Neat history on our Independence Day!
Inside Philadelphia’s New Museum of the American Revolution
… So much history has unfolded in the United States since the revolution that it can be easy to forget that American independence was not inevitable. The choice between breaking away from Great Britain or staying loyal to the crown divided families, communities and whole cities. The museum brings this tension and uncertainty to vivid life through its thoughtful installations of flags, documents, everyday objects and works of art.
Much of the museum’s collection comes from that of the old Valley Forge Historical Society, which was founded by Reverend W. Herbert Burk and includes some iconic works like the painter William B.T. Trego’s scene of the Continental Army’s snow-covered arrival at Valley Forge, painted in 1883.
Other treasures, like an English-made ceramic punch bowl that was unearthed before the museum was built, celebrate the close relationship between the colonies and Britain. The bowl is decorated with an illustration of a ship and the words “Success to the Triphena,” which was a merchant ship that regularly sailed between Liverpool and Philadelphia in the 1760s. During this period, Philadelphia was the second-largest city in the British Empire, after London…
