"Peace, Liberty, and Independence": 225 Years After the Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolution and established sovereignty for the thirteen former American colonies. This exhibition marked the 225th anniversary of that landmark in our history with a display of paintings, watercolors, prints, documents, and weapons that demonstrate how visual art and language played a role in winning the Revolution and establishing a national aesthetic in the early Republic.

The exhibition, organized by PAFA and the Museum of the American Revolution (formerly the American Revolution Center), included Paul Revere’s incendiary hand-colored engraving of the Boston Massacre, entitled The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street (1770), an event which became a catalyst for the Revolution and claimed the moral high ground for the Colonials.