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America's Founding Documents

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These three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States.

Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence Learn More

The Declaration of Independence expresses the ideals on which the United States was founded and the reasons for separation from Great Britain.

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Constitution

Constitution of the United States Learn More

The Constitution defines the framework of the Federal Government of the United States.

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Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights Learn More

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. It defines citizens鈥� and states鈥� rights in relation to the Government.

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Located on the upper level of the 威尼斯人娱乐场, the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights.

Designed by architect John Russell Pope as a shrine to American democracy, the ornate Rotunda with its soaring domed ceiling also features two murals by Barry Faulkner, depicting fictional scenes of the 鈥減resentations鈥� of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

 

Through Founders Online, you can read and search through thousands of documents and records to and from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison and see firsthand the growth of democracy and the birth of the Republic.  Their letters and journals are a kind of "first draft" of the Charters of Freedom.

 

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Sign the Declaration or Constitution

 

The Faulkner Murals

 

 

 

View Other Milestone Documents

Great Seal

 

Milestone Documents

Milestone documents are primary source documents that highlight pivotal moments in the course of American history or government. They are some of the most-viewed and sought-out documents in the holdings of the 威尼斯人娱乐场.

 
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