Transcripts For CSPAN3 Museum Of The American Revolution Call-In 20171225

Museum. You are welcome any time as is everyone wiatching. We were there for the Opening Ceremony in april. A chance to see the exhibits tonight. My opening question is how this project came about and why. Well, it came about out of the decision that we need to preserve and tell the story of americas founding. And not just as a series of events, but as people who actually achieved it, who thought up these soaring ideals of equality and liberty and selfgovernment and then how that really spread and inspired a nation, people in our nation to achieve it. It is the most important event in our nations history. It not only gave birth to our nation, but it really gave us the values that make us a people. Everything that we cherish and hold dear. So its more than just artifacts . Oh, its far more than artifacts. Our museum is founded on artifacts. In fact, when you come to the museum you will see one of the more comprehensive collection of artifacts of the revolution that has probably ever been assembled. But we really do dwell on the story of the individual people. How did these people who were citizens of the British Empire decide to rebel against their king . What prompted them . What were they trying to achieve and then ultimately what did they achieve. And what is it today. In many ways our message is that this period in history was accomplished by real people just like every period of history is. And we wanted to use these objects as witnesses to those people as witness to the events that brought about the birth of our nation. So as visitors walk through the museum on the first and second level, who are some of the Unsung Heroes . What individuals will they learn about beyond George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin that are featured inside the museum . Well, we bring a lot of people to life in this museum. You will meet joseph plum martin, a young connecticut boy, a teenager who joined Washingtons Army and served throughout the revolution. Youll meet james taforten who 14, an African American volunteered on board a ship. You will also stand under bostons liberty tree and youll have a chance to imagine yourselves with the sons of liberty who were the very first people who were starting to form ideas of american independence and american liberty. You are meet women, native plerns who bring to light the stories of different people. Its only been a couple of months but what are folks telling you when they depart the museum after spending a couple of hours inside . Im happy to say we are getting praise and acclaim for the story telling, the exhibits, the artifacts, the films, the immersive environments. People are telling us that even though theyve never been interested in history before, they are finding the subject matter fascinating. That weve found a way to tell it that connects with them and we were hearing this not just from adults but from children. Its a very positive response. They can see themselves, they can see the drama in the in the exhibits and the action, and they want to know more. And ultimately that is our goal. We want people to learn more about the revolution. So there is so much here to allow them to really explore the excitement and the drama of this founding. Later in the program well learn more about how you were able to collect many of the artifacts inside the museum and in just a moment, one of the center piece of the museum, George Washingtons tent, but where are you physically located . Im in one of our galleries that really explores that terrible winter when british is occupied when philadelphia is occupied by British Forces and washington and his army are suffering out at valley forge. It was one of the low points of the war, but as winter waned and spring arrived, it really became a resurgence of the american cause. Michael quin will be with us for the next half hour. Well get to your comments and calls, but just last month we traveled to philadelphia and as we mentioned the center piece is a tent used by George Washington. Snut its behind these doors and it really is one of the most remarkable objects to survive from the revolution. As far as we can determine it is the only tent other than one other of washingtons tents to survive. It does survive because washington chose to take it home with him at the end of the revolution. And his family took care of it and preserved it. The full story of the tent is presented in this theater. But the tent itself actually is a wonderful emblem of the challenge of creating the exhibits in our museum. If you were to see this tent spread out on a table, you probably wouldnt give it a second glance. Its very old canvas. Its weather stained. Its tattered in places. Its over 240 years old, after all. But we had to make its story as being the shelter in which George Washington made some of the most critical decisions of the revolution, where he was plunged into the depths of despair where he exulted in victory and success to make that tent tell its story. The first challenge we decided is we had to show the tent fully assembled as washington used it in the field when it was truly his command headquarters. But we couldnt put it up the way he did because it was put up with tall poles and then ropes tied to the fabric itself pulled taut. That would literally pull that ancient fabric apart. So instead we challenged engineers to develop a very sophisticated umbrella structure so the tent appears to be fully assembled and yet theres no tension, no damage done to it at all. That umbrella even had to replicate the slight curve, the slight sag in a taut line because its not perfectly straight. Once we solved all those problems, the next challenge is how do you tell the story so we turned to film makers and they huddled together and spent almost two years pulling together the story line, the imagery, thinking about the music, the presentation, the light quality to really give this tent meaning. Our goal is to give meaning to George Washingtons leadership. He was commander in chief for eight years. Never left his troops. And he inspired a sense of loyalty, he instilled a sense of responsibility in the army that has really become the bedrock of the traditions of the American Military ever since. Without him the army would likely have dissolved and the war would have been lost. So in many ways its an emblem for the entire museum. How do you take these small objects, very simple to our eyes, after all they didnt have tanks and airplanes and battleships in the revolution. T they had guns and canteens and powder horns. How do you make these objects come alive and tell the incredible life and death decisions, the horrors, the courage, the excitement of the revolution . Its a turning point in history. And thats what we strive to do throughout this museum, and its a very exciting place. These objects, they really do speak when you visit. And this of course the exterior of the museum of the American Revolution in downtown philadelphia, michael quin who is the president and ceo, our phone lines are open. 2027488901 for those of you in the pacific and Mountain Time zones. Let me go back to my earlier question whether its George Washingtons tent or other artifacts, when did the collection process begin, where was it stored up until the museum and how did you go about finding some of these unique artifacts . Well, steve, actually, the tent is a good place to start, because it is not only the most treasured object in our collection, its also our origin object because descendants of washington family put it up for sale in 1907, and it was decided it had to come home. It took him two years to raise the 5,000 to purchase it, but once he did, that launched the idea of building a collection, preserving the memory and ultimately creating a museum to tell the story of the revolution. So we trace our history back to that moment. He ultimately founded the Valley Forge Historical society and they spent the 20th century collecting these objects were during much of that time exhibited out at valley forge, but then we were formed to actually realize that larger vision of a museum to tell the story of the revolution. We did ultimately conclude that the right place for that was in the heart of historic philadelphia. As you pointed out, were just two blocks from Independence Hall and that enables us to serve the millions of people who come to philadelphia to see the place where the declaration of independence was written, Independence Hall and to see the other great landmarks here. So we directly serve those people and our goal is to give them a broader understanding of the significance of that document and how it came about and its meaning at the time and its meaning today. The price tag of the museum . How much does it cost, how much did you have to raise . Well, there are a lot of numbers in here. The construction of this building was 60 million. Our full budget to open the museum was twice that, 120 because that covered not just the building, it covered all the design work to create it, demolition of another building on the site, creating the exhibits, and all of our staff to get the museum to opening day. Lets go to your phone calls here on cspan 3s American History tv. Inside the museum that chronicles the American Revolution. Linda from dover, delaware, good evening. Caller i watched the Ribbon Cutting ceremony the other night and they introduced a japanese family as great contributors to the museum and i wondered why we went to japan to get these people to donate to the museum. Well, youre referring to erin and her heritage is primarily chinese and shes a naturalized american citizen and the reason she came to us, she was so grateful for the freedoms that she has realized as a citizen of america that she wanted to make a donation and her donation took the form of these beautiful bronze sculptural panels on the exterior of the museum. One of them Shows Washington crossing the delaware and the other replicates a famous painting titled the declaration of independence and it shows the drafting committee of the declaration presenting it to the Continental Congress in june 28th, 1776. These were such magnificent gifts and inspired by such a gratitude for what america represents that we felt it was only fitting to accept them and to display them on the outside of the museum where they could really excite and inform every person who passes by this building. And linda, in fact were going to show case exactly what they look like in just a couple minutes as michael quin takes us outside. We we were up in the museum back in june to produce some of these segments as well as our live coverage here tonight, but first, daniel is joining us on the phone. Good evening. Caller good evening, sir. I have a fast question real quick in three parts and ill be quick. My first part of it, at valley forge, the play cato, i knew washington auz a fan of that play and that his officers presented that to the troops. Was there much of a thing about that . I mean, did that really go all right or fall apart or whatever . And also, the sons of liberty, did they have an identification badge . Im saying that from my childhood, you know, the movie, they always had a badge around their neck or to show they were a member, if that was true or just hollywood. And my last part of my question, was there any i know the Continental Army was made up of various people, blacks, indians. Were there any jews on record that were in the Continental Armys enlisted men . I know there were some that were financiers and thats all i wanted to ask. I thank you. Thanks for the call from ohio. A lot of questions there. Firstly, the cato play was perform at valley forge and the significance of that is that it really harkened to that ancient rome era when rome was a republic. That very much was the model of the inspiration for leadership at the time that that Public Servant who gives of himself without demanding anything in return to try and better their country. Of course, thats what washington symbolized and the army did as well, because although they were being paid, at least theyve been promised to be paid, for many of them that wasnt what was impelling them to serve. It was the higher cause of the nation. As to your other two questions, im afraid im i cant give you an answer with 100 certainty. Ill ask you to defer them to our next guest, our Vice President , dr. Scott stevenson. And hell be joining us. Hell be joining us shortly and hes a great historian of the revolution. But let me ask you how you got involved in this project and when. I became involved in this project five years ago, and when i learned about it i thought instantly, this is the most exciting project in the entire field of public history. To be able to create a National Museum on the American Revolution and yes, the revolution is preserved in many places in our country, but its little pieces of it. Its the battlefield here, an encampment, a tavern, a home. This would be a place that would really pull all of that together and present to the American People the most exciting dramatic chapter in our nations history. After all, if you regard our nation, our form of government, our values of equality and freedom as important, we should certainly preserve the memory of its founding. They also inform how we think about our nation going forward. One of the messages in our museum is that the legacy of the American Revolution means that all of us in a true fashion are revolutionaries because we are have to uphold those values and carry them forward as our nation continues and we must do that for the nation to thrive. Well go to ron joining us from massachusetts with michael quin, the president and ceo of the museum of the American Revolution. Caller i was wondering did you have any exhibits on the on the contribution to the american to the American Revolution . We do absolutely. Fran frances contributions are enormous, you know that, but theyre underappreciated. So you learn about their role when franklin brought them into alliance with us. You learn about their role in particular at yorktown, but it was without question the Financial Support and the military support from the french that helped sustain the american nation and led ultimately to success. One of the things were very proud of is we have a portrait of a British Marine officer who had himself portrayed after the revolution wearing his north american uniform. So you see this this officer looking just as he would have appeared in the battlefields around yorktown. Our first caller asking about the bronze sculptures that are outside the museum so lets take a look at that. Well be back in about three minutes. Over here weve got some wonderful exterior features of the museum that really help extend our story and use the outside of the building to inform people about the revolution. These are things youll recognize. The first one is a giant sculptural relief that replicates the john trumable painting. What youre looking at is the drafting committee that wrote the declaration led by Benjamin 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 4th of july. But this relief, this sculptural panel really shows you the people who helped create the defining document of the American People. Its the power of the pen, because it really is the ideals and the concept of the revolution that have made it the most important event in our nations history and one of the most important events in world history. At least in 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 emmanuel loyts painting of Washington Crossing the delaware. What this represents is the improbable feat of overcoming impossible odds against the British Military in the battlefield. Its really due to George Washingtons leadership that we were able to accomplish that. So this painting really dramatizes washingtons leadership. There are a number of historians will tell you there are a number of details about this painting, this depiction that are inaccurate but 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 and they were donated to us by a naturalized american, a woman born and raised in china, but now an american citizen and she wanted to gifz these to the museum to philadelphia, to American Public as in gratitude of the freedom and life shes been able to live as an american citizen. Thats really the legacy of our revolution is that we encompass everyone who comes to this nation, no matter when their ancestors came and if they are part of our nation, if they uphold the values of our founding, then they too are american. Its wonderful to be able to present not only the history of these two sculptural panels but also their meaning in terms of their significance in the life of the donor today. And michael quin as we look at the museum both outside and inside it had to be prime real estate so what was located there before the museum now . Well, steve, this really is prime real estate. We are actually within the boundary of Independence National historical park. It was a break through moment for our organization when the park service, the federal government agreed to give up ownership of this piece of the park just for this museum. There was a building on the site. It was the Visitors Center constructed by the bicentennial of the declaration so were talking 1976. And it served as a Visitor Center up until about 15 years ago when it was closed. So at the time the park service gave up ownership, it was an unused building and we determined it was just unfeasible to reuse it for the museum. So we tore that building down and over a period of 30 months, constructed the current new Landmark Museum on this location. Which opened in april and we covered the dedication ceremony. Its on our website as with all of our coverage. Well go to jackson, joining us from wisconsin. Good evening to you, sir. Caller hi. Hello. Caller hi. My name is jackson and i was wondering if George Washington was the only person that slept in his tent or did he sleep with other officers . Jackson, how old are you, by the way . Caller eight. Nicely done. Your dad did a good job. Thanks for phoning in. Do you know the answer . Jackson, you have asked a terrific question. There was one other person who slept in the tent with washington. It was not another officer. It actually was a person who was his personal assistant. He would have used the term valet. His name was william lee and actually he was an enslaved a African American from mount vernon and he accompanied George Washington when he took command and he remained at washingtons side throughout the entire revolution. Its one of the incredible truths of history, the ironies of history that when we look at this tent we are really seeing the wartime home not only of our commander in chief, but of william lee. And thats a story we do tell to our visitors because we want them to understand that fact and the complexities of the era. Was there a second tent . There was a second tent. The tent that we present served as his headquarters which means it was the office where he worked, he did have private meetings there and his sleeping quarters as ive just described. There was another tent, larger tent that would have been used really for dining. So this is where his entire military family, the aides that would have worked with him, other generals would have gathered for meals or probably for larger meetings as well. Thank you for waiting from massachusetts. Youre next. Caller hello. How are women from the revolution related to the museum . And how old are you naomi . Nine. Love these young callers. I didnt quite catch your question. You still on the line . Do you want to ask the question . Caller so how are women from the revolution represented at the museum . Thank you. Well, woman thank you for repeating it. Women are an important part of the revolution. The revolution happened here in our country when meant people are living through it. Its around them, theyre in unavoidably swept up into it. One of the things you learn is when the sons of liberty in boston decided to boycott British Goods the people that were really affected were women at home because they had to give up the manufactured goods that were an important part of their lives. But you also learn about the role of women throughout, probably one of the more significant is the role women played in supporting Washingtons Army. It literally depended on women. They were the cooks and the seamstresses that supported the army and then they became the medical corps after battles. There was literally a womens au that accompanied the army throughout the revolution. You also learn about women at home and women from all walks of life. Delores, good evening, from spring, texas. Youve got the next question. Caller yes, i would like to know how the city of philadelphia became the city of brotherly love. The name the city of brotherly love really arises because philadelphia was founded by william penn who was a quaker, and he instituted a policy of religious toleration in philadelphia that was consistent with the believes of quakers and that led it to being regarded as a city not only of tolerance but a love for all man kind. We now say its the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection and you still feel that quaker sentiment and you certainly at times feel like you could bump into william penn or Benjamin Franklin as you explore the streets of philadelphia. Having lived this over the last couple of years, if you could have asked George Washington a question, is there one that youd pose to him . Oh, i would want to know why he didnt give up. There were so many low points and there were times that from his private correspondence, we know he was near despair. And yet he kept that to himself and he was just unyielding in his determination. I think its an incredible power of will to sustain that and for eight years of leadership of the army. So i would love to know where that strength came from, where that determination, where that certainty that ultimately they would he would succeed and the country would be created. Kathleen from maryland, good evening. Caller hi. Thank you for taking my call. I was wondering if groups such as the sons of the American Revolution or the daughters of the American Revolution made any financial contribution to the museum or maybe they contributed artifacts . The answer is yes on both counts. The daughters of the American Revolution have made a contribution that helped us put on display a magnificent replica painting of yorktown. Its in the atrium of the museum. The sons of the American Revolution are strong supporters and we have are able to borrow items from both organizations. Well, well be joined next from garden grove, new jersey. Caller no california. Go ahead. Caller thank you. Im really excited to watch your program. Im originally from new jersey and my question is, does the museum include any artifacts or documentation or even acknowledgement of black patriots who fought in the American Revolution such as george milton, these were sons of liberty who fought at lexington and concord, not only including james am stead who was a spy at yorktown. You do learn about that as you go through. And im going to ask that for the details on that, and am stead you certainly learn about. You will discover james forten, a young African American who volunteered on board a privateer and some included African Americans in their ranks so you do discover that. For details ill be happy to have dr. Stevenson return to that subject. We have time for one more call with our guest michael quin whos the president and ceo of the museum. Mark from new jersey. Go ahead, please. Caller hi. Ive been to the Valley Forge Museum numerous times, and my question is how difficult was it to get all the artifacts that you have there . I notice even behind you you have some soldiers in uniform. I wanted to know if you had any that were in authentic uniforms, how difficult was it to get the donations that you got . Thank you, marc. Well, the thank you. The soldiers you see behind me are not in period clothing. Theyre in replica clothing and what they are recreating is that time, 18 months after the declaration of independence when philadelphias captured by British Forces and Independence Hall is reduced to a prison for captured american soldiers. What it really illustrates is how easily this war could have been lost and another one of those low moments that in the revolution itself. We have over 500 objects on display in the museum. Close to half of them are from our own collection. The others are on loan to us. And what we have really found is that many institutions, many private collectors are eager to loan to us because this is this is essentially the only way for these objects to be shared with the general public. And they are treasures. Were very proud to bring those objects to the American People and to help them understand their meaning and see real artifacts that were held in the hands of people who carried out the revolution. Let me conclude with that question. First, whats the price of admission to enter the museum and what do you think visitors will better understand when they depart . The price of admission is 19. That is a twoday ticket. So every ticket you buy is good not only for the day of purchase but the following day and i think what people will learn in their visit is that the revolution was carried out by real people. And that it is people like you and me and we all have the ability to change the course of history, and that we are today as americans the heirs to that revolution. It has created the country we live under and it also requires our continued participation in the nation to uphold and sustain that revolution. Michael quin, the president and ceo of the museum of the American Revolution joining us from downtown philadelphia. We thank you for your time this evening. Thank you so much. Its a pleasure to have you here. And more from inside the museum as we continue our look. It opened in april and tonight an inside view of the exhibits on display in philadelphia. Im scott stevenson. Im the Vice President of collections, exhibitions and programming at the museum of the American Revolution. Were standing on the second floor of the museum. This is where our core exhibition which is 16,000 square feet of exhibition space kind of wraps around this court that im standing in. So we enter here on my left and you wrap around through 16 galleries and theaters, you know, 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 subject of king george the iii. When you leave youre a citizen of the american republic. So we tell a story. The core narrative is about1760, 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 actually start with a recreation of the moment on july 9th, when a group of soldiers and sailors first heard the words of the declaration of independence tore down an equestrian statue of king george iii really marking the war of the independence, the American Revolution. And so this is really our first gallery displaying objects from the period. We call this rural 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 7 years war or the french and indian war, the asession of the new king george iii. Britain wins the victory. This vastly expanded britains territories from india, africa. And north america, more than double the territory that britain laid claim over 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 every day life. One of the great objects here, this is a cast iron fire back, made in at Oxford Furnace in new jersey in 1746. This was essentially a big cast iron place in the back of a fireplace that would radiate heat out into a room. It includes the royal arms of the king of england. We have objects that introduce you to british heroes. This is on loan to us from a Historical Society, amazing collections. Generally placed on loan. You see general wolf, this was a british general who died after being mortally wounded at the battle of quebec in 1759 helping to capture french this hung in front of israel putnam, who would later be famous as an American General in the revolutionary war, fought at the battle of bunker hill. Our second gallery we titles the price of victory, more empire, more problems. So after the british victory in the seven years war, with this vastly expanded empire, britain faces this challenge, because everyones excited about having this larger empire, there are now tens of thousands of new subjects. And so the objects in here, and the media piece. 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 sometimes known as upon tee agos rebell wrong, they pushed the crown to guaranty their sovereignty in the west. The best way to get their arms around this new empire is to build for thes and station more than 10,000 British Regular troops in north america. Not necessarily to oppress chinnist chinnists. Thats a very expensive prospect. No one is thinking, we should continue to tax british taxpayers to pay for this, american clonists have enjoyed this victory, we should ask them to contribute, the idea comes up and it passes through parliament of what becomes known as the stamp act, and this is actually a depiction on the wall here of the design of that stamp. This is a stamp you put on a letter of taxation. It was a stamp placed on paper, you can see an original example here actually, this is a london newspaper, in the lower right hand corner, you see that design thats been stamped on that paper. That was a design, that meant a tax had been paid on that paper, and the newspaper would be printed on it, this would apply to parchment that would be used for legal documents, it was on playing cards, and so 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. This is what that exhibit looks like live inside philadelphia, and the museum of the American Revolution. You have a fun job, you show your excitement. I have to pinch myself every morning to remind me that i am the luckiest man in the world. Let me ask you about something that David Mccullough i know he was at the ceremony in april when you opened this museum. He said roughly a third of the colinists were in favor of the revolution, a third were intent to stay part of the british empish, the other third were waiting to see what happened. Is that a Fair Assessment . Its tough to go up against David Mccullough. Thats a quote from john adams that is taken out of context. The original letter is referring to the opinions of americans toward the french revolution, a little bit post war, but it actually is speaks to a larger truth that we try to present in the museum of the American Revolution. This wasnt just a unanimous decision of all of the people in the british colonies to rebell, and all had the same idea about the revolutionary project they were embarking on, you know, this has been a subject of a lot of scholarly research, theres particularly recently theres been a lot of great work on loyalism, and one of the difficulties is just defining what we mean by a loyalist, i think most historians would agree the majority of the population probably was kind of setting there a little neutral, uncertain which way things would go. Most people when you think about peoples loyalties, its to family, its to community. Almost like the rings of an onion. A lot of times, determining which side people in a particular time and place supported, really stems from local circumstances, its not always the story we want to hear. We want to believe that everybody was always motivated by noble ideas, there were lots of people that were, in many areas of british north america, fledgling United States, very fervent commitment to the revolutionary cause. I think its fair to say there was a a small subset of very fervent loyalists, those who took up arms, active part in trying to preserve what they saw as the freest empire since ancient rome. That population which really had to be won over. Its that contingent nature of the American Revolution that we really tried to plump the depths of here. Lets go do vincent joining us from stamford, connecticut. Good evening. Caller thank you for taking my call. My wife is a d. A. R. , we visited the National Museum in yorktown, virginia a month ago, we havent been to your museum yet, we will. Were wondering what kind of relationship youre going to have between your museum and the one in yorktown, if youre going to be collaborating or sharing artifacts or what kind of relationship youll have with one another. Thanks. Thank you, vincent. Great question, i, as personally having lived in virginia for many years, i actually have a lot of good friends who work at the American Revolution museum at yorktown army, both of our projects have been enmeshed in designing and opening and working closely with one another. We had a very good collaborative effort. We look at this as we often use a jewellers row ration ailty. You cant have too many diamonds on jewellers row. The divided nature of our politics today, the public need to really connect to this founding history, these founding ideas, this is the glue that holds us together as a people, its not that we all have the same religion, were all from the same place, the same race, same country of origin, it is really the history and the ideas that come out of this period that have always been the rock that allows us to get through some of our challenging days as a people. And some of our greatest aspirations as well. We feel like were all preaching from the same book, so to speak. And whether its the great preserved Historic Sites, like the freedom trail in boston, or even our neighborhood here in philadelphia, the Historic District around Independence Hall. Also museums like the American Revolution museum at york tune and the museum of the American Revolution in philadelphia. We are hoping to hook more and more people on to becoming lifelong learners, loving history, engaging rising generations and real appreciation of the sacrifices and struggles and achievements, and the ongoing need as americans to continue to be actively engaged as citizens. We couldnt be warmer wishers for our companions in virginia. One of the goals we have here at ahtv on cspan3. Hi, scott, i wanted to ask you about the mannequins. Im sure you were involved in the french and indian wars, toured the country. They have some sclengt mannequins, can you talk about the mannequins at the museum . Thank you, gary. Including a few behind you, scott stevenson. Yes, right over my shoulder, i like to say this time of night, they come alive, they look like theyre from real people, and, in fact, they are. I was very involved with that exhibit called the clash of empires which orange natured with the Heinz History Center in pittsburgh, and then in canada, and the United States, and its something i feel particularly passionate about with telling history of a prephoto graphic era, one of our greatest challenges, the places we have to start is getting visitors to believe that these events took place, that these people were real. The power of a Matthew Brady photograph cannot be underestimated. And we dont have that for this era. The artwork, you know, theres some great dramatic artwork, it can be difficult to access for a modern audience. Its selective in who it portrays, certainly doesnt cover a lot of segments of society that we want to talk about in the museum. You then sort of have a couple choices, how are you going to bring these people to life. Film can be very effective and we use that in a number of places in the museum here. Film does require a certain length of time for you to suspend your disbelief and be pulled in and to forget where you are. So you sparingly, and, of course, its also extremely expensive, you can Commission New illustration, thats something we use in the museum as an interpretive technique, over the last 30 some years ive been interested in working in museums, ive employed this technique of working with talented artisans who do these life cast figures, these are not the wax sculptures that you would mock when you would go to some of the old time attracts from the 1950s, lets say, these really. Theyre life cast, they pull molds off the hands and faces of bodies, they use a pink gooey stuff you use when you go to the dentist, you get all the detail, all the pours and imperfections of skin. And then thats used to produce these figures which are oil painted and can be really realistic. One of the things we try to do, is to think of them as a three dimensional illustration. Howard pile, nc wayage. That classic age of american illustration, where the illustration actually has a narrative quality to it. These are not, these figures you see behind me and elsewhere in the museum, theyre not there to displace a certain model of campaign cork. Theyre perceived of we try to capture a larger historical moment finally, we are all voiristic as humans. But in most cultures, thats considered fairly rude, these people dont mind if you stair at them for an hour. Let me ask you about the communication, the delay or the length of time it took to communicate, between london and philadelphia, so how did that affect the revolutionary war, and how do you convey that in the exhibits today . Great question. Command and control then as now, absolutely critical for condu conducting military operations. As you say in the 18th century, the fastest ships are a month, two months, might be the fastest crossing to get from philadelphia or new york to london for instance. What you tended to have is a set of detailed instructions. You can send a petition to the king and it might be 6 or 8 months, before you hear back on what the response was. And so you have a lot of local control by commanders, military and political figures. That had sort of adjust and make decisions. The classic example is from the french and indian war, or the seven years war. The spanish port of manila was capture captured by a british expedition. It took so long from the time they were dispatched, that the whole peace making process in signing the treaty had taken place. Its an absolutely complicated feature that we take for granted in our instantaneous communication world. A couple examples of that. Very early on, we have a marvelous punch bowl. It says success to the trifina. It was about 40 feet below from a privy or an out house that sat at the back of a tavern kept by a quaker couple. It was on a back ally, it was an 18th century speakeasy, it was unlicensed. We got a remarkable treasure trove of artifacts out of this feature, which we know was dug in 1776, filled in 1789. Out of the fill of this tavern waste, is this wonderful delftware bowl. Made in liverpool, commemorating a ship that saliled from philadelphia to johnston into the west indies. They carried a petition, signed by 300 merchants here in philadelphia. Not addressed not to parliament, not to the king, but to the manufacturers and tradesmen of england. These were the producers who were shipping goods to the conists here it was calling up the supply chain, asking them to intercede with parliament. That petition is dispatched from philadelphia on that ship in december of 1765, it did arrive january or february of 1766 and was passed on to parliament, but then word of the overturn of the stamp act takes months and months to come back. We explore a little bit of the length of communications in a couple early galleries together. We laerned about the stamp tax, well have you showcase the liberty tree, a quick question from john, joining us from jamaica plains, new york. Im a Founding Member of the museum, i enjoyed my visit there very much, i think it would be terrific if in the future you had an exhibit on the spies of the American Revolution. Thank you, john. John, thank you, for your support of the museum, our members are extremely important to us, and particularly being a Founding Member, and the fact that youve been able to visit us here in philadelphia is very much appreciated by us. Obviously with things like the amc series turn and a lot of great books that have come out, theres a lot of Public Interest in spying. One of the things that a museum like ours can do is dive down deep to look at some of the real stories of espionage and the American Revolution. We hope that will be a subject of a special exhibition. One of the difficulties, there was a million great ideas out there. Its often very difficult to find objects, and when people come to the museum. Theyre hoping to see real tangible objects. There are documents that have survived in british and american arc iverson. And question certainly. We do talk about this on the grounds floor of the museum. We have the opportunity to use codes and decode letters. Actually the scene thats behind me where im sitting is depicting Independence Hall during the British Occupation of philadelphia, which lasted from september 26th of 1777, to the 18th of june, 1778 when this revolutionary capital was occupied by the british, there was a tremendous amount of espionage and james bond like activity in the neighborhood were sitting in. Some of which took place in smuggling images about the second floor was turned into a prison for about 70 captured american officers, captured at battles like brandywine, germantown and other actions in southeastern pennsylvania, and theres a tremendous story. There was a woman, her husband of pennsylvania lines, served with Anthony Wayne had been captured a few days after the battle of brandywine. He was in prison there on the upper floor of Independence Hall, and she left a memoir of her coming into philadelphia with her 9yearold daughter, they had to slip through the lines, pass by they got into the hall. She smuggled out a letter in a piece of moldy bread, being fed to the prisoners, managed to smuggle it out of philadelphia, rode to see general washington at his encampment, initiated a series of letters back and forth. Frazier escaped from Independence Hall, sliding down the side of the building with the knotted bed sheets, its absolutely a riveting subject. I hope we can explore it more fully in other kinds of programmi programming. Were going to explore more. The next room, which we call resistance is about the decade stretching from the stamp act to the outbreak of the revolutionary war. This is a room that also introduces one of the exhibition techniques we use, which is to create these transformative spaces. We recreate the elm tree that became known as the liberty tree. It was a phenomenon that spread through other towns. It was a place where sons and daughters of liberty gather ed o talk about how they would react to impose taxes on parliament. We embedded in the trunk of this tree, piece of wood from the last standing liberty tree. The grounds of st. Johns college in annapolis maryland. This is a piece of tulip popular blown down. Its wonderful to have kids, in particular, feel like theyre touching a piece of history here. This is a gallery in which we explore some of the symbols of the resistance movement. The impulse to boycott goods that were manufactured in britain, and replace them with locally made goods. We think nowadays, this is something weve invented. This has roots going back to the 1760s. Save your money, save your country is a slogan from the newspaper in the period. Scott stevenson, just how successful was that buy local movement in the 1770s . The stamp act was repealed by parliament in 1776 grew with the resistance to the towsend act. It was difficult to enforce. Not everyone was equally offended. It was necessary to go to such extreme. Selfsacrifice to often they were successful in repealing the towsend acts as well with the exception of keeping the tax on the tee which leads to war. Depending on the city or region, they were incredibly effective, one of the things we do is also to explore theres a strong tradition of america. When we think of the era, the clothing and dress at the time. In fact, particularly in a place like philadelphia, you had access to philadelphia, virtually anything you could obtain in london, the seas were highways, not barriers in the 18th century. This was the way goods flowed around the world. It would take a few months to arrive in philadelphia. There was a real taste, a consumer taste for fine goods, Benjamin Franklin use d the metaphor for the British Empire the British Empire, which was beautiful he said, once its been shattered, however it can be put back together, it never has the strength it once has use ing that theory, people were not sleeping in hollow trees and dressing in burlap. On display in the museum, we do side by side comparisons on items that would have been traded with british manufactu r manufacturers and locally produced items. Blown de glass. Probably the most popular is on display. Its a piece of American Made porcelain, which was produced a few minutes walk from here by the american china manufacturery. This was a partnership establisheded near the Old Swedes Church to try to produce the kind of fine imported porcelain that franklin was referring to in philadelphia, there are only a dozen pieces that have survived. And then we display that alongside an english made example to show they were capable of making beautiful decktive arts those objects tell us a lot about how sophisticated the people of the british colonies were in this period. Lets listen to theresa, joining us from glenolden, pennsylvania. Good evening. Caller this is so exciting for our region, thank you for being on cspan spont to show off philadelphia and the wonderful work youre doing there our city is full of wonderful spots in this period, our art museum, and the piece you just discussed. How are you working with the other museums in philadelphia to influence programming particularly, some of my work at the kennedy library, our student population is digitally based now, how about the history we have in the city are you communicating with and with students around Digital Development . Great, great question. Of course, youre absolutely right, philadelphia has an embarrassment of riches of wobderful Historic Sites i think there are about 35 preserved house museum near the area where im sitting. One of the things we were conscious about is that we felt that all of these tremendous sites, there wasnt a place that was kind of a Visitors Center for the founding era, a place you would go to get the big narrative that connects those sites together. A couple great examples starting locally in the neighborhood, right behind me, telling a part of the story of Independence Hall, you know, over 700,000, nearly 800,000 people a year, go through Independence Hall each year. Its about a 15 minute tour, youre going to get a brief introduction to the building, its role is the Meeting Place of the colonial assembly. Declaration of independence, constitution, if youre lucky, you may hear about lincolns funeral. We thought by arriving with a little more context, earlier on in our galleries, youll learn of the role as the Meeting Place of pennsylvanias colonial legislature, thats back where youre learning about the taxation issue of the 1760s, and the feelings that local british colonials had for those assemblies as miniature parliaments, they felt that not that they didnt want to pay any taxes, if they were to pay taxes, they would do it through their own assembly men you learn about another chapter of its history here, behind me in this gallery during valley forge winter, later on, we come back 11 years later, to learn about its role in the federal constitution. We do those kinds of connections with other sights. Whether its brandywine. The field of battle, which is an immersive battlefield experience. Around the birmingham pleating house, which was a quaker meeting house, where some of the early fighting took place on september 11th, 1777. What were trying to do where these, we cant tell the whole story. Thats a great way than to hook people, heres how to advise et them. Its not just philadelphia, its not just the region, we have a lot of involvement here, we tell the story of concord, massachusetts, because of the wonderful generosity of concord museum, we can tell the story of april 1970, 1775, the shot heard around the world, and see witness to be objects. And hoping that sparks an excitement and interest to go visit those places. I could go on, your question about digital connections and that. We have a website, weve started to put more and more material on line, were starting to develop what we call a micro site, which actually its very embryonic at the moment, were hoping to grow that out as a connecter to partner sites and the region, beyond that. Were also hoping that we can take a number of the digital interactives weve developed in the museum, and put those online. I think one of the great examples is a piece we call finding freedom. We wanted to tell the story of the complicated stories of africanamericans first of all, to make the point there isnt just one africanamerican experience. There are many kinds of experiences. There are people who were free, enslaved. We focused on virginia in 1781, thats a time in which you have two different armies, crisscrossing through whats now piedmont and tidewater, virginia. For enslaved people, this was a time of great danger and opportunity. Theres an internal revolution going on, where people are trying to find their own freedom. Thats a story that we had virtually no objects. No images of any of these people. Documents that allowed us to piece together some pretty wonderful personal stories of ordinary people and their personal journeys for freedom. We picked five people, we researched them very carefully, we worked with historical illustrators to do a kind of animated graphic novel taking you through the experiences of these different characters, and learn what happened to them in the end, and give you access to the documents that we need to use to reconstruct those stories. Thats an example of a piece we think by deploying that online, it will have great classroom use anywhere in the world, anyone with a connection to the worldwide web. Were again hoping to expand our digital presence as well. So thank you, it was a great question. That story continues from two years ago, when you allowed us to show us how the museums came together. Some of the people you profile, including the role of slavery 234 all of this, lets take a look at this in 2015, were back live in about 3 minutes. As american colinists begin shouting very loudly and increasingly loud, about their rights as english men. And their feeling that there is a conspiracy to enslave them underway, in the british parliament, the whole issue of slavery, of chattel slavery, increasingly, the contradiction of these calls for liberty with the presence of slavery, particularly in america, of course, it existed in britain at the time, it was particularly widespread in america, becomes louder and louder. This next item is a really incredibly rare and important work. This is a volume of poems, published in london in 1773, by a young woman named Phyllis Wheatley who is the First Published africanamerican poet in American History. Phyllis wheatley had been enslaved on the west coast of africa, probably gambia or senegal, brought to the new world in the 1750s, as a young girl maybe about 8 years old, she eventually was sold to a family by the name of wheatley in massachusetts, the daughter in the family, taught her to read and write, and she had a real natural talent for writing verse, at the time this was an extraordinary development. So much so that there were those she began publishing pieces in the newspaper, and they began to be circulated. There was actually a trial held in boston where people like john hancock and other significant figures in the community were brought together to basically put her on trial. Ask her questions, to try to determine if it was possible this American Woman could have written poetry like this. She passed and they wrote a testimonial saying they believed that she, in fact, had been the talented writer who produced this poetry, so in 1773, she travelled to london, and this volume was published, its remarkable that we have an engraved image, presumably a good physical likeness of Phyllis Wheatley. This volume, and ill turn the page to show you, has it would be wonderful even by itself, it is one of the few examples that have actually come down to us with Phyllis Wheatleys signature on the volume. And it just doesnt get better than that. Trying to find the tangible objects that allow us to discuss the very important contributions of africanamericans to the founding period of our nation, it can be a real struggle as a curator to try to find this material we are incredibly blessed to have that volume available to us, and share with our visitors, once were open, that will be in that same gallery, located right next to the liberty tree, so our visitors to reflect on the contradiction between these calls for liberty and the continued persistence of sla slavery. From the warehouse, that gallery is now open inside philadelphia, and scott stevenson, quickly, where did you get the book, how did you come about that . It was a someone turned it up in new england, in a box of old books and approached us, and actually a board member of ours stepped up to help acquire it, so that we could fill in that part of the story. Its one of those objects that just trembles on the table in front of you when youre standing with it. Its just amazing. Lets go to nell joining us from maryland. Go ahead, nell . Caller im wondering how much of your exhibit is devoted to the southern campaign. Nathaniel green is a favorite of mine. Thank you for the question. Good question, and thank you, we actually have a considerable amount of attention to the war in the south. Of course, as you know after the british abandoned philadelphia in june of 1778 partly because of the french alliance. France signs a formal alliance with the United States, the allies itself, with the revolutionary government and declares war on britain, so now what starts as this colonial rebellion that spreads to canada and the west indies now becomes a global conflict. Britain has to protect all of its possessions, and, you know, many of those very rich sugar producing islands in the caribbean, for instance have to be protected so troops need to be withdrawn, from america, north america sent down to the caribbean. Its a long, complicated strategic position. The british decide to march from philadelphia to new york. This is june of 1778. We often think based on the painting over my shoulder, we think about the snow, but Washingtons Army is still there until the second week of june. The british abann donned philadelphia, they try to make it to new york. They collide in the battle of monmouth in june 1778. The british make it into philadelphia ultimately, and really at that point, both armies have kind of failed to knock one another out, while theres certainly plenty of fighting that takes place in the north, ultimately, british commanders decide that the way to try to confront the revolutionaries is to move the fight to the south. There are a number of factors that are involved, one is, it is presumed there is a larger loyalist population in the south, and that these people will rally to the kings colors as they would have said in the 18th century, also because it had a much higher proportion of enslaved people, of course, enslaved People Living throughout the colonies, north and south, the proportion much greater, particularly in the lower south, places like south carolina, but also virginia as well, the carolinas, as early as 1775, the british had offered freedom to the runaway enslaved people. This was a way to cause a great deal of chaos, to try to enlist men who could be used primarily as laborers, but also being armed and in fighting units. In 1778 and 1780, 81, the south becomes a crucial place for trying to figure out what the end of this war will be. It provides an overview of all those campaigns. We focus on a few key moments. One is the capture of charleston by the british, we look at liberty and slavery in occupied charleston, we focus on the battle of cal penns, we look at the fighting that takes place particularly in the southern up country. The civilian fighting between loyalists and wigs or patriots that we call them. Then we move on to an area that i talked about earlier this finding freedom interactive which is tied to the historical tableaus. Thats dramatizing one of the stories we tell through the interactive, which is a boy named london pleasance. He finds his personal freedom. Ends up in nova scotia as one of the africanamericans who finds their freedom by becoming canadians. And we talk about the ultimate victory in yorktown in 1781. The fighting continues for two years, after that, including finding the claims the life of john lawrence, the beloved aid to camp to George Washington outside charleston in 1782. When did you first begin your interest, your passion in the revolution . Like many people who are watching American History tv, a lot of folks are exposed to history through their families, i had a grandfather who never took the highway anywhere, took us on backroads, and was fabulous at painting stories, you see that field out there, there used to be a whole town there. This was talking about an oil drilling community up in northwestern pennsylvania, called pitthole, which is now all forests. It was a boomtown. Telling those stories getting interested in the past, that ignited our interest in the things that had happened long ago. Growing up in western pennsylvania, i became interested in George Washington, the George Washington we know in western pennsylvania is a 20 somethingyearold bumbling virginiian who suffers a series of defeats, manages to start a war. Places like ft. Necessity, ft. Ligonier and ft. Pitt were my stomping grounds in my teenaged years. Ive been fortunate in that i eventually went to graduate school, studied this period, i worked in public history for 25 years or so, and managed to actually do a tremendous variety of projects from working on films and pbs series and exhibits and public programs, always being able to stay focused in that era of American History. So i think the first 24i7k i said when we started talking, i do pinch myself every day that ive been so blessed. We appreciate your insights tonight on cspan 3, inside the new museum in philadelphia, chronicles the story of American Revolution. Go ahead, please. Good evening, mr. Stevenson. First, let me say congratulations on the opening of this absolutely fantastic museum, im a d. A. R. , you can imagine how thrilled i am to see this museum. My question tonight, my d. A. R. Patriot is my fifth time alexander moyland, he came over to join his brother steven moyland. And his other brother. And my fifth grade grandfathers wife, was commodore barrys sister, eleanor. They all got together and lived around 4th and 3rd and walnut, and they all fought and conspired and did everything. And im so proud of them, and George Washington was very close with steven moyland, i just wrote a book about jasper moyland. I found out that he and George Washington were very, very close. Im wondering, if you have any artifacts or information regarding either of them or the irish fighters in the revolution of which there were many . Thank you. Thank you for the call. We are certainly in the moyland neighborhood here, all the places you mentioned, my eye cant throw a baseball that far, a pitcher could probably hit a baseball and hit a lot of those locations that you mentioned. I dont know that i can point you to a specific exploration of any of those ancestors in the exhibits here. Certainly theres a lot of irish involvement, frankly on all sides of the conflict, not just on the revolutionary side. The character who pops up immediately to mind, is a young british soldier by the name of William Burke, he was gaelic irish. He was bilingual. He spoke gaelic and english. He arrives in new york as a young soldier, never seen a shot fired in anger, and we thought he was a great character to again point out the kind of Ethnic Diversity within all of these armies, not just the Continental Army, also the british army. William burke was a great character, hes another one of our life cast characters, we picked our assistant curator to model him, a lot of people will do double takes as theyre going through the museum when walking through, checking on an object in a case. Thank you very much for congratulating us in the museum. We have a question on our facebook page, its going to be impossible to answer in a minute. What should every american know about the American Revolution . I can answer that in a minute, actually, ill say one of the i would say, one of the most important messages that were trying to convey in the museum is that the American Revolution and the revolutionary war are not the same thing. We often use the revolution as a kind of short hand for the revolutionary war, and well see the revolution was an eight year war or Something Like this, this was a matter of actual debate among the founding fathers. What do we mine about the American Revolution, theres wonderful letters back and forth over the years. What do we mean by the revolution. Jong add a. M. S claimed the American Revolution happened before the war. This was a complaining in the morals and attitudes in the americans that prepared them to an independent people. I would say, if we have an instituti institutional institution. Dr. Benjamin rush who was a remarkable signer of the declaration of independence. In 1787 not long before the constitutional convention, rush reflected on this question as well. We put this on the wall the american war is over this is not the case with the American Revolution, only the first act of the great drama is over. What we mean by the American Revolution, our core explanation focuses on 1760 to 1790, the transformation of the subjects of a British Empire in a mine arc can i to citizens in the republican, that also, the sense of an American Revolution is an ongoing experiment. That took longer than a minute to answer. Thats one of the most important lessons i think we want visitors to come away with. We have a media piece that brings you back, to a place where you start in the exhibitions, tearing down the statue of king george iii on july 9th, 1776, today that is now the Bowling Green in manhattan, if youve been to the site at wall street where the bull is and the wonderful sculpture of the fearless girl confronting the bull. The original fence that surrounded the statue of king george iii now stands. Now, a fence that could not protect the king from the people contains people from around the world who are pursuing life, liberty and happiness, reminding us were in the midst of the American Revolution, and it requires the active engaged citizens to keep this alive. Were going to show that coming up in the next half hour. Were only showcasing half of the museum, theres so much to look at. Scott will continue to be with us, but first, the shot heard around the world. The start of the war. As americans are gradually finding themselves more alienated from britain, both sides are hardening in their attitudes by one another, by the fall of 1774, king george feels that theyve crossed the rubicon. Its going to be a matter of military showdown, to determine whether americans, he feels are trying to found an independent nation, will be able to succeed or not. Its like theyre living on a powder keg, and the spark comes in the spring of 1775, april 18th, the night of april 19th, 1775, the secret expedition, the british troops march out of boston, marching toward concord, massachusetts, where the spies have revealed the americans have been gathering arounds for this military confrontation. And the british troops, of course, the alarm goes out, this is the famous ride of paul revere, he was one of dozens of riders, he didnt get as far as many of the others did, they manage to alarm the countryside, theres a confrontation that takes place in lexington, massachusetts, and a few hours later, at the old north bridge in concord, thats the scene weve seen playing out behind us here, we animated a period engraving. Thats a place concord, massachusetts, that every american should visit at some point. You can stand on this ground today, see the house that stands up on the barrett farm up above the river that stands there today. And these are the diagonal braces that stood from the bridge over the river. That came out of the river in the 1950s, it was right there where the bridge stood, it was only one bridge made of oak that stood on that site. It matches perfectly, the location description of the bridge. That fighting then brings soldiers from up and down the east coast together. But what happens is because the fighting sparks and men from all of those colonies stream together, they find that they have a ways to go. This gallery is about the beginning of that quest for unity, the scene, we refer to this as a tableau, these are life cast figures, weve pulled 340e8ds off of faces, hands and bodies. Very carefully researched and hand sewn this to compensate for the lack of photographs. The scene in 1775, a 2yearold boy in a red coat, his father had brought him to war, he was in massachusetts, yankee fishermen, north of boston, they encountered a group of virginia rifle men, who had come in their fringed hunting shirts, trying to appear like American Indians. They come together around the College Buildings and harvard. A fight breaks out among these men, and iz real trasing remembers that George Washington rode in and broke up the fight. Its just the moment hes write home, trying to get men for whom their colony was their country to think of themselves as americans. We think this was a wonderful story telling device, to point out how long that journey would be, perhaps a journey thats not finished today, for us all to see ourselves as americans, despite our diversity. Calls. Lets go to steve joining us from ft. Myers florida. Good evening. Good evening. I have a couple of comments. The declaration of independence was first read in three cities philadelphia, trenton and the other city was my hometown of easton, pennsylvania. Just to show everyone how history can still be alive today, the gentleman that read the declaration in our town square was named robert levers, and every year, my fellow High School Classmate also reads the declaration of independence, and his name is also robert levers. It was his ancestor that read the declaration. The other comment i have is that people, when they visit the museum, i would hope would allow themselves time to look into the possibility of having an ancestor in the revolution. I was able to find a captain john arnt, an ancestor of mine. He was a captain in the revolution. He was a relative of mine and hes also buried in easton, pennsylvania. The last comment i have is easton is the home of lafayette college. And i wonder what type of exhibit you have for lafayette in the museum. Thank you. Interesting trivia there. Scott stephenson. Very interesting comment. I know easton very well. Being a trout fisherman, the poconos are a destination of mine. We do tell a very similar story of the declaration being read and disseminated throughout the communities up and down the eastern sea board. We dont have so copy you see at National Archives. That was pretty much only something the member of congress saw. They encountered the declaration through broadside printing or public readings. Thats the story we tell in our gallery seven. We rotate every couple of months different printings of the declaration. Right now whats on display is only one of two surviving copies of the declaration published in july of 1776 in philadelphia in german. Theres one thats in the heschen state archives in germany. The other is owned by gettiesburg college here in pennsylvania. They loaned it to us. Theyre light sensitive and have to be rotated and rested from time to time. But that actually is a great opportunity for us. Seeing over time newspaper printings not just from philadelphia, but all throughout the colonies as well as the printings of the declaration that took place across the seas actually, one of the most interesting copies of the declaration i have ever seen is in an archive in belfast in ireland. So its from the belfast newspaper in 1776. Its the full text of the declaration of independence, but at the bottom of the page at the lower right hand corner, theres a stamp tax, for the local tax paid on that paper. Irony of that was really not lost on me when i had the privilege to see that a few years ago. We are looking at the german version. How many languages was it written in . Ultimately its been translated into hundreds of languages. In the period, p. A. In particular had a very large german speaking population, maryland as well. So much so actually whole reject pts of germans or german speaking regiments for in the army. They were referred to as german regiments so there was a lot of demand for german and english. Also published in french under the direction of Benjamin Franklin. The declaration of independence was as much a diplomatic document as anything else. It was supposed to, with the idea that the eyes of the world were upon the United States, this is a do you want that explained the action that occurred two days earlier than july 4th. July 2nd is when congress declare independence. July 4th is when the document is printed. Its designed to bring foreign powers into alliance so theyre not in a position where theyre backing rebellious sejts of a monarch. Is subjects of another pins could get problematic. In this case though if you recognize this youre aligning yourself with. Your second question, were in a valley that focused on the valley forge winter and explore lafayette and the first Philadelphia Campaign of 1777 was when he become secretary of state clo becomes so closely attached to George Washington. The relationships are forged. So in sever places in this gallery we explore lafayettes involvement. Let me point out, if you want to get more scheduling information on this and our programs be sure to follow us on twitter, like us on facebook and check out our scheduling information online. Well go judy, wake forest, north carolina. Good evening. Good evening. And thank you for cspan. We depend on it for great programs like this. I was sbretsing in hearing about William Burke because i have a William Burke ancestor as well. Thats not my question. We noticed our lapel pin and wanted to know if that related in some way to the American Revolution or the american reverie war and do you have archives that are available to researchers . Sure. Thank you for your question. Yes, my lapel pin youre see throughout the museum the sixpointed star and this design of 16 sixpointed stars is derived from a flag in our collection. Its known as the commander in chief. Its a blue silk flag with 13 sixpointed stars sewn toyota. It was from betty George Washington sons. This was a company of soldiers who provided sort of a security to general washington but also maintained his field equipment, field Head Quarters, including washingtons tent that is in your collection on display in the museum. This flag, according to Family Tradition was meant to mark washingtons presence in the field, to mark his Head Quarters. It is in delicate condition. Being silk, its light sensitive. It has been displaid for many years before the affects of ultra violet light for understood. Its only able to be displayed on special occasions here at the museum. We have a replica of that flag on display in the ground floor of the museum. Its special because it was commissioned for a flight in the Space Shuttle that john glenn accompanied. So its been to space and back. Thats on display all the time. As we look at the exterior of the museum, anything significant the about the design, the architecture of your museum . Sure. Our board of directors, when they were considering selecting an architect and the architectural approach weld take, we were mindful that we were coming into a block and into a neighborhood that is filled with three centuries of landmark architecture, the 18th, 19th, 20th century all within feet or yard of where the museum would be sited so its a challenge to sit lightly and respectfully on that site. We were located directly across the street from the first bank of the United States, found bid alexander hamilton, the site of his office is trace in the brick across the street from the museum, next to the wonderful samuel blojet designs, completed in 1797. The other side, the United States Customs House and a row of wonderful landmark commercial buildings from the mid 19th century. So we wanted to design a building that felt very comfortable, kind of quoted architecturally some of those other buildings and has setbacks to reduce its volume so it activates the area around it but doesnt overwhelm. There are always advocates of modern architecture who feel its more appropriate to do something thats recognize bli of the moment, but our desire was to go for more of a timeless design. So far, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Back to your phone calls. This is rather an obscure member of the signers. My husband was a direct descendent of the john morton of pennsylvania. He has a signature underneath Benjamin Franklin. He was one of first signers to die. His family were of swedish decent and came from sweden and there is a john Morton Museum down near the im living in georgia and hasnt been living up north in 20 years. Its near where the ball fields were down mere the airport. Yes. Caller down near theres a bridge down there and the john Morton Museum is there and also a swedish an old building, a log home in ridley park, i think, which is the original place of john morton and its owned by the swedish Historical Society. And im wondering most of the signers you hear are a half a dozen people. You dont hear much about john morton and im wondering if you have information about him or if hes included with the signers you feature in your museum. Im delighted to see the museum, because my husband who has since passed away just loved history and was a wonderful custodian of john mortons information. And we always felt that since he died so young and well, he wasnt young, but so soon after he died he was kind of passed over. Can you tell me if you have information on him in your museum . Renee, thank you for your call. I know all the sites youre speaking of and the early swedish settlement. This was part of new sweden. Many people dont realize there was a swedish settlement here. After it was new sweden it became part of new nether land before it became part of the British Empire, so theres great lairs of history and complexity. The american rev is sited exactly halfway between columbus and the present day. People are surprised to think about that. So theres a tremendously long time line of history in north america after contact between American Indians and the british other european colonizers. Morton is a great example of those signers. We maybe tend to think of their ethnicity, theyre vaguely english. We do not go into a lot of deep d biographical detail of a lot of signers. We are expecting next year to have a copy of the printing of the declaration by mary goddard, a woman printer. Morton would be represented there. You must get a lot of people that come by the museum and say, im a descendent of the so and so or relate to so and so and that has to bring all this to loo i have. Absolutely, gene logical wondering about what happened in that field over there in those woods or hearing stories or just having a kind of a human empathetic connection to others. Family stories are another powerful connection. In my own family, i have members who arrived from ellis island, or this era. My grandfather used to talk about a relative who was a loyalist and everybody said, well, is that true, grandpa . But actually getting older and doing research, it turns out he was a loyalist from just across the river from where im sitting here in southern new jersey who ended up serving for a time in the british army before changing his name and moving to western p. A. And becoming a citizen of the american republic. That is a very powerful way for people to connect and engage and feel the significant of this era. A couple of callers actually i realized i have not answered the question about an archive. So we do have small archive of period documents, not incredibly extense of. We have washington documents. Some very significant items but not very deep. Although philadelphia, again, has a plethora of research opportunities. The american philosophical company, the Historical Society of pennsylvania. There are more documents in philadelphia i believe than any other place in the world other than the National Archives for researching this era. Philadelphia is a great place to come and do that work. I want to go back to the statue of king george ii. You mentioned it was in the low emanhattan. The fence is still there. Its now where the bull is on wall street. But lets learn more about how that statue came down and what happened to the bronze medal. When you get to this point in the galleries, you then encounter the statue of king george ii, bringing you back to that moment when we started when the declaration of independence was being read in new york in 1776. We have a sailor whos offering you a rope to throw down to try to invite you to consider. Where would you have stood at this point in the story . You have seen the loyalist, people trying to remain neutral. We want you to feel like you would have had a choice. We have on display the large lumps here in the case on loan to us from the new york Historical Society, fragments of the original statue that stood at the Bowling Green. It was a built lead, about 4,000 pound of lead. That was broken apart into pieces and broke undown into 42,000 musket balls which were turned into ammunition for the Continental Army. They were referred to as melted majesty. It was to be issued out to the army and fired back at the ministerial troops, as they called them. There are only a few fragment of statue, but its a great story. There was a collector in philadelphia who already during the revolutionary war was starting to collect objects and documents. He actually wrote a letter to some citizens in connecticut where these fragments had been hauled to be turned into the melted majesty asking them to send a frag emt to them. It doesnt appear they did. The few piece that is survived, there was a british raid in the region, people were concerned about being caught, and they were thrown into a swamp and they were found when that area was drained and plowed and even a few more recently when people went back with metal detecters. So we know of about few dozen piece that is survived. Head of the king was knocked off the body. They fired a musket at ate. Hauled it off to a fort, ft. Washington. If youre driving over the washington bridge, youre going over the remnants. They placed it on epike, which was basically a tall spear. This was the way the traitors in the tower of london were treated. This is the treatment the revolutionaries gave to their king. The head was surreptitiously taken by loyalists back to england to show, we need your help, these people are crazy. It was last seen in the possession of laity tounzend in london apparently being kept under a couch. If anybody knows about that, weld love to hear about it. It was a tremendous story. Scott stephenson that answers one of questions on our facebook page, how you chronicle the loyalists during the revolutionary war. Lets go john from west palm beach. Good evening. I was born and raised in connecticut. I was just up there for the fourth of july. I feel a little more patriotic in new england. I was curious if there was an exhibit that mentions the burning of danbury, including the young girl that road with paul revere that rallied the militia. They later fought in danbury. I believe Benedict Arnold participated. Thanks for call. Paul revere was captured briefly, correct . Yeah, exactly. Theres two places where those actions along the connecticut coast mid war are covered. One in gallery ten, just before the gallery we are in here. It has about an eight minute overview of the war of independence and thats sort of an animated map projected on to the wall that tries to answer a couple of questions that we have that are specific questions about particular battles. I should emphasize that while a good portion covers the revolutionary war area ra, we did not set out to do an incyclopedic part for every battle. If there are folks who come and have a particular action and theyre anxious to learn about it might be disappointed the way we try do that is partly through the animation that covers the entire war from 1775 to 1783 and tries to highlight most of the significant action that is took place. The strategic moves, how the fighting moves from the north to the south and some of those actions mid war would be covered there. Actually the battle around fort griswold is covered in our finding freedom interactive in gallery 14, and thats the interaction about africanamericans in virginia because the figure i mentioned earlier, london pleaseance ends up fighting in connecticut just before the end of the war. In our remaining minute we had a couple of callers, one 8yearold, one 9yearold and i wanted to ask, are we doing enough to educate . The inner 10yearold as people who know me will admit, is just below the surface and this is a museum to tdesigned ty to engage Young Children people of all ages of course, but particularly to catch children 89, 10 years old. Theres a lot of tableau that is include israel trask, involved in the sole judges fight. We have a young girl who crossed the delaware with George Washington and others. Do we as a society do enough . Absolutely not, but the museum of the American Revolution is doing everything we can to create the next generation of history lovers and great citizens through our exhibits. We have only scratched the surface, scott stephenson. We want to thank you, michael quinn, the staff of the museum of the American Revolution. Clearly we knead to come cyberattack and tour more of the exhibits and art facts as we better understand the American Revolution. Thanks for being with us here on cspans American History tv. To give you a sense of what else is in the museum, heres more of the tour. A reminder the program can be seen any time online and to check out ah tv. Follow uss on twitter and like s on facebook. Believe it or not, viewers, we are halfway through the story. We have now answered the second of four questions. We have gone through 1778. We have now been through the darkest hour. We then ask the question of how revolutionary was the war, and this starts to look at taz stas story moves on, it turns to the south. We look at loyalists, neutrals and enslaved africanamericans. What is their relationship to this revolutionary moment . Well leook at the fighting tha takes place in the west as the native people deliver a series of devastating blows against the American Forces realizing they are fighting to hold on to the land, their dependence. Its not just a war, its a broader transformation. So we then go so a series of galleries that ask the question, what kind of nation with the revolutionaries create . Take you through the formation of the constitution, its radification, the inauguration of general George Washington, through the passing of that revolutionary generation, youll finally be able to look into the eyes of some of these people who witness the events because they lived long and often saw the age of photography. We have half of the surviving photographs that were reproduced toward the end of the gallery. We take that story to the end and then youre able to see the original war tent, the field Head Quarters of general washington, which is displayed in its own theater and gallery here in the museum of the American Revolution. American history tv here on cspan 3, this week in primetime, tuesday night, u. S. Army special forces stationed in germany during the cold war. Two teams would remain in the city just to give the germans and russians a hard time. Destroy radio stations and power plants while the other guys would cross over the walls to hit these targets rail yards. Wednesday, black Voter Suppression in the 1940s. Louis includelow said, what a traves travesty. We are sending negro to the firing line to die and fact for freedom while telling them they should have no part or parcel of freedom at home. Thursday night, president Andrew Jacksons struggle to cripple the bank of the United States. Already by june of 1829 when he had been president all of three months jackson was writing friends that the only thing that can prevent our liberties to be crushed could be to kill the bank itself. Friday night, an interview with senator john mccain on the vietnam wars impact on his life and the United States. I dont hold a grudge against the japanese. I dont like them, but at the same time, i was part of a conflict, okay . I thought they were some of the meanest people i had ever met in my life and i never want to see again. But there were several that were good people and kind to me. Thats why it was much easier for me to support along with president clinton and others the normalizization of relations with our two countries to heal the wound of war. Watch American History tv this week in primetime on cspan 3. You can watch this and other American History programs on our website, where all our video is archi archived. Thats cspan. Org history. Comes at the same time as watergate and it turns out the usa is spying and trying to kill foreigners and peace activists. Within the Africanamerican Community specifically, you can certainly point to some things. That the fbi set hking up to be killed. That the cia introduced heroin and crack within the community to destroy it from within. The reason theres so much suspicion is because the fbi did infiltrate civil rights organizations to destroy them. So of course that suspicion is there. Reporter American History tv is on cspan three every weekend, featuring museum tours, archival films and programs on the presidency, is civil war, and more. Heres a clip from a recent program. The new museum of the American Revolution, just blocks away from the independence haul and liberty bell in philadelphia opened to the public. Next it can Opening Ceremony with speakers, including former Vice President joe biden, David Mccullough, and journalist cokie roberts. This is about an hour and 40 minutes