When did our country make itself independent from British rule? Was it when the “shot heard ’round the world” was fired at Lexington? Was it when John Hancock and 55 other patriots signed the Declaration in Philadelphia? Was it at Yorktown? Or did it take until 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed?
Whatever your answer, the fact is that the glorious end – or perhaps we should say our glorious beginning – would not have been the same if not for South Carolina, which is where the largest number of battles in the American Revolution were fought.
Learn more on Revolutionary War Day on March 29 at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia. This annual full day of activity – from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – is well worth getting off that couch and heading downtown.
It will, as in the past, feature a wide array of weapons, 18th-century tools, re-enactors, and artifacts, plus demonstrations of drills involving muskets and cannon, and the very latest in medical care – from the perspective on one living in 1776.
A major highlight will occur in the museum’s atrium at noon – a dramatic reading of key portions of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson himself couldn’t make it, but we don’t think you’ll be disappointed. (Besides, Jefferson was more of a writer than a talker.)
Many other activities will be going on all day. You’ll find them interesting, fun and informative whether you’re a first-timer or you’ve been coming to the event every year (as you certainly should – after all, it’s not only educational, but free!)
- SC250 information table — A display about the Sestercentennial events going on across the state as our shared 250th birthday looms ever closer.
- Make your own corn-husk dolls. And then take them home with you.
- Candlemaking. Again, you get to take the finished product home. Be ready the next time the power goes out!
- Quill-pen writing. It’s a little messy, and the goose has a little less insulation from winter weather, but it gets the job done! Just ask John Hancock.
- Touch table with replica objects. You know how most museums – and this one most of the time, truth be told – are always telling you not to touch the artifacts? Well, you can leave your fingerprints all over these.
- Woodworking demonstration. This was a big deal at the time, and you really had to know what you were doing. Plastic was hard – OK, impossible – to find. And no power tools!
- Ninety-Six Historic Site table. Even if you’re not a military historian, surely you’ve heard about this one. But come learn more about it.
And there’ll be plenty more to fill your day. Don’t miss it. Come on out to the Relic Room, 301 Gervais Street, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, the 29th!
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