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Tag: Founding Fathers

  • America’s ‘divorce papers’ from Britain to tour the United States – WTOP News

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    Ten documents from the nation’s founding era are leaving their home at the National Archives in D.C. and hitting the skies for America’s 250th birthday.

    Ten documents from the nation’s founding era are leaving their home at the National Archives in D.C. and hitting the skies for America’s 250th birthday this summer.

    Reflecting on the “Bicentennial Freedom Train,” eight American cities will receive the “Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation” exhibit.

    “These documents are either precursors to the declaration and reflect mounting frustration with British rule, or they document the declaration’s immediate result, how subjects of King George III became citizens of the United States and formed a new nation,” said Jim Byron, senior adviser to the acting archivist of the United States.

    From March through August, the tour will go through the following cities:

    A special Boeing 737 will carry these pieces of history.

    Some of the documents that will be on display include a copy of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. It is signed by John Adams, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin

    “I always think of the Declaration of Independence as like the breakup letter,” said Jessie Kratz, a historian with the National Archives. “But this is the final divorce papers that acknowledged the United States as a country and also gave the borders so we could actually expand westward. So this was the first time that Britain actually recognized our independence.”

    The oaths of allegiance by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr will also be a part of the display.

    “The Continental Congress decided that they needed to have all army officers sign oaths of allegiance to the United States,” Kratz said. “They sent all these preprinted forms to Valley Forge to have George Washington get all the officers to sign.”

    Other documents going on tour include a secret printing of the Constitution in draft form and an original engraving of the Declaration of Independence.

    “The Freedom Plane National Tour underscores that the rich history of our nation belongs to all of us, not just those Americans living in or visiting Washington, D.C.,” said Rodney Slater, chair and president of the National Archives Foundation Board of Directors.

    The exhibition will be free at all eight venues.

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    Luke Lukert

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  • Opinion | Why America Is a ‘Creedal Nation’

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    Democracy is a powerful and dangerous force, as America and the European democracies are discovering. Elites on both sides of the Atlantic haven’t done a very good job of handling it.

    We have some anniversaries coming up next year that may help us. We have, of course, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The same day is the bicentennial of the deaths of the two founders most responsible for that great document, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration is vital to understanding who we are as Americans.

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    Gordon S. Wood

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  • Rare letter signed by founding fathers expected to fetch $1 million

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    Rare letter signed by founding fathers expected to fetch $1 million at auction

    A rare letter signed by three of the founding fathers of the United States is going on sale, and is expected to fetch up to $1 million when it goes under the hammer next week.Bearing the signatures of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, the letter is addressed to the “Envoy Extraordinary of the King of the Two Sicilies” and seeks negotiations for a treaty of amity and commerce, according to Bonhams, the auction house handling the sale.Video above: “National Treasure” in real life? This code could lead to a hidden treasure worth millions!”An important expression of the emerging American policy of free trade, likely the only available example of any letter signed by all three of these Founding Fathers, the men most responsible for the Declaration of Independence,” said Bonhams in a listing on its website.Dating from 1784, the letter was written after America had achieved independence, but at a time when it wasn’t clear whether the new nation would succeed.That year, Congress commissioned Adams, Franklin and Jefferson to establish treaties with 20 other nations, thereby strengthening America’s position in the world.”These treaties of ‘Amity and Commerce’ authorized by Congress just after Independence, and well before the enactment of a Federal Constitution, were essentially the establishment of a new and heavily trade-based system that would remake the face of international politics,” adds Bonhams.Bidding starts at $550,000, and the letter is expected to fetch up to $1 million when it goes under the hammer on Nov. 12.Objects and artifacts linked to the founding fathers often prove popular at auction, attracting astronomical bids.In 2017, manuscripts, personal letters and hundreds of other documents from founding father Alexander Hamilton’s desk sold for a total of $2.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York, according to the auction house.And history buffs will also be able to bid on other historic items, including a lock of George Washington’s hair, at a sale coordinated by New York-based Guernsey’s auction house on Nov. 22.

    CNN —

    A rare letter signed by three of the founding fathers of the United States is going on sale, and is expected to fetch up to $1 million when it goes under the hammer next week.

    Bearing the signatures of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, the letter is addressed to the “Envoy Extraordinary of the King of the Two Sicilies” and seeks negotiations for a treaty of amity and commerce, according to Bonhams, the auction house handling the sale.

    Video above: “National Treasure” in real life? This code could lead to a hidden treasure worth millions!

    “An important expression of the emerging American policy of free trade, likely the only available example of any letter signed by all three of these Founding Fathers, the men most responsible for the Declaration of Independence,” said Bonhams in a listing on its website.

    Dating from 1784, the letter was written after America had achieved independence, but at a time when it wasn’t clear whether the new nation would succeed.

    That year, Congress commissioned Adams, Franklin and Jefferson to establish treaties with 20 other nations, thereby strengthening America’s position in the world.

    “These treaties of ‘Amity and Commerce’ authorized by Congress just after Independence, and well before the enactment of a Federal Constitution, were essentially the establishment of a new and heavily trade-based system that would remake the face of international politics,” adds Bonhams.

    Bidding starts at $550,000, and the letter is expected to fetch up to $1 million when it goes under the hammer on Nov. 12.

    Objects and artifacts linked to the founding fathers often prove popular at auction, attracting astronomical bids.

    In 2017, manuscripts, personal letters and hundreds of other documents from founding father Alexander Hamilton’s desk sold for a total of $2.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York, according to the auction house.

    And history buffs will also be able to bid on other historic items, including a lock of George Washington’s hair, at a sale coordinated by New York-based Guernsey’s auction house on Nov. 22.

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