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NBC News Learn
National Archives
01:20 - 05:02
The Declaration of Independence is the outline for America's democracy. As federal documents are within the people's right to view, they are accessible at the National Archives.
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Video Transcript
1:20
Congress established the National Archives and Records Administration in 1934
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with the important job of caring for the records of the US government
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Congress made laws
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that said that we have to preserve
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Federal record so citizens like you guys can come and examine them
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so we are an executive branch division
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our agency is because we're carrying that out we're preserving the records like Congress told them T
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in our democracy records belong to the people
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these documents
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help us [censored]
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listens to claim our rights
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hold elected officials accountable
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and preserve our history as a country
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the most popular documents for anyone coming to visit Washington DC for us are the Declaration Constitution and the Bill of Rights
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okay guys what you are looking at is the original Declaration of Independence the actual real thing
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it is really faded
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you can barely that's true
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can anybody see a date on it
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did I force
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very good
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the Declaration of Independence is
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well we summarize it with the kids are saying it's like the breakup
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letter with Great Britain
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but it's the most epic breakup letter that you'll ever encounter because outlines
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here is our philosophy for government and here are a list of grievances saying
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you're not living up to this
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well the Declaration of Independence laid the groundwork
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for the Revolution
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and laid the groundwork for
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our Constitution
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and the rest
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of the
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our government has function
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who are we were declaring our independence from
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British very good why
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we're being taxed did we have a stay
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in the government saying like hey we don't want to be tax that much we want to have a voice in our own government
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no
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so
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we declared our freedom from England
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and those 56 men
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who put their names on that document
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were
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risking their lives
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and they knew it
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you know the term put your John Hancock here
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has taken on a meaning of put your signature here
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well
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King George the third had very very poor eyesight
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and so John Hancock said
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I want to make sure he can read my name
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it was the Supreme Act of defiance
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the Declaration of Independence paved the way for the Constitution
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the Bill of Rights
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and many other important documents that we've together our history as a country
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I think it's important that young people know and understand
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our our founding documents the principles upon which our nation was founded
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government is not them
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it's us it's made up of us it's your democracy
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it's your government and you have to be involved
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while the words on the documents are Faded by time
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they continue to inspire a nation
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of we
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the people
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we hold these truths to be self-evident remembering the guidance of our Founders
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he Pluribus Unum from anyone
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that all men are created equal
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they didn't know how many we would become or how different would be from each other
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but they knew we had to strive for Oneness
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that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights
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to remember always despite our differences
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we are one country
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indivisible
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one nation under God
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among these are life
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liberty
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and the pursuit of happiness
