Permanent and special exhibition galleries, theaters and large-scale tableaux portray the individuals and events and engage people in the history and continuing relevance of the American Revolution.

The museum's third floor offers rooms for events and two terraces overlooking the First Bank of the United States, Independence National Historical Park, and the Philadelphia skyline beyond.

[8][9] Jennifer Schuessler for The New York Times commended the museum's treatment of the revolution's complicated legacy and its focus on the role of the common man.

[10] Edward Rothstein for The Wall Street Journal penned a more mixed review, appreciating the museum's historical strength but faulting it for "de-sacralizing" the revolution.

[16][17][18] Local groups Act Up Philadelphia, Defense of Democracy, and AFSCME District Council 47 organized days-long protests against the summit's hosts, including the museum.

Jen Manion lambasted the museum in The Philadelphia Inquirer, arguing it "has a responsibility to defend the history and practice of American democracy, not harbor those who seek to destroy it.

"[25] Conversely, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression praised the museum for staying “faithful to its mission of strengthening democracy through dialogue.”[26] Jonathan Zimmerman also praised the museum in The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying that “protesters’ attempts to silence Moms for Liberty by canceling the welcome event also violates the mission of the museum.”[27] Visitors follow a chronological journey from the roots of conflict in the 1760s to the rise of armed resistance, the Declaration of independence of 1776 through the final years of the war.

Visitors see the diversity of revolutionary-era Americans and their opinions, for example by viewing an Oneida Indian council house, and the 1773 volume Poems on Various Subjects by Phillis Wheatley, America's first published black female poet.

A dedicated theater houses an iconic surviving artifact of the Revolution: General Washington's Headquarters Tent, which served as both his office and sleeping quarters throughout much of the war.

The 5000-square-foot exhibit centers around James Forten, a Black Founding Father and abolitionist, and his family's push for voting rights and civil liberties for African Americans.