On Saturday, October 21, 2017, the freshman honors students took a bus trip to the Museum of the American Revolution in Old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It was a very educational and relaxing trip.  The students learned a lot about the various views on the American Revolution.

I decided to go on this trip because I thought it would be cool to learn more about the American Revolution, and not be taught by a textbook.  I knew and understood the basics of the war, but I wanted to learn more about the war and how people were affected by the war during this time.  Textbooks teach the important dates and historical figures, such as George Washington and the date in which he crossed the Delaware River to surprise the British troops.   In the museum, I learned so much more than just the dates and historical figures; I learned about how awful it was to be a wife during this time because all of the men left to go to war.  There was no one to make money for the family and winters were extremely brutal.  I also learned that the Native Americans joined the side of the revolutionaries so they would no longer be under British rule.  The Native Americans believed that their land would be saved if they sided with the revolutionaries.  Textbooks did not go into depth about how the Native Americans were impacted, nor did the textbooks discuss in detail about how the Native Americans helped the revolutionaries.

The setup of the museum flowed extremely well.  There was a lot of colors and interactive signs around the museum.  Each room, or section, of the museum, had its unique set of artifacts and interactive devices.  In one of the beginning rooms, I was able to lift up various panels and read more about those people or events.  I found it quite interesting that the panels did not smack down after you let go of them.  Instead, they slowly lowered themselves.  This helped keep the panels from breaking.  Another interactive part of the museum was the wall of the lights, in which if you pressed a button, it showed the path that the revolutionaries and the British troops took to the battle of Philadelphia.

My favorite part of the museum was George Washington’s tent.  I was very impressed with how well it was intact behind the glass.  I really wanted to go up to it and see how tall it was compared to me.  One thing that I wanted to know was how much of it was original.  Was all of the tent from the Revolutionary War?  Or were there areas that had to fixed by modern cloth to make it look “as new” as it did during the war?

I cannot wait to take my family to the Museum of the American Revolution.  I think that the museum is fit for all ages and gives very good, insightful information about the American Revolution.