For the first time ever, a collection of remarkable documents from our nation’s founding are going on tour together. From an original engraving of the Declaration of Independence to a rare draft printing of the U.S. Constitution – this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the most fundamental documents in our country’s history.

The Freedom Plane National Tour is taking flight to honor 250 years of American independence. Inspired by the Bicentennial Freedom Train in 1976, the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Archives Foundation will bring these founding documents around the country in a traveling exhibition.

History Colorado Center is one of only eight museums receiving this special collection. The tour will kick off in March and run through August – stopping in Denver for two weeks only from late May through mid-June.

These inspirational and aspirational documents – which have never before traveled together outside of Washington, D.C. – include:

• Original Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, 1823: One of only about 50 known 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).
• Articles of Association, 1774: The most important agreement at the time that was adopted by the First Continental Congress and signed by all 53 delegates, which urged colonists to boycott British goods.
• George Washington’s, Alexander Hamilton’s, and Aaron Burr’s Oaths of Allegiance, 1778: Oaths of Allegiance that all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War. 
• Treaty of Paris, 1783: Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, this Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.
• Secret Printing of the Constitution in Draft Form, 1787: A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in draft form, with a delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 
• Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787: The voting records of the Constitutional Convention reflect the debates, resolutions, and eventual vote on the final text that would become the Constitution. 

This exhibition is a signature initiative of the America 250 - Colorado 150 Commission.