- Incredibly there is no museum in the U.S. devoted exclusively to the American Revolution. That is about to change, when, in 2015, the Museum of the American Revolution is built in Philadelphia near Independence Hall. See the AP article (11-Jul-12) for details about the museum and the provenance of the collection.
Museum of the American Revolution
Charles Willson Peale, despite his devotion to the taxonomic and contemplative majesty of the natural world, nevertheless loved novelties and used all sorts of amusements to attract customers to his museum. He eventually resorted to hiring a popular musical performer who played five different instruments simultaneously, using all parts of his body. Following Peale’s death the museum passed into the enterprising hands of P. T. Barnum, becoming part of his traveling circus — a romantic ending for an Enlightenment institution.
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)