Freedom Plane: America’s founding documents going on tour for 250th birthday
Freedom Plane An artist's rendering of the Freedom Plane, which will take several historic documents from the founding of the nation on tour around the country. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
ByCox Media Group National Content Desk
You won’t have to visit the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to see some of the documents that our country was built upon.
As part of the 250th festivities, the Freedom Plane will be zooming around the U.S. to take at least 10 documents to eight cities, allowing people to see how the country came to be, the National Archives announced.
The journey is inspired by the trip that the Declaration of Independence made from D.C. to Philadelphia in 1876. It was one of the last times the document left its secure home at the Archives.
It is also inspired by the American Freedom Train, which traversed the country for 15 months for the Bicentennial in 1976, The New York Times reported.
During that event, the train visited 138 cities and had more than seven million visitors who got to see 500 artifacts from 200 years of American history, including:
Jefferson’s handwritten draft of the Declaration of Independence
The tour is being called “Documents That Forged a Nation.”
They will be “all original, no facsimiles, no copies — all irreplaceable and all instructive,” according to James Byron, senior advisor to acting archivist, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
It will first stop at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, from March 6 to March 22.
The Stone engraving, which was made on copperplate, of the Declaration from 1823
Articles of Association from 1774
Oaths of allegiance to the Continental Army from George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr from Valley Forge in 1778
1783 Treaty of Paris signed by John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin and British negotiator David Hartley
Draft of the Constitution and a tally of votes approving it
The exhibition will be free, but tickets may be needed. You’re instructed to visit the venues’ websites or the museums for ticket information.
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Freedom Plane An artist's rendering of the Freedom Plane, which will take several historic documents from the founding of the nation on tour around the country. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Original Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, 1823
One of only about 50 known original engraved copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed from a copperplate of the original, commissioned by John Quincy Adams and made by engraver William J. Stone. The engraving captured the size, text, lettering, and signatures of the original document (on loan from David M. Rubenstein). (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Articles of Association, 1774 (first page)
Signed by all 53 delegates, the Articles of Association urged colonists to boycott British goods and was the Continental Congress's first major unified act of resistance against Britain. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Articles of Association, 1774 (last page)
Signed by all 53 delegates, the Articles of Association urged colonists to boycott British goods and was the Continental Congress's first major unified act of resistance against Britain. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation This item is the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity that was signed by General George Washington while encamped and in command of the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. His oath was sworn before, and also signed by, William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Major General. This affirmation came to be taken due to a Congressional Resolve dated February 3, 1778, that directed "every officer who holds or shall hereafter hold a commission or office from Congress" to take this oath. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Alexander Hamilton Oath of Allegiance, 1778
This is the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity that was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton, while stationed and encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This affirmation came to be taken due to a Congressional Resolve dated February 3, 1778, that directed "every officer who holds or shall hereafter hold a commission or office from Congress" to take this oath. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Aaron Burr's Oath of Allegiance, 1778
This is the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity that was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Burr, of Malcolm's Regiment, while stationed and encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This affirmation came to be taken due to a Congressional Resolve dated February 3, 1778, that directed "every officer who holds or shall hereafter hold a commission or office from Congress" to take this oath. (Archives I; 18W2 Digitization La/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Treaty of Paris, 1783 (first page)
Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, the Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Treaty of Paris, 1783 (last page)
Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, the Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Secret Printing of the Constitution in Draft Form, 1787
A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in draft form, with the delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Documents That Forged a Nation Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787
The voting records of the Constitutional Convention reflecting the debates, resolutions, and eventual vote on the final text that would become the Constitution. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
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