You are standing in front of a graphic panel titled “Breaking Free from Britain.” To your left is a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: Working in the Fields.” To your right is a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: Waterways.” Behind you is an artifact case.

The panel in front of you includes text and five images.

The main text reads:

Breaking Free from Britain

In 1776, the 13 American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. Jonathan Sellman, who lived in this house, served as a major in the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1775 to 1783).

While Sellman and other wealthy white men fought for their freedom, African Americans and others were denied that same freedom. Thousands of enslaved people fled to the British, who promised them liberty in return for fighting against their former owners.

The accompanying images include:

A portrait of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His relative, James Maccubbin Carroll, owned the neighboring plantation, Squirrel Neck (later known as Java).

A portrait of Jonathan Sellman. After the American Revolution, Major Jonathan Sellman was promoted to the rank of general in the Maryland state militia and awarded land in Western Maryland.

A photo of the Maryland State House in Annapolis. Annapolis briefly served as the U.S. capital toward the end of the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris, which marked the formal ending of the war, was ratified there in 1784.

An image of the painting The March to Valley Forge, December 19, 1777, by William Brooke Thomas Trego, 1883. Major Jonathan Sellman served with General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a turning point in the American Revolution.

The secondary text reads:

The War of 1812
The United States went to war with Great Britain again in the War of 1812 (1812 to 1815). One of the war’s naval heroes was Lieutenant John Contee, who served aboard the USS Constitution—known as “Old Ironsides.” In 1812, Contee and his crew defeated the British ship HMS Java off the coast of Brazil. After the war, he purchased the neighboring plantation of Squirrel Neck from James Maccubbin Carroll and renamed it “Java” to commemorate his role in the victory.

The accompanying image shows a painting of two sailing ships engaged in a battle at sea. The painting is by Charles Robert Patterson. The caption reads: The USS Constitution engaging the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil, December 1812.