Evaluation of National Museum of American History

The American calendar is not too "small"

If China, which has a culture of 5,000 years, is compared to a centenarian, then the United States is just a baby for a few months. The history of more than 200 years is really short. In the eyes of many people, those "wastes" that may have been thrown away and torn down long ago may become "historical relics" in the United States and be carefully collected and preserved. The National Museum of American History has more than 6,543,807 pieces.

The National Museum of History is the largest history museum in the United States. It is located in the north of the middle section of national mall, adjacent to the National Museum of Natural History in the east and facing the US Department of Agriculture in the south. The museum is made of white marble, with a length of175m, a width of 91.5m and a height of 36.7m. It covers an area of 750,000 square feet, including a basement, a three-story exhibition hall, two-story offices and storage rooms, and a mechanical power room on the top floor.

If you enter the History Museum from national mall, visitors can directly enter the lobby on the second floor. In the center of the hall, there is a chain ball pendulum hanging down and swinging constantly. It is a copy of the exhibits that the United States participated in the Paris International Expo in 185 1 year, and the explanation reads: "Please witness the rotation of the earth".

The purpose of the museum is to "collect, preserve and study things that affect the experience of the American people", and the theme of the exhibition is to express American life from the end of the American Revolution to the present. The museum's collection170,000 pieces, involving agriculture, clothing, folk customs, crafts, astronomy, medicine, military, literature, currency, textiles, transportation, science, music and so on. Different from the general history museum, the exhibits in the American History Museum are not displayed by year and region, but by theme, which is closely related to the transience of American history and the diversity of collections.

After the "9. 1 1" incident, the Smithsonian Institution became the official collection institution of "9.1"cultural relics, entrusted by the US Congress. To commemorate the first anniversary of "9. 1 1", a special exhibition was added in the museum.

The rapid prosperity of American economy and science and technology certainly has its special historical conditions, such as the rich natural resources and superior geographical environment in the New World, the cultural soil without historical relics of feudal society, the multi-ethnic integration with immigrants from Western Europe as the main body, the absence of frequent wars in China, and the systems and policies that stimulate economic development and encourage scientific and technological inventions. However, we should also ask the motive force of this young country's rapid rise since the19th century from the deep level of national spirit. In the corner of American History Museum19th Century History Exhibition Hall, I suddenly saw the expectations and pursuits of Americans from the pictures and descriptions of millions of European immigrants: equality, freedom, democracy, wealth, possibility, opportunity and land. Among them, the words "probability" and "opportunity" aroused my special interest-these are the key words that can not be ignored in interpreting its national spirit!

The formation and development of the American nation is a process of expanding its territory and advancing westward in the eternal wasteland of the New World. The new world is full of all kinds of novelty, possibilities and development opportunities. Daniel Boorstin, a famous historian who was the curator of the American Museum of History and Technology, said: For immigrants, the United States in the westward period was an unequal land. Americans attached great importance to opportunities and seized them to find them. They hope to find what they are looking for through their mobility. Pioneering spirit and flowing character are the spirit and character of seeking possibilities and opportunities. American historian Henry Comag said: Americans like innovation, don't respect tradition, and are willing to try anything. Liking to do experiments is a deep-rooted feature of American character. Experiment, experiment and innovation are the processes of exploring possibilities and seizing opportunities.

The bold assumption of new possibilities and irresistible passion for exploration are the spiritual strength of America's contribution to modern science and technology. Yu Youcheng, vice president of Intel Corporation in China, said that the scientific principle that he benefited from an American professor for life is that unless it is absolutely forbidden, it may happen. The leading position of the United States in many major scientific and technological fields in modern times is also the result of this nation's good pursuit of good opportunities and its desperate efforts to seize the opportunities and strive for priority in the fierce scientific and technological competition with the former Soviet Union, Japan and Western Europe.

Impression of visiting

The National Museum of American History is open to the public free of charge on 1964. It is a rectangular five-story white marble building, which contains many very important cultural relics in American history, such as the desk used in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and the first telephone invented by Bell. By the 1990s, the collection had reached160,000 pieces.

Enter the history museum from the big lawn and directly enter the lobby on the second floor. In the center of the hall, a huge chain pendulum hangs from the ceiling, which is a replica of the exhibits that the United States participated in the 185 1 Paris International Expo. On the front wall of the hall is a huge national flag painting.

Visitors first step into a small screening hall, where they can watch a short film about rural life in the former British colony on the east coast of the United States, with the time from 1780 to 1800. From the vicinity of the statue of Washington to the third floor, there are exhibitions of armed forces, coins, textiles and precious stamps, with about 75,000 banknotes.