Washington DC: The National Archives

(Photo left: Magna Carta from 1297)

Lisa and I both agreed that we needed to do a better job exploring this lovely little town of ours. A good place to start is the U.S. National Archives. When you first enter the Rotunda, you pass an original copy of the Magna Carta from 1297, the only copy currently residing in the United States. The first Magna Carta ('Great Paper') was chartered in England in 1215 which served to limit the powers of the English monarchs (King John at the time) from absolute rule. It has since served as the foundation for English common law and ultimately our own Constitution and Bill of Rights. It was reissued at various times, and the document in the U.S. National Archives is one of the oldest surviving copies.




Within the Rotunda itself lies the mosted hallowed documents of our own country, the original Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence has faded through the years, but the defiant signature of John Hancock is still prominent in the bottom center of the parchment. The ink was still drying as the Continental Army fought off the beginning of the British assault on New York City in July 1776. The four page U.S. Constitution claims center stage in the Rotunda. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It was later ratified by the 13 states that formed the United States of America. 220 years later, interpretation of this document continues to have profound effect not only on the lives of all Americans, but those in the rest of the world as well.

There are other documents displayed within the Rotunda pertinent to U.S. history including: papers associated with the case Marbury v. Madison, which established the precedent of Judical Review by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1803; documents pertaining to the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase.