NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) - The British are coming, and the colonists are preparing to defend their new homeland.

Reenactors dressed in colonial uniforms and attire gathered at Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina, to help visitors learn about the city’s rich history during the American Revolutionary War.

The event aimed to give attendees a sense of life in the 1700s and the significance of July Fourth.

One colonial militia reenactor, Navy Veteran Richard Turner, expressed his hope that visitors would leave with a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by people during the revolutionary period.

“I hope they see the sacrifice that the people back then, starting from the revolutionary time period, again, all the way up to present day, of what people back then had to go through. The sacrifices that they had to make just to make this country. It wasn’t easy,” Turner said.

The celebration included a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Palace’s south lawn and concluded with the firing of a replica Revolutionary War cannon.

Tryon Palace holds historical significance as the location of the initial meetings of the General Assembly for the state of North Carolina after the revolution.

For more information on Tryon Palace or events occurring at the palace, click here.