People in the Kansas City region has the chance to see original drafts, signatures and documents that led to the founding of America’s government — without traveling to Washington, D.C.
The exhibit Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation makes its first stop at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, beginning Friday, March 6.
The tour is the first time in history that nine documents from our nation's founding will travel together to eight cities, in celebration of America's 250th anniversary.
“We know that not everyone can come to Washington, D.C., to see the founding documents. So we want to bring the founding documents to the American people” said Jessie Kratz, historian of the National Archives.
The free exhibit will display the original William Stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence, a draft of the Bill of Rights, the Oath of Allegiance signed by George Washington and six other documents.
“We had two goals: both to show the history of the American Revolution through the creation of our government,” Kratz said. “But we also want to tell mini-stories.”
Kratz shared the significance of the Treaty of Paris, another document on display.
“I always like to say that the Declaration of Independence was a breakup letter, and then the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was like the finalized divorce papers,” she said.
“It ended the war, it recognized us as an independent nation, and it allowed us to move westward. So we wouldn't be a country if we didn't have that treaty.”
Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents that Forged a Nation, Friday, Mar. 6 – Mar. 22 at the National World War I Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Dr., Kansas City, Missouri 64108. Click here for tickets.
- Jessie Kratz, Historian of the National Archives and Record Administration
