Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday by Visiting Virginia’s Revolutionary History Sites

The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is upon us, and will surely be one of the largest celebration's in the nation's history. While the actual shooting war started in 1775 in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, in the end it was Virginia—the richest and largest of the 13 colonies—that played the pivotal role, producing important figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, and being home to some of the most important events in the period. 

In Virginia, you can walk down a colonial street that is almost unchanged from the 1770s, visit the homes of the most critical leaders, sit in a church pew and watch costumed actors re-enact a dramatic moment of the conflict, tour Revolutionary War farms and military encampments, and stroll the battleground of the last and most crucial engagement. Along the way you’ll be introduced to the stories of soldiers, women, enslaved people, Native Americans, Loyalists, British subjects, and German mercenaries, exploring what America’s fight for liberty meant to each of them.

Here are six ways to take advantage of the 250th festivities in Virginia. 

Patrick Henry & St. John’s Church in Richmond

You probably recognize Patrick Henry's stirring decree, “Give me liberty or give me death.” But do you know the context of those words, or how important they were at the time? Visit Historic St. John’s Church in Richmond, where actors in costume regularly re-enact the dramatic event exactly where it took place on March 23, 1775.

As you walk the church grounds, enter the building, and sit in the old wood pews, you are transported back to a deeply divided America of 13 colonies who had been feuding with England about taxation and representation for five years. Hundreds of miles away, Boston had gone into open rebellion—and as a result, the King sent thousands of British redcoat soldiers to the town to restore law and order. In the process, the city’s economy was destroyed.

Would Virginia risk destroying their economy and even their lives to help a fellow colony hundreds of miles away? Or would they opt instead for compromise with the King?

The representatives of the House of Burgesses met in Richmond, away from prying eyes in the capital Williamsburg, to debate these questions. They do so again at St. John's reenactments, where the actors charge, countercharge, and stir up the audience to support their opinions. Your hair will stand on end as Patrick Henry delivers his landmark speech—and don't forget to stick around afterwards for a selfie with George Washington. 

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

There are dozens of reasons to visit Mount Vernon and learn about George Washington, but the not the least of which is to review his record in the Revolutionary War. A remarkable 12-minute, 4-D film traces his battlefield history. Snow falls from the ceiling when he crosses the Delaware, you can feel cannon blasts in your face during the battles, you share his victories (actually few and far between), and admire his remarkable optimism to continue after defeats. 

If you think you can do better than George, that’s easily tested in a game exhibit area when you can play as George Washington on the battlefield.  You get to receive video information from spies, your own generals, and intelligence reports, and have only seconds to decide a course of action or face being crushed by overwhelming British forces under Cornwallis at the Second Battle of Trenton. Judging by the results flashed on the screen at the end of the game, about 43 percent of the people playing would have underperformed George and lost the Revolution right here.

Another fascinating exhibit shows how George’s face and bone structure was scientifically examined from a death mask so that now we can see what he actually looked like at different stages of his life, including during the Revolution. Come face-to-face with the man, from his years as a young athlete to his post-Presidency. 

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg is the world’s largest living history museum. The 301-acre area is filled with 88 original colonial buildings and hundreds of reconstructed ones. 

Williamsburg was Virginia’s capital city from the 1770s, transported to the 21st century with horse-drawn carriages, craftsmen, taverns, brick sidewalks, colonial gardens, costumed actors portraying both famous and ordinary people, fife and drum bands, 18^th century shops, white picket fences, and palaces.

But Williamsburg is not a fenced off historic theme park—this is a living and working town. Cars are not allowed in the historic center, but many normal residents live near the historic zone, and anyone is free to walk around the village any time they like at no charge. Visit in the early morning and you’ll see residents jogging, people pushing baby carriages, and shopkeepers and living historians walking to work in their colonial clothing. 

Purchase the Colonial Williamsburg pass in order to enter more than 200 period rooms, interact with craftsmen, attend special programs, and get a feel for what life was like in the turbulent times of the American Revolution. You can tour the Capitol—where Virginia delegates voted for independence from England two months before the other colonies did in Philadelphia in 1776—or enter Raleigh Tavern, a favorite watering hole of George Washington and Patrick Henry.

Hear from interpreters as they share the untold stories of the enslaved peoples that lived and worked in the region during the colonial era. These individuals made up approximately 50% of the population of Williamsburg in 1770, yet they had no representation or influence on the decisions that shaped the country.

For kids, there are any number of interactive programs. They can watch the fife and drum parade, take in a musket firing demonstration, talk to America's Founding Fathers, or hear about pirates on a haunted ghost tour, led along the dark streets by lantern light. It's even possible for kids to rent full colonial outfits so they feel right at home riding a carriage and joining in a parade.

Williamsburg is not an exact re-creation of the 18th century (no 18th century town was ever this clean or charming), but rather a celebration of its architecture, craftsmanship, and environment. It’s a place where the ideas of Revolutionary America are still alive. 

The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

In reality, the American Revolution was complicated. Only a third of the colonists supported the Revolution and a third supported the King, while the remaining third just hoped it would all go away. And of course, when Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men are created equal" in 1776, that just wasn't true. One out of five people living in the 13 colonies at that time was enslaved, while women had very limited rights. 

Opened in 2017, the American Revolution Museum addresses this paradox. The state-owned museum teaches history in an exciting, interactive way. There are 4-D films where smoke fills the auditorium during battle scenes, and you can smell sea spray, coffee, and chocolate at times. The seats shake when cannons go off and the battle sequence at sea is quite thrilling, with cannon balls coming right at you. There are also interactive displays, games, videos, a soldier’s camp, cannon firings, and a working farm.

Some 9,000 Black Americans, both free and enslaved, fought for America in the Revolution. But there were also 50,000 enslaved people who escaped from bondage to join the British army, because England offered freedom to any enslaved person who enlisted. Seventeen of the enslaved people who became British volunteers had been owned by George Washington. You can see this history firsthand when you examine British uniforms on display with the words “Liberty to Slaves” written on them.

Throughout the museum, descriptive videos help you meet and hear the stories of the men and women who endured the Revolution; people like Peter Harris, a Catawba Indian who sided with the patriots, while many other Native Americans saw an opportunity in aiding the British.  All Native Americans would suffer in the end, and many of the enslaved who left to join the British were abandoned when England lost the war.

This is not a naive look at war with heroes and villains, but rather a realistic examination of how America was born. And there are thrilling stories, especially the build up to the siege of Yorktown. You’ll have a better understanding of the Yorktown campaign if you visit the museum before venturing down the road a few miles to the actual battlefield.

Yorktown Battlefield National Park

Even a short visit to Yorktown will leave two impressions:  America could not have beaten the British without the help of the French, and victory usually goes to the side that has the most men and equipment.

In August 1781, British General Cornwallis was ordered to take his 8,000 soldiers and 241 cannon to Yorktown peninsula where they could be reinforced by sea. Unbeknownst to the British, Washington and the French had secretly begun a march of 400 miles from Rhode Island. The allied armies used spies to pretend they were going to attack New York, but they were actually heading for Virginia. When they arrived in September, they had an army of 7,800 French, 8,000 Continental troops and 3,100 militia, plus 131 heavy siege guns. Meanwhile at sea, a French fleet of 26 warships kept the British navy from rescuing or resupplying Cornwallis. The British were trapped.

Working side by side, the French and Americans built siege lines and began a round-the-clock bombardment of 1,700 shots of cannonballs and bombs a day—more than one a minute.

The siege lines and artillery are still there at Yorktown Battlefield National Park, and while you can’t walk on the actual 200+ year old earthworks, there are trails and interpretive signage nearby. 

Visit the surrender field where 8,000 British troops marched out and laid down their guns and flags. From the National Park Visitor Center, a free shuttle bus runs the short distance to the town of Yorktown, which is a delightful place to spend an afternoon, complete with a beach, a tall ship, riverside restaurants, shops, bookstores, and colonial homes.

It’s a wonderful thing to see people at outdoor cafes sipping wine, laying on the beach, shopping, eating ice cream, and just enjoying the outdoors in peace and freedom in the very place that ensured the final victory of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America. Only in Virginia. 

There's always more Virginia history to discover. Check out more iconic historic sites.