The Revolutionary War made heroes of men such as George Washington and Patrick Henry. But thousands of people you’ve never heard of also risked their lives for freedom. A new museum in Yorktown, Virginia, tells the stories of these “ordinary” people in the hope that you come away with a deeper understanding of the causes and the costs of the war.

“Why does the individual want to fight for liberty?” asked Peter Armstrong, senior director at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. “What we really wanted to do was the story of those individuals and the heroic stories attached to them.”

The museum, whose grand opening celebration began Thursday, replaces the 40-year-old Yorktown Victory Center. The center’s focus had been the 1781 patriot victory that put an end to seven years of fighting. The new museum, combined with a military encampment outside, takes a much broader look at the Revolutionary War.

The exhibit begins with “Liberty Fever,” a movie set 40 years after the revolution. In it, a traveling theater group uses a shadow puppet show, called a crankie, to tell war stories. There are stories of unusual alliances. One features Billy Flora, a free black man who, with white soldiers, helped kick the British out of Virginia in 1775 at the Battle of Great Bridge. And there are stories of families divided. Isabella Ferguson warns her husband not to join his brother in the British Army.

“I am a rebel. My brothers are rebels. And the dog Trip is a rebel, too,” Ferguson declares, with the Wheaten terrier at her side. (Ferguson’s husband didn’t join up.)

You can learn more about Flora, Trip and others who lived through the war as you wander through five galleries, which include the prewar period through the postwar struggles of a new nation.

There are elements you might expect — a statue of George Washington, weapons and a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence. But several short films and interactive elements make the experience come alive.

One interactive is a large touch screen that allows visitors to listen to stories from 20 people — and Trip the dog — about how the war affected them. Another area features a video game in which you can pick sides and strategies in Revolutionary War battles and then see whether your side wins.

The film not to be missed is “The Seige of Yorktown,” a nine-minute movie that transports you to the battlefield. You can feel the wind and the vibrations as cannons fire. Smoke appears, the seats shake and the air smells of gunpowder as the story unfolds on a 180-degree screen.