The photos are flowers that i took in france. It is bringing them altogether. That is what i think the Buffalo Bill Historical Center does. It brings together and hopefully, someday it will have a really good picture of the widespread influence. Thank you. [applause] in the i will be down bookstore, signing any books that anybody might be interested in. Interested in American History tv . Visit our website. Lectures,tch college archival films, and more. American history tv at cspan. Org history. A teacher of social studies and civics to middle and high school students, try our classroom resources at the cspan classroom website. There are ready to go resources including lesson plans. Also, enhanced teaching tools to engage your students in discussions with new content added regularly. Many teachers use these resources so you should try it, too. It is quick and easy. Sign up. Next, a visit to philadelphias museum of the American Revolution. In the first of a twopart program, we learn about the museums location and design and we tour the exhibit gallery exploring the origins of the revolution in 1760 up until 1776. My name is michael quinn. I am president and c. E. O. Of the museum of the American Revolution. I am standing on the plaza of the museum at the corner of third and Chestnut Street in old city philadelphia. Philadelphia was the headquarters of the revolution. This is where the delegates came when the protests against british oppression first mounted. This is where the declaration was written just 200 yards away at Independence Hall. This really is the most central element of the American Revolution, the birth of our nation, which is why this museum is located here. Just down the street from me is the first bank of the United States. That is Alexander Hamiltons branch bank when he launched our nations banking system. It is also the first building constructed by the United States of america. So, we truly are where the nation began and it is the right place to tell the entire story of the American Revolution, which is our mission in the museum. Behind me, you see cannons from the era, these are part of the city of philadelphias collection. Everyone of these cannons are old enough that it could have been used to fight the revolution. On the wall behind me, you see carved in stone, those Core Concepts that rose from the declaration of independence, the inspiring lofty ideals of equality, of freedom, liberty, selfgovernment, the whole purpose of the American Revolution. It began in 1776, but the revolution continues to this very day. Over here, we have some wonderful exterior features of the museum to really help extend our story and use the outside of the building to inform people about the revolution. These are things you will recognize. The first one is a giant sculptural relief that replicates the John Trumbull painting, the declaration of independence. What you are looking at is the drafting committee that wrote the declaration, led by angevin franklin, john adams, and of course, thomas jefferson, presenting their draft to the entire assembled congress in early july, 1776. That launched about three or four days of debate before the language was finalized and voted on, on the fourth of july. This sculptural panel really shows you the people who helped create the defining document of the american people. It is the power of the pen. Because it really is the ideals and concepts of the revolution that made it the most important event in our nations history and one of the most important events in world history, at least modern world history. The second panel we have, same scale, also cast in bronze, tells the other story of the American Revolution. And that is the power of the sword. This is a replica of the painting, Washington Crossing the delaware. We all recognize it. What this represents is the improbable feat of overcoming impossible odds against the British Military in the battlefield. It is really due to George Washingtons leadership that we were able to accomplish that. The painting really dramatizes washingtons leadership. There are a number of historians that will tell you there are a number of details of this painting that are inaccurate, but it is truthful in capturing washingtons leadership in the purpose and mission of the revolution itself. Both of these sculptural pieces are donations to the museum and they were donated to us by a naturalized american, a woman born and raised in china, but now an american citizen. She wanted to give these to the museum, to philadelphia, to the American Public in gratitude of the freedom and life she has been able to live as an american citizen. That is really the legacy of our revolution that we encompass , everyone who comes to this nation, no matter when their ancestors came, and they are a part of our nation. If they uphold the values of our founding, then they too are american. It is wonderful to be able to present the history of these two panels, but their meaning in terms of significance of the life of the donor today. Having looked at the outside of the museum, lets go in. We are entering into the entrance rotunda of the museum. This is a wonderful, classical, welcoming space. The architecture of the building was by robert stern and we selected him because he so thoroughly understands classical architecture, not that we wanted to copy a building from antiquity, but we wanted the same sense of scale and proportion and stature and he delivered beautifully. In fact, this rotunda is named in his honor. Lets go upstairs. The design of these stairs is intentional to evoke the curved, soaring stairways of some of the more elegant Residential Homes of the colonial and early republic period. They also welcome our visitors to come to the secondfloor atrium where the core of our exhibits are. In the atrium, you see magnificent paintings. These are paintings that are historic and capture the spirit of the American Revolution. The one you are looking at now is by harrington fitzgerald. He is a pennsylvania artist and he painted this in the early 20th century. This is his depiction of Washingtons Army marching into valley forge for what was to be a very terrible winter encampment after the british captured philadelphia. Now behind me is a magnificent painting, but it is a copy. The original is by a frenchman and the original hangs in versailles. This was created in the middle of the 19th century, this copy was. What it shows is the siege of yorktown. Since a french artist painted this for the king, the most prominent individual is general roshambo, the one in the pink sash. Himge washington is behind to the left. It captures the critically Important Role that the french played not only at yorktown, but throughout the American Revolution. One other feature that attracted us to this painting is that it shows a tent. This is really a french tent, it looks more napoleonic, certainly not the kind of tent George Washington would have used, but we love the fact that it did show how armies traveled, living in tents. Since one of the crown jewels of our collection is George Washingtons war tent. Scott i am scott stephenson, and we are standing on the second floor of the museum. This is where our core exhibition, just 16,000 square feet of exhibition space wraps around this court that i am standing in. We enter here on my left and we wrap around through 16 galleries and theaters, behind the big painting you see on the south end of the court all the way around and you actually exit , just opposite where we are standing here. You enter a subject of king george the third, when you leave, you are a citizen of the american republic. The core narrative is 17607090, but we carry you through to the present day to explore the legacies of the American Revolution. But first, we have to step back to 1776. And we start with a recreation of the moment on july 9, 1776, when a group of soldiers and sailors in new york city first heard the words of the decoration 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. After you have been in that moment of 1776, we take you back 15 years, really the end of what was known as the seven years war, the french and indian war, of the new king the born monarch in first the century. This is the period in which britain wins this incredible victory in what the king called the first world war. It vastly expanded britains territories from india to africa to the west indies and , particularly, north america. More than doubled the territory that britain laid claim over in north america. 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 castiron fireback made at Oxford Furnace in new jersey in 1746. This is essentially a castiron 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. So an everyday object like this. Right above it is a similar coat of arms for queen anne, the monarch of the early part of the 18th century. This was found in the attic of Independence Hall in 1844. It had been taken down to have the new arms of the new king placed up there and was kind of forgotten. But this is the type of symbol of the crown that you would have seen in public and private spaces throughout the colonies. It was a reminder of the sovereignty of the king, who was the glue that held society together in this period when they were subject to the crown. We also have objects that introduce you to british heroes. In the upper right, a tavern sign. This is on loan to us from the connecticut historical society, a wonderful society with amazing collections. They generously placed this on loan to the museum. You see a british general who died after being mortally wounded at the battle of quebec in 1759, helping to capture french canada for the british empire. And he was celebrated by americans. This tavern sign hung in front of the tavern kept by israel putnam, who would be famous as an American General in the revolutionary war, fought at the battle of bunker hill. Our second gallery we titled the price of victory. More empire, more problems. After the british victory in the seven years war, with this vastly expanded empire, particularly in north america, britain faces this challenge. Of course, everyone is excited about having this larger empire, but there are now tens of thousands of new subjects. Iii,ooked to king george desiring him to act as their sovereign or in the case of people who do not recognize him as a sovereign like native , americans, at least seeing him as a person who they can ask for assistance with their problems. So you have tens of thousands of native americans, more than 70,000 french catholic and some former spanish colonists who now britain claims as its subjects. In addition, you have 2. 5 million british colonists, people like George Washington, like Benjamin Franklin and others, who fought in a war they believe to enjoy the fruits of that victory in the west. So the king all of a sudden has to face this challenge of, how do i balance the interest of all these subjects . How do i keep American Indians happy so they dont rise up and cause costly wars on the frontier, and at the same time, honor promises i 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, they are using to using they are used to using french ecclesiastical law. The king has to act as the arbiter of these various people. This gallery really sets up that problem for the crown of how how does it trying to balance these different interests. What is the view from the interior . What is the view from the colonies . What is the view from britain on this problem about the empire . So the objects in here and the media piece really pull that story apart. For native people, for instance, in 1763, they are the first group of people to really rise up and push back against an increased british control of their lives in a rebellion known as pontiacs rebellion. They push the crown to guaranty their sovereignty over their lands in the west. The british conclude that the best way to 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, just to keep these various populations separated from one another. That is a very expensive proposition. British taxpayers have funded this war. They have driven their National Debt up very high. In the parliament, no one is thinking we should just continue to tax british taxpayers for this. American colonists have enjoyed the fruits of this victory, we should ask them to contribute. And so, the idea comes up and eventually passes through parliament of what eventually becomes known as the stamp act. This is the depiction on the wall here of the design of that stamp. This is not a stamp 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 can see the design stamped on the paper. That design meant a tax had been paid on that paper and the newspaper would be printed on. This also applied to parchment you would use for legal documents. It was on playing cards. This was the design for the stamps that would have been used in america to help pay for those british troops that were supposed to police the empire. Of course, this was a challenge americans view because they view themselves as transplanted englishmen. They may not have had any anguished ancestry whatsoever, that was the remarkable thing about being british colonists. Whether you were swedish or dutch, you came from any number of european backgrounds, once you become a naturalized citizen, you believe you have these fundamental rights as english men. One of the most fundamental of those is the right not to be taxed without your own consent. That would be given through elected representatives. In britain, thats parliament. In the colonies, the view was this was through colonial assemblies. So if you come to philadelphia and you visit Independence Hall, we know that as Independence Hall now because of something that happened in 1776. To people in the period, that was the Pennsylvania State house. Thats where the Colonial Legislature met. If you go to williamsburg, you see the house of burgesses. If you go to boston, the old statehouse. These were the legislative assemblies where men met who were elected. Those were the people in the view of colonists who could pass taxes and impose taxes on them. Differente two visions of empire that collide in this room. Is the empire going to be managed locally from the colonists or are colonists going to tax themselves and provide the manpower to make decisions about defense . Or is that going to come from above, in this case from parliament . That is what is represented by the tax stamp behind me here. Iscourse, very famously it Benjamin Franklin serving as the colonial agent for them. He recognizes nobody likes taxes, but does not anticipate virulent reaction in the colonies. He even recommends some friends of his to become tax collectors and then has to react and recover his reputation a little bit after the stamp act is passed. The next room which we call resistance is about the decades stretching from the stamp act from 1765 to the outbreak of the revolutionary war in 1775. This is a room that also introduces one of the exhibition techniques we use, which is to create these immersive spaces to try and make you feel transported back in time. So we recreated here the elder we recreated the elm tree that stood in boston in 1765 that became known as the liberty tree. This was a phenomenon that spread through other towns and colonies in the period. It was a place where sons and daughters of liberty gathered in an open air, political meetings to talk about how they would react to these efforts are the by the british to impose taxes through parliament on them. We embedded in the trump of this tree a piece of wood from the last standing liberty tree or it liberty tree. It was standing until 1999 on the grounds of the college in maryland. This was a piece blown down during the hurricane. Some of the wood was salvaged wonderful to have kids in particular feel like they are touching a piece of history here. This also is a gallery in which we explore some of the symbols of the resistance movement, forms of resistance. Nonimportation, the impulse to boycott goods that were in manufactured in britain and replace them with locally made goods. Buyhink nowadays this American Movement is something we invented, but this has roots going all the way back to the 1760s. Save your money, save your country. That is actually a slogan from a newspaper we have. Objects used to present political sentiments from the period. Ironically, these objects were all made by british manufacturers. Most manufacturers, their politics followed their wallets. In this case, it was made by the english or chinese porcelain bowls 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. It says success to the city of boston, liberty forever. But 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 new ideas not just about british liberty being restored, but this increasing idea that perhaps there is something called american liberty that is maybe distinct from that of britains. As all of this sort of lofty language is rising we also want , to confront that with the reality that this idea of liberty did not apply to everyone. In this panel here, which we entitled liberty for all, we explore the experience of slavery for people of african descent. And this incredible object that has survived is an original printing of the poems of phyllis wheatley, who was an enslaved woman who lived in massachusetts. She had been taken into captivity as a child during the french and indian war from africa. She eventually learned to read and write and published this book of poems in 1773. She signed the flyleaf here. We actually see the signature of phyllis wheatley. And this is an incredible privilege to be able to display this and share this with our visitors. This is actually on the left, an image of her reproduced from the frontispiece of that book that gives us an idea of what she may have looked like. So this gallery concludes with a kind of timeline of events from the Boston Tea Party in december 1773 through the opening shots of the revolutionary war in 1775. And we explore some of the symbols of the mounting american resistance here. One of the favorites of mine, we reproduced from a written description this flag that stood atop a very tall flagpole in taunton, massachusetts in the fall of 1774. You can see, it was red. It is the type that flew over british ships and over british ports. It has what we would now call the union jack on it. Its a good reminder that these were not yet people fighting for independence. There were not trying to found an independent republic. There were trying to restore their rights within the british empire. The presence of that union on their flags of protest, it says liberty and union so if it , displays the sentiment of people resisting british tyranny, but they are still appealing to king george iii. Their quarrel is with parliament, with ministers, not yet with the king. That fight is going to continue to evolve in the next couple of years, but it will eventually turn into what we know as the stars and stripes. 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 they have crossed the rubicon, that it is really going to be a matter of military showdown to determine whether americans, he feels, are actually trying to found an independent nation, will be able to succeed or not. It is like they are living on a powder keg and a spark comes in april 1775 when an expedition of a secret expedition of british troops marches out of boston toward concorde, massachusetts, where spies are have revealed the americans have been gathering arms for this military confrontation. And the british troops, the alarm goes out, this is the famous ride of paul revere. He was one of dozens of writers. He did not get as far as others did. They managed to warn the countryside and there is a confrontation that takes place at lexington, massachusetts, and then a few hours later at the old north bridge in concorde. That is the scene you see behind us. We actually animated a period engraving of the fight at concorde bridge. Concord, massachusetts, is a place that every american should visit at some point. You can stand on this ground today, you can see the house stands up on the farm up above the river that still stands there today. And these are all objects which are witness objects to that fighting, whether a piece of wood that is literally one of the diagonal braces from the bridge that stood over the river on april 19, 1775. That actually came out of the river in the 1950s. It was right there where the bridge stood. There was only one bridge made of oak that ever stood on that site. The river changed course and they moved the bridge to a different location. And so, it matches perfectly. The location description of the bridge. And objects through the generosity of the Concord Museum in concord, massachusetts which , has placed a number of these items on display, supplemented pieces of our own collection. You are able to see all witness items that were there at the fighting on april 19, 1775. The mirror is really fascinating. Again, this has been in the collection of the Concord Museum in massachusetts for well over a century. This mirror was in the home that is actually visible in the far left of the scene here in the background of the fighting. And that house belonged to captain david brown. This is actually the fowling piece, or musket he carried in the fighting on april 19. This mirror was on the wall in the house. And on the morning of april 19, british soldiers marched across that bridge and went into the house and one of them took that mirror off the wall and threw it out the door, smashing it in the yard outside. Only one piece of glass was left in it and it was kept as a memento of april 19 and british barbarity by the family before it was donated to the museum. Its incredible to actually bring together the mirror which and peace which probably had been separated since captain david browns death in the early 1800s. We are having a little bit of a Family Reunion here for the summer of 2017. So that fighting brings soldiers from up and down the east coast together. You think about that gallery that centers on the liberty tree for about a decade. Colonial americans had been forming kind of an imagined community. They started to feel empathy for one another. Such that when the coercive acts are passed and britain bottles up boston and shuts the port down, humble farmers in places like pennsylvania and new jersey will put flour on a wagon and send to the beleaguered subjects who are living in boston. They started to imagine themselves as americans and had this empathy for one another, but what happens is because the fighting sparks and men from all those colonies stream together, they find that they have a ways to go before they see themselves as fellow americans. So this gallery is about the beginning of that quest for unity. Flying over the scene is the next evolution of that flight. That flag. You recognize the british canton, this is still a fight to restore our rights as english men, but now the 13 alternating red and white stripes resenting the 13 colonies who have joined in union here. We refer to this as a tableau. These are actually life cast figures. We polled molds off faces and hands and bodies and very carefully researched and handsewn all of the clothing to compensate for a lack of photographs from the 18th century. But the scene is based on a pension deposition by a man named israel trask. In 1775, he was this 10yearold boy in the red coat whose father had brought him to war. He was a massachusetts boy, these were Yankee Fishermen in a regiment from the north shore, north of boston. They encountered a group of virginia rifleman who had come in their fringe hunting shirts, trying to appear like American Indians. They come together around the College Buildings in Harvard College at the time, now harvard university. And fight breaks out between these men from two different regions. Israel trask, in 1845, remembers that George Washington wrote de into this scene, broke up the soldiers fight. This was just a moment where washington was writing home to his brother in virginia, talking about the challenges he was facing to try and get men for which their colony was their country to think of themselves as americans. So we think of this as a wonderful storytelling device to point out how long the journey would be, perhaps a journey not even finished yet today. For us all to see ourselves as americans. Despite our diversity. Each one of the cases in this gallery explores one of the three sort of big participants in this tableau. New englanders, southern riflemen, and George Washington himself. In this case, these are items that reflect the sort of military traditions of new and lenders in the period. And the red coat, which is in the back, is one of the few surviving garments from an american participant in the revolutionary war. That was worn by a man who fought at the battle of bunker hill. Of course, some people say, red coat, isnt that british . Remember, we are all british at this point. This was not yet a fight for american independence. Right beside him is a bible that was carried by another soldier, in this case from ipswich, massachusetts, francis merryfield, who had that in his pocket during the battle of bunker hill. That night, when they retreated, he sat down and wrote a short account of the fighting at bunker hill. He thanked god for preserving his life, dedicated his life to the glory of god for having saved his life during this terrible battle at bunker hill. So its amazing, it is tough. Men fromabout the rifle m the south . This is a great group of objects that reflect the sort of the Southern Military tradition, maryland, virginia, the backcountry, this is one of only a handful of fringed rifle shirts that have survived. There are only three or four of these that have survived from the revolutionary era. This is one from the collection of the museum of the American Revolution in philadelphia. The rifle is the earliest signed and dated american rifle from colonial america, 1761, made in reading, pennsylvania, which is a very distinctive type cometh a type verytive , accurate firearm used by these riflemen from the seven colonies to try to use the great accuracy of these firearms to compensate for not having as many men as the british army had. Finally, a tombstone that actually stood in the churchyard of Trinity Churchyard near ground zero in new york city. In memory of michael crescent, the captain of a rifle regiment that was raised in maryland. He died in new york in 1775, having marched to boston and then contracted fever. Thats a great object that remembers michael cresap. Finally, George Washington himself. Again, through the courtesy of two institutions very generously lending these objects we brought for theer we think First Time Since 1776, a portrait of George Washington painted here in philadelphia in the summer of 1776. This was commissioned by john hancock, painted by Charles Wilson peel. If you see over the shoulder of general washington, that blueribbon. This was a mark that washington purchased in boston in 1775 to distinguish himself. Of course, this is primarily a doing what army that this virginian has been appointed to command. Bilbrey knows who is in charge, so the first thing he does is purchase this ribbon to mark him as the commander in chief. Below the portrait is the actual original ribbon which washington gave to the painter, Charles Wilson peele during the revolutionary war. It descended and is now in the collection of the Harvard Peabody museum. This gallery sort of takes you through the end of and it is now 1775. January of 1776. Our next gallery, which we title revolution everything changed in 1776, really focused on the Independence Movement and the big change now from appealing to the king to try to resolve these differences to the siding the king was the enemy and the only solution was to declare independence. One of the things we try to do in this gallery is to try to invert the narrative that many of us were taught in school, which was viewing the declaration of independence as a document sprung from the mind of thomas jefferson, shared with members of congress, passed, and then announced to all of us, the citizens of america. We are trying to point out that as jefferson himself said, the declaration of independence was an expression of the american mind. We try to look at all the other declarations of independence that preceded the declaration of independence of july 1776. We do that through this touch screen interactive, where you can scroll through the months from january to july. As i do that, the colonies are populated with these little blue circles. What those are showing you is that in each one of the colonies, local declarations of independence, in this case , representatives of Charlotte County voting to support independence on april 23, 7076. 1776. In south carolina, for instance, a grand jury voting to support independence. These are often actions by courts. The grand jury voting to support independence in april. If you go to pennsylvania, for instance, a military organization like a Militia Group like the crawford ors which of associat is voting to support independence. Massachusetts itself, which puts the question of independence to all of the towns. These are all towns that voted to support independence and sent instructions to their delegates. So its really extraordinary. You can also explore the opinions of colonial americans. So here, a loyalist, her sentiments on this question. Again not everyone was in , support of independence. There are those who felt that this was a leap in the dark. One of them literally described this as a leap in the dark and why on earth would you declare independence from the greatest empire in the world . They were behind the resistance movement, but there were those who said they could not go and actually imagine declaring independence, that that was an act of treason too horrible to imagine. We explore this story through original objects. These are works on paper, actual original printing of the proclamation by king george iii for suppressing rebellion and sedition. This was passed in august of the 1775. News of this and king georges speech to parliament delivered in 1775, which declared colonists in rebellion, all arrive in philadelphia in january of 1776. The same week as a pamphlet is published just a block from where we are standing here at the museum of the American Revolution by thomas paine who , is the failed english corset maker. He tried to be a tax elector and did not find his way until he realized he could make an amazing career for himself writing. He wrote a pamphlet called common sense, which in plain everyday language here, and this is an english reprinting of that. Common sense addressed to the inhabitants of america, calls for an independent nation to be created, that all the state s should become republics, he rejects monarchy as a system of government and now the king is being cast as an enemy rather than a protector of the people. This is when this becomes an American Revolution. In this gallery, we unpack the story of the declaration of independence. We have a small theater that explores the actual process of drafting and passing the declaration of independence. We rotate on display printings of the declaration. Of course, we are all familiar with the engrossed copy on parchment we see at the National Archives in washington, d. C. But other than members of congress, few people have ever seen that document. Most people encounter the text of the declaration either from newspaper broadside contains or having it read out loud in their various communities. So we rotate on display different printings of the declaration. Right now, we have one of the rarest. It is a german language printing here in the center. There are only two copies of this july, 1776 printing in german that have survived. This has been shared with us by Gettysburg College in pennsylvania. It is sidebyside with a salem, massachusetts, printing of the declaration. We also explore the promise of equality. This notion that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That is language that of course, each person has to decide, does that apply to me . The people that wrote those words may be did not recognize the revolutionary potential in them. Some people, like john adams, probably did realize that when you declare all men are treated equal, people would say, what about women . What about enslaved people . Laboring men . We try to explore that story through this wall here where we look at the status of laboring men, enslaved people, of women, including abigail adams. We also explore the foundations of religious freedom through a group of objects representing different communities of faith in the colonies. So these on the left, these are highly decorated finials to cover the ends of the torah used by a Jewish Community in israel. It is still an active community in philadelphia. We have a weathervane from one of the first lutheran churches, pennsylvania, 1743. We even represent the presence of islam in america, very difficult to document through material culture. The very small charm, a little copper charm with an inscription from the koran that was excavated in pennsylvania from an archaeological site getting dating to the mid18th century, perhaps owned by an enslaved african who was muslim. It is tremendous to be able to have this tradition represented through an object in the exam. The museum