Patriotism is more than a Bald Eagle and the American flag. American identity flows in the capillaries of commerce and culture. It’s what generations of immigrants have brought to America in their hope chests, literal and figurative. During the Revolutionary War and its immediate aftermath, colonists began establishing an American sense of self. The young nation’s culture was thin, and artisans used their work to craft narratives about the country and themselves. Patriotism began to take shape. In celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial, the American Folk Art Museum presents antique objects and artworks that add up to a collective identity. Many of the pieces are multilayered, a way of highlighting the country’s complexity. —Maggie Turner