When I married my Philadelphia-raised husband, he felt the most important historical facts for me to know about his hometown were that the Eagles franchise was established in 1933 and that Brian Dawkins was the greatest safety of all time. After I authored the article about New York’s role in the Revolution in the special issue of the Federal Bar Council Quarterly commemorating the semiquincentennial, I wondered if there was more to Philadelphia than just two Super Bowl rings.^[1](Go Birds!)

There is! The Museum of the American Revolution^[2] is a private museum opened in 2017. That jawn is located at 101 South Third St. in the heart of Old City, two blocks from Independence Hall. For my birthday (yes, birthday), we started with an early access highlight tour and then we went on a neighborhood walking tour (and then we got wooder ice).

King George III Toppled

The tour began with a picture of the toppling of the King George III statue. Curiously, my guide mentioned Bowling Green, but not that it is in lower Manhattan. The Philadelphia museum had a piece of an actual liberty tree, but the guide did not mention the liberty poles in New York’s City Hall Park. Being a helpful tourist, I brought them up during Q&A. 

The Declaration of Independence broadside was originally printed with just John Hancock’s and Charles Thomson’s names. It was not until January 1777, when things in the war were going a little better, that all the names of the signatories appeared for the first time in the Goddard Broadside, by Mary Katherine Goddard. She was the printer and postmaster to the Second Continental Congress in Baltimore until she was unceremoniously fired in 1789 for being a woman (which had not bothered them for the previous 14 years of her tenure).^[3]

Following the Declaration is a replica King George III statue. The Philadelphia museum has a piece of the original statue (made of lead, iron, and gold). Most of the statue was melted into bullets by women in Litchfield, Connecticut. Connecticut is also the birthplace of the revolutionary spy Nathan Hale. His statue is in New York’s City Hall Park and his famous last words right before the British hanged him for espionage were: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” On the wall beside the King George III statue was a display for Elizabeth Freeman from Massachusetts who sued her enslaver using the Massachusetts Constitution’s “all men are born free and equal” phrase. With the help of her lawyer, Theodore Sedgwick, she won her freedom.^[4]

The New York Campaign of August 1776 and the Philadelphia Campaign, from September 26, 1777, to June 18, 1778, both show how Washington was thoroughly outmaneuvered by General William Howe. While both cities were occupied by the British, they eventually abandoned Philadelphia and marched back to New York, their headquarters throughout the war.

One wall in the Philadelphia museum discusses the Battle of Saratoga. “The surrender of British General Burgoyne at Saratoga changed the war.” Saratoga National Historical Park has a visitor center, gift shop, country estate of American General Philip Schuyler, and monuments (even one to Benedict Arnold, though he is not named).^[5] (This also happens to be where the 2026 Federal Bar Council Fall Retreat is located. Registration is now open.^[6])

Other Museum Features

The Oneida Nation and other Native American nations also feature in Philadelphia’s museum. Some, like the Oneida, were allied with the Revolutionary forces, providing crucial scouts and fighting alongside patriots at Saratoga and Oriskany.^[7] Others, like the Mohawk and Seneca, were with the British.

At Valley Forge, where Washington withdrew after the British took Philadelphia, the first large-scale immunization campaign occurred. Washington had his troops inoculated against smallpox, which had a 15-33% mortality rate.^[8] A German nobleman, Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben, trained the Continental Army into a cohesive fighting force.

The Philadelphia museum features a walk-on ship replica exploring privateers, essentially licensed pirates. In New York, Sons of Liberty leader Isaac Sears was a privateer and merchant. David Bushnell, the Connecticut inventor who deployed the hand-powered submarine the Turtle in New York Harbor, also made contact mines by repurposing the Turtle’s spring-lock detonators. Washington drifted contact mines filled with gunpowder barrels down the Delaware River against the British fleet in Philadelphia, triggering the 1778 “Battle of the Kegs.”^[9]

An Outdoor Excursion

You can experience the museum’s best features in just one day. Spend your morning exploring indoor highlights like the New Jersey Women’s Voting Exhibit (some New Jersey women could vote from 1776 to 1807) and George Washington’s War Tent. Since the museum wristband allows all-day reentry, it is easy to transition from the indoor galleries to an outdoor excursion.

The museum’s neighborhood walking tour guide showed us where the National Park Service, on orders from above, recently “removed exhibits depicting slavery and George Washington’s treatment of enslaved people at the President’s House in Philadelphia.”^[10] Still, the fact is “[o]f our first five presidents . . . the biggest slave owner among the four men was the father of our country, George Washington.”^[11] To evade Pennsylvania’s Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, under which an enslaved person would be free if they were in the state for more than six months, Washington would rotate the nine or ten enslaved people at the President’s House to Mount Vernon or New Jersey, bringing them back shortly after.^[12] One was his valet, William Lee, who was with Washington for over thirty years and throughout the war. He was the only enslaved person outright freed by Washington’s will, granting him an annual pension and the right to remain at Mount Vernon as a free man.^[13]

Philadelphia Connections

Benedict Arnold, who tried to hand over West Point to the British, married Peggy Shippen in Philadelphia. Coming from a Loyalist family, she may have facilitated his plans to switch sides.^[14] Alexander Hamilton, who braved cannons at Fort George and joined Washington in New York, had an affair in Philadelphia which eventually led to his political downfall.^[15] Benjamin Franklin brought his illegitimate son with him to Philadelphia when he returned from London. That son, William, served as Royal Governor of New Jersey, and became a Loyalist leader in New York during the British occupation.^[16] Our guide liked history that also sounded like gossip.

If you do visit the City of Brotherly Love, here are restaurant recommendations: The best Philly Cheesesteak is at Dalessandro’s Steaks at 600 Wendover St, Philadelphia, PA 19128.^[17] The absolute best pizza you will ever have (outside New York – and a bit outside Philly) is at Angelo’s Pizza at 216 West Beidler Road, Suite 700, King of Prussia, PA 19406.^[18] If you would rather protect your car’s suspension and avoid Philadelphia’s charming historic cobblestone streets, the museum has detailed and easy-to-navigate virtual tours.^[19]

* * *

Editor’s note: The author is an attorney and a member of Inn of Court.

[1] Manjit K. Kalirao, A Revolutionary Walking Tour, Fed. Bar Council Q., June/July/Aug. 2026, https://federalbarcouncilquarterly.org/a-revolutionary-walking-tour/; NYC USA 250 History Tour Manhattan, N.Y. Times (July 25, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/07/25/nyregion/nyc-usa-250-history-tour-manhattan.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share (New York Times article with another tour of Manhattan with some particularly good pictures).

[2] Museum of the American Revolution, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_American_Revolution (last visited July 29, 2026).

[3] Emily Sneff, March Highlight: Mary Katherine Goddard, Declaration Project Blog (Harvard Graduate Sch. of Educ., Mar. 2019), https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/march-goddard.

[4] Elizabeth Freeman, Nat’l Women’s History Museum, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-freeman.

[5] Boot Monument, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument. 

[6] Registration Link: https://www.federalbarcouncil.org/2026-fall-retreat/. 

[7] Oneida Indian Nation, Celebration Highlights Indigenous Culture, Oneida Role in Founding of United States, Oneida Indian Nation (Nov. 29, 2017) https://www.oneidaindiannation.com/celebration-highlights-indigenous-culture-oneida-role-in-founding-of-united-states. 

[8] Valley Forge, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge.

[9] The Battle of the Kegs, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Kegs.

[10] Audio tape: National Park Service Dismantles Slavery Exhibit in Philadelphia, NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/01/25/nx-s1-5686524/national-park-service-dismantles-slavery-exhibit-in-philadelphia.

[11] Henry Louis Gates, Jr., George Washington’s Runaway Slave, Harry, PBS: The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (2013), https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/george-washingtons-runaway-slave-harry/.

[12] Ona Judge, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ona_Judge; The Enslaved Household of President George Washington, White House Historical Ass’n https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-household-of-president-george-washington.

[13] William Lee (valet), Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lee_(valet); The Enslaved Man Who Escaped George Washington—Twice, Lit Hub (Oct. 24, 2017) https://lithub.com/the-enslaved-man-who-escaped-george-washington-twice/. 

[14] Peggy Shippen, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Shippen. 

[15] Sarah Pruitt, The Scandal That Ruined Alexander Hamilton’s Chances of Becoming President, History https://www.history.com/articles/alexander-hamilton-maria-reynolds-pamphlet-affair. 

[16] Benjamin Franklin, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin. 

[17] Dalessandro’s Steaks Home Page: https://dalessandros.com/.

[18] Angelo’s Pizza Home Page: https://www.angelospizzakop.com/. 

[19] Museum Virtual Tours, Museum of the American Revolution: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/digital-experiences.