Inside the Museum of the American Revolution
CBS News

Martha Teichner reports on the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, which features a look at how the war changed life for African Americans and Native Americans

Philadelphia is the site of the liberty bell. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were drafted and signed here. It was home to Philly’s favorite founding father, Benjamin Franklin, and America’s most famous flagmaker, Betsy Ross. So what better place for the Museum of the American Revolution?

The museum opened in 2017. It’s centerpiece is George Washington’ s tent. The tent is enshrined now in its own theater. As his soldiers did, you see it as a stand in for Washington himself

“The tent was a symbol that he, you know, he said, ‘I’ve never left your side, I’ve been with you through the entire war,'” Scott Stephenson, president and CEO of the museum, told CBS News’ Martha Teichner.

Concord, Massachusetts, where it all began, has a presence at the museum. A piece of the original North Bridge, where the two sides fought it out that first day, is on display.

But the museum sees its mission as doing more than reinforcing for visitors, 725,000 so far, a mythologized version of the American creation story.

“This is not just a quaint story that’s set a long time ago that only involves people that look like me standing with wigs on looking at a piece of paper on a table,” Stephenson said. “There was violence that was involved. There was uncertainty. There were people of all backgrounds who were involved in this– creating this nation.”

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