienated from britain. And both sides are hardening in their attitudes toward one another by the fall of 1774, king george feels that