Kevin Kim

3/20/16
Prof. Petrides

The Mammal and Price of Freedom:

Americans at War Exhibitions
In regards to the exhibitions, "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War," at the American
History Museum and, "Mammals," located at the National History Museum, my question which
compares and contrasts the two subjects is: which exhibition do you feel is more empirical in its
presentation as opposed to being subjective and compounded by bias. Both exhibitions were
excellently produced, had great unconfusing content, were visually engaging, intriguing, and
thought provoking which will not be lost on the audience. The, "Mammal," and the, "The Price
of Freedom," exhibitions are both quite neutral staying away from pedantic dialogue,
nationalism, and any other subjective semantical issues which seem to influence and cause
cyclical conflict. The creators of these exhibitions did a terrific job by separating opinions with
practical and empirical content. In topics of military conquest, colonialism, patriotism, and
conflict with religious dogma/doctrine, these exhibitions could've invoked fervent nationalism
and reiteration of the justification of a monotheistic omnipotent god. For the sake of knowledge,
objective and pragmatic reasoning, the content still comes through absolutely clear while
engaging the observer without becoming dull, opinionated, and overbearing. The, "Mammal,"
exhibition is more empirical in the way it's presented as opposed to, "The Price of Freedom:
Americans at War," exhibition because the topic of natural sciences are in itself much more
pragmatic as opposed to an American history subject which also happens to detail armed
conflict. This is quite sensitive even today considering the topic of war reaches all facets of
society such as politics, economy, morality, violence and bureaucracy. These two exhibitions are

perfect examples of how education can and should be pragmatic, empirical and thought
provoking all while being educational, free from speculation and subjective narratives. So in
conclusion, the, "Mammal," exhibition from the Natural History Museum trumps, "The Price of
Freedom," exhibition found at the American History Museum in its presentation because of
many reasons, but not being limited to its subject matter.

Firstly, so the audience can understand in context, the exhibitions will be discussed in
further details in order to reduce confusion along with making sure that the main points of
reasoning will not be lost upon the audience and reader. Starting with the, "Mammal," exhibition
found in the Natural History Museum, it is quite the informative exhibition full with replicate
models of early mammals which predate mankind. In this exhibition the audience can view all
species of early mammals, their track record, different independent habitats, ancestors in all
different types of environments, and continents. From different parts in time spanning from the
early Triassic period all the way to the Jurassic era, the audience can view the origins of
mammals in regards to the different continents such as on the Australian/Oceania continent
where monotremes, marsupials, and placentals are indigenous to, there is no shortage of
information regarding our mammal relatives and their evolution history, environmental factors,
physical features and habits. One of the most intriguing aspects of the exhibition was the replica
model of the Morganucodon Oehleri. This strange mammal akin to an ugly rat is in essence very
similar to the creature which all mammals evolved from around 210 million years ago into all
modern mammals including modern day human beings. This 10 cm(4 in. Long) tiny creature's

DNA was passed onto billions of descendants making this animal the precursor and archetype of
all mammals.

Now, "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War," exhibition found in the American
History museum is a condensed, informative, and eye catching exhibition full with historical
items such as George Washington's Continental Army uniform and commission from Congress
establishing him as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. This stunning exhibition
surveys the history of America's military, its evolution from the colonial era to present day
conflicts in Afghanistan. It explores how each and every war America's been involved in
whether for independence, conquest, or colonial exploitation shapes defining episodes in
American history and their social, cultural, and political impact on the world stage and at home.
With interactive stations, more than 800 artifacts, and images covering wars from the American
Revolutionary War to the Cold War, this exhibition details personal sacrifices, the
political/military leadership, social values, historical life, and beliefs in context of each war. For
example, the story of Chance is detailed extensively in the exhibition, showing he was a slave of
Abraham Dodge and his wife Bethiah. This story shows how Chance was viewed merely as a
commodity as he was left in the will of Abraham Dodge as if he was some kitchen appliance to
his wife Bethiah after Abraham's death. Even after slavery was ruled unconstitutional in a
Massachusetts court in 1783, Chance still resided at the Dodge's home as he had to still work as a
slave to save money to set up his own home. This was a common story among ex-slaves
considering they didn't have any assistance from the U.S. government in re-integrating into
society. Ex-slaves also didn't have any trade or skills they could employ besides their training as

slaves and servants which caused many ex-slaves to be in a sort of cultural and employment
limbo. Even though slavery was ruled unconstitutional in some states of the north at this time,
there was no system set up to make the transition from slave to, "citizen," because there was
obviously still racial tensions, subjugation and hierarchies which didn't really make any
difference to the social aspects of slavery. So in conclusion, the, "Mammal," and, "The Price of
Freedom," exhibitions are definitely worth going through considering so much educational
information is espoused and condensed in a pragmatic manner where the information is retained
and not lost upon the reader since the exhibitions contain so many historically cultural items and
real life identical replicate models.

The, "Mammal," exhibition in the Natural History museum in my opinion is more

empirical in its presentation void of subjective and bias influences as opposed to, "The Price of
Freedom: Americans at War," exhibition found in the American History museum. The audience
may or may not agree with my point of view, but there are many reasons why this is in my
opinion presented in a more empirical fashion. For starters the, "Mammal," exhibition naturally
is defended and espoused by science which is the tool of empirical pragmatism. From scientific
reasoning, the hypothesis involved, the scientific process, evolutionary theory, valid statistics,
and environmental sciences the, "Mammal," exhibition is inherently in itself a facet of science
where consequently empirical reasoning and evidence along with pragmatism is more readily
accepted. This is in conjunction and contrast to, "The Price of Freedom," exhibition which is a
subject of history that is based on mostly subjective eye witness testimony. As history is difficult
to ascertain the truth from since one cannot possibly know whether accounts are anecdotal or

fervently true. As is commonly stated in the proverb or axiom that, "history is told by the
victors." So in conclusion, regardless if the, "Price of Freedom," exhibition was presented in a
very fair and unbiased manner, the context of history will always mostly be subjective supported
by witness accounts whereas the, "Mammal," exhibition is empirical in nature considering it is
based on science.

The, "Mammal," exhibition found in the Natural History museum along with, "The Price
of Freedom: American's at War," exhibition from the American History museum are both
outstanding exhibitions void of pedantic arguments and biased influences. Looking at the
context and subjects of the exhibitions, the reader and observer can however immediately
recognize that the science based, "Mammal," exhibition is inherently presented in a more
empirical manner where no possible bias is involved as opposed to, "The Price of Freedom:
American's at War," exhibition. The reader can observe this by understanding that history can't
possibly always be empirical in nature because it is based on witness testimony, subjective
memory, and word of mouth. This is opposed to the scientific narrative of the ,"Mammal,"
exhibition which uses scientific reasoning and tools to come to conclusions devoid of any
subjective memory or arguments. So in conclusion, from my observations and knowledge a
priori I believe the, "Mammal," exhibition which is a subject of Natural history and overall
science is much more better presented in an empirical fashion as opposed to, "The Price of
Freedom: American's at War," exhibition which is based on subjective historical narratives and
ideas.