MIAMI (WSVN) - In celebration of America’s big birthday, South Floridians can see several of the country’s founding documents in a new exhibit at the Museum of Miami.
A story on fragile parchment paper with messy side notes, signatures of men we know and many we don’t, all tell a 30-year journey from colonies to the United States.
“These documents are living,” said an official.
CEO of the Museum of Miami, Natalia Crujeiras, shared the importance of viewing the founding documents in person.
“We learn about this history in the classroom, and we learn about it through textbooks, but when you’re in front of them, something being tangible that you can really understand better. This is a different level,” said Crujeiras. “Our history is messy, and it’s not always perfect. But that patriotism and democracy is not always inherited. It depends on our participation.
From deep within the vaults of the National Archives in Washington, starting with the Articles of Association, in which angry colonists, years before the Revolution, decided to boycott British goods, the documents that forged a nation on display begin this weekend at the Museum of Miami.
“And so they got together and said, ‘How do we fight a tyrant?’ And the best way to fight a tyrant is to hit him in his pocketbook,” said Historian of the National Archives Jessie Kratz.
The stories of the years that followed are visible in climate and light-controlled glass cases, including the first time the words “United States of America” were used on the engraving of the Declaration of Independence.
“What’s interesting about seeing the actual document is that ‘United’ is small. They didn’t want big government. It was about the state’s rights, and so you see that represented even in the actual engrossment of the document,” said Patrick Madden, CEO of National Archives Foundation.
The exhibit arrived on Monday as part of an eight-city tour and was dedicated on Wednesday, three days before it’s open to the public.
Papers that move from rebellion to oaths of allegiance by several founding fathers to a rough draft of the Bill of Rights are complete with last-minute notes and edits.
“They were debating what should be in, what should be out. So it’s very much an active conversation. This is going to be a different kind of government and a different kind of democracy built on ideas and ideals. So we continue to work toward a more perfect union. But these are the one and only original documents to start us on this path,” said Madden.
The Freedom Plane National Tour exhibit opens at the Museum of Miami on June 20.
It runs through July 5, open every day, and it’s free because organizers said they want everyone to have a chance to see it.
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