It was designed to display the bill of rights, and it opened in 1936. Only the bill of rights occupied the case. We had to wait until 1952 to bring all three founding documents together. The story of how the declaration and constitution came to the archives is the one we never tire of hearing. Now i would like to introduce jessie krantz, historian of the National Archives. She became the first historian in 2013. She was previously with [indiscernible] with the center for legislative archives and has been with the agency since 1999. Please welcome jessie krantz. [applause] jessie thank you, david. I am very happy that steve could be with us today during American Archives month to talk about his new book american treasures. It shows not only the important record created by other federal agencies but also the record that we as a National Archive has created ourselves. In writing his book, he discusses several different sets of records, but the nearest and dearest to my heart is that record of the National Archives. These help tell our story has an institution, how we came to be, how we got here. The document traits are growth and development, ranging correspondence from the first armistice of the United States, rdw conger, to the digital activities we just transferred into the collection. Our records also provided the background steve needed to talk about the declaration of independence and the constitution came here from the library of congress. It was a pleasure to work with steve, it is a pleasure and honor to work with him now. He is a historian, a professor, a public speaker, and a prolific author. The drug america to civil war, assaultaning, the to civil war,rica and great ties are just two of his publications. He has a degree in history and teaches in boston. He is an awardwinning reporter and has contributed to American History magazine and the boston globe. You can read more about his new book in the prologue of the National Archives. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Stephen Puleo. [applause] Stephen Puleo thank you, jessie. Thank you, david. Welcome to you all today. I need to say this. David and jessie have been terrific supporters and encouragers on this book. If the rest of the archives staff is as wonderful as them, i can tell you the declaration and constitution and bill of rights are in very, very good hands. I want to thank you folks for being here today. Visitors here, people from outside of washington . How many do we have . Good representation of that. I am from boston. For me to speak in this esteemed theater, this building, is like somebody taking batting practice or playing at fenway park. It is a real shrine. For me, this is a fabulous place to be. Im thrilled to be here. For you folks who could be doing many, many other things in this great city, hundreds of other things, i appreciate you being here. This book for me has been a real labor of love. It is on one level a story of how the declaration of independence, the constitution, the gettysburg address were moved out of washington by the library of congress, where they were at a time in the aftermath of pearl harbor, and they were moved for safety reasons, fear of sabotage and bombs, etc. , destroying these priceless documents. Those three documents, along with a few others moved to fort knox, kentucky for safekeeping. They began what would become the largest relocation of american documents in history for safekeeping. Thousands of others would get moved to other locations during the Second World War for safekeeping. Just one thread, one narrative thread that american treasures worked on, but i realized as i was doing the research, in order to really understand the why, why are these documents so precious, priceless, why do we go out of our way to save them . Why did president roosevelt feel such a strong connection to these documents, he felt he was a steward to the documents . I feel the same way. Why did the secret service, led by harry neale, the lead agent in charge of helping to relocate these documents, why did they feel so strongly about it . I had to go back and talk about the creation of these documents, the ideas contained in them, and the many steps that were taken throughout history to protect these documents and preserve them. In this book, i take you back to 1776 to the creation of the declaration of independence, that late spring, early summer time, including probably the foremost remarkable days in all of American History, july 1 through fourth. Independence is debated, voted on on july 2, not july 4 but july 2. John adams said july 2 would be remembered as an epic day. Brilliant bonfires, illuminations, bands and celebrations. He was two days off. That was july 2. July 3, the declaration is debated. July 4, it is adopted. We will bring you back to the Second World War. I take you back to 1787 in philadelphia. That real steamy, hot summer, when the constitution is debated and ratified. Debated and ratified a little later. The principles of the declaration of independence are codified into law, laws still used today. A document that is so meaningful today. Ill take you back to 1814 when the british literally invaded and burned washington. It burned the president s house, the capitol building, other buildings. A clerk by the name of stephen clements, state department pleasanton, state department clerk, had the presence of mind to take the the original declaration and constitution and stuff them in linen sacks, throw them in the back of the wagon, have them taken out to virginia for safekeeping. He does it in defiance of the secretary of war. He says some of the british are not coming to washington. They have no interest in washington. They are only going to baltimore. He says, no, i dont think so. Realizing the impact on the nations psyche, very young nation at the time, he moves those documents out. At almost the same time, Dolly Madison, at the white house until the last second, possibly james is in the field with his troops, dolly is at the white house until the last second, and she saves many, many critical documents, including her husbands notes of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which no american even knew existed at the time. For me, doing the research, i really felt that connection as i was going from madisons papers and notes from the convention, saying i would not be able to do this if it were not for dollys heroics. I take you back to 1823, when a washington, d. C. Engraver by the name of William Stone creates the first exact replica of the declaration of independence, an exact facsimile. Lots of patriotic fervor around this time after the war of 1812. Secretary of state John Quincy Adams says, i want you to make something that is precisely a replica of the engrossed declaration. What do we mean by engrossed . It is a document you will see in the rotunda if you have not already, the calligraphy document with flourishes and curlicues and slashes and underlines. And the signatures underneath of the delegates. Lots of debate going in to 1823 about who had created the replica. There were other kinds of copies made. None exactly like the original engrossed document. William stone does that. Takes him three years, unveils it on the fourth of july. It is that replica that essentially becomes a starting point for the millions and millions of copies of the declaration of independence that you might have in government holdings, that you might have in schools, that you can pick up in the archives store, if you like, or you might have hanging in your home like my parents. We sold my parents home a few years ago. One of the last things i took off the wall down in our little basement was a replica of the copy of the declaration of independence my folks had purchased during the american bicentennial in 1976. That gets unveiled in 19 [indiscernible] i take you back to july 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing the adoption of the declaration of independence. Americas golden jubilee, and again, this great rebirth of patriotism to celebrate the 50th anniversary. July 4, 1826 gets elevated to a whole new level. Two of our greatest people, Thomas Jefferson and john adams, die on the exact same day. It raises the gravitas to an almost religious kind of holiday, the level we celebrate with july 4 today, almost a direct result of adams and jeffersons death on july 4, 1826. That wasnt the only july 4. July 4, 1831, five years later, james monroe dies. It further kind of elevates fourth of july. You learn a little bit about that. We take you back to 1863 when president Abraham Lincoln is dedicating a cemetery at a small crossroads town in central pennsylvania and delivers his masterful 2. 5 minute speech. My presentation today will be 20 times longer than the gettysburg address. I am sorry to say, nowhere near as memorable. Hope you enjoy it, but nowhere near as memorable. He forever broadened the meaning of all men are created equal in that speech. I will come back to that. 1876, the centennial celebration in philadelphia with the original engrossed declaration of independence, trotted out for display, reclamation. It is a real concern about the physical deterioration of that document, maybe for the first time. There had been some mutterings about it throughout the years, but on the 100th anniversary, some real concern about the faded signatures. We will talk a little about that. Into the 20th century, there is the move of the documents from the state department to the library of congress, and in world war ii years we will talk about. And then the date david alluded to in 1952 when the original declaration and the original constitution get transferred from the library of congress to the National Archives, one of the most i would say the most important date of this building to be sure. So we go back and forth like that. When you think about it folks, the history of these documents really is the history of our country. The documents themselves, yes it is the ideas contained in them. I had a very perceptive editor say, america has no crown jewels, but if she did, it would be these documents. I dont think there is any question about it. Ours was the first Constitutional Republic that can trace its very founding back to a single document. That is the declaration of independence. I would argue this. I would argue that the principles that our country and our government rest on, the aspirations of our country, because we dont always get it right, but i think we aspire to, should really be traced back to really a single paragraph. We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are what are they . Yeah. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which we all know. It may be a lesserknown part of that paragraph, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving wait for it deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That is jeffersons iconic second paragraph of the declaration of independence. As i said, our concept of freedom, of liberty, of equality rests on that second paragraph. Think about when he does this in 1776. This is an era of warlords, dictators, and monarchs. That is what we are talking to. Monarchs ruled by fiat, and everyone did as they were told. This notion of equality, of governments deriving their power from the people, it completely was forward, a daring, revolutionary concept in 1776. 11 years later in 1787, Gouverneur Morris writes his preamble to the constitution. That is an unusual it is Gouverneur Morris. Abigail adams wrote it that way, that is the best we have to pronounce his name. He writes, we the people of the United States, again, he is representing the codification of all of those principles in the declaration. When he says we can secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, he is talking about the current generation and for future generations. And later on during the discussion of the presidency, during the Constitutional Convention, 1787, lots of talk about how much power the president is going to have. It was morris who said during this discussion this chief executive, this chief executive is not going to be king in this new government. He will be more like the prime minister. The people are the king. Again, unheard of in 1787. And later on, when Abraham Lincoln stands before that gathering at gettysburg and says, these men have died so that the nation can live, when he implores the audience to make sure these dead shall not have died in vain, that they shall have a new birth of freedom, and the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth what is he saying . Abraham lincoln, great admirer of the founders, and a great admirer of the declaration and the constitution, is saying this he knows the issue of slavery, the scourge of slavery was a big omission from these documents. And yet, what he says is, those documents hold the key for this nation to bind its wounds. We dont need to scrap the declaration of independence, we just need to broaden the interpretation that all men are created equal. We dont need to tear up the cost edition, because the onstitutionthe c because the framers have given us the power to amend the constitution. So that is a very very important point. Lincoln, who said back in 1861, early as 1861, the favored principle in the constitution is that everyone had an equal chance. In a very eerie, kind of prophetic statement, rather than surrender that principle, i would rather be assassinated on the spot, he said in 1851 chilling when you read it. That is how much he believed in these documents. Very, very important. And these documents are important for other reasons, too. When you think about the steps that were taken in the Second World War to protect them, one of the big reasons is this these documents were not predestined. They were not forgone conclusions. They were extremely hard to come by. In 1776, remember, what do we have at that time . Your classic 1 3, 1 3, 1 3. One third of the people of the crowd were tories, one third wanted revolution, splitting, and one third were undecided. So undecideds, they were not really pulls, but they were undecided. The delegates by the way certainly were not all integrated. John dickinson of pennsylvania said, to separate right now from britain would be like tearing down our house without having another place to live and asking our neighbor to take us in. It would be like setting sail in a skiff made of paper. Terrible idea. But wait, he says. Lets wait until europe recognizes us. Finally, when the delegates approve independence on july 2, when the declaration is adopted in july 4, there would be no more waiting. They wait for it to be engrossed. The delegates step up and sign this document. Most of them on august 2, of 1776. They realize as they are doing so, the solemnity of the moment. They are doing so under great risk. All of them are at war. If they lose, it is likely these fighters will be killed, some guilty of treason for sure. Even during the war, they had concerns their families would be harmed, their farms would be harmed, they would be harmed once the fighters names got out signers names got out into the public. My favorite quote is, as the signing is taking place on august 2, 69yearold rhode island delegate [indiscernible] had a little bit of parkinsons disease, a little palsy. When he signed, he had a shaky signature. You can see it on the declaration. Hard to see now, but look at one of your replicas. As he stepped up, as he steps up, he says my hand trembled, but my heart does not. Very kind of big moment. And during the constitution, are you kidding me . The Constitution Convention almost falls apart. There is a huge battle between the large state delegates, massachusetts, pennsylvania, virginia, and new york, and the small state delegates, defined then new jersey, delaware, connecticut. What was the issue . The issue was how do these states be represented in congress . Large state guys madison, hamilton said all of the representation should be done according to population, proportional representation. Small state said, uhhuh, that is not going to work for us. The power of the states will be unequal. William paterson of new jersey says with a large state folks put up their plan for representation, new jersey will never agree. She will be swallowed up. The man of delaware says, to the large state folks, madison and the rest, i do not, gentlemen, trust you. He did call them gentlemen. I do not trust you. Sherman of connecticut says, before july of 1787, we are now at a full stop. We are not going to get this thing done. Delegates break for the fourth of july. The 11th fourth of july, if you will, 1787. In philadelphia, there is celebration here they take stock of what they are doing, what they are here to do. They come back with this resolve to get something done. To make some sort of a compromise to get a new constitution, and they do on july 16 of 1787, the most important day, i would say, during the whole Constitutional Convention. And they come back with a grand compromise, and you know it well. What is it . In the lower house, that representation we determine by population. And in the upper house, we are going to call that the senate, folks, each state would be equally represented. Each get two. Neither side was happy with this deal. Large state folks say we are close to apoplectic, but they put it together. They name the constitution. Not a foregone conclusion by any script, and even the gettysburg address in november 1863. First of all, lincoln almost doesnt go to gettysburg. It is an afterthought. He is invited to say a few remarks. He is not a guest speaker, but governor edwards of massachusetts, who delivers a twohour oratory. They say, lincoln, will you, say a few words . Sounds like a good idea . Stanton says, i dont know. What is the big deal . All right, we are going. They go, he delivers his speech. It lives forever and will live forever. But it almost doesnt happen. And by the way, the union still has to win the war. Now, by november 1863, the tide has changed in their favor. Vi