Constituting Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights

CONSTITUTING LIBERTY: FROM THE DECLARATION TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS
in the George H.W. Bush Gallery

Experience America’s founding documents up close!

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are the three most important documents in American history. They express the ideals that define “We the People of the United States” and inspire free people around the world.

The National Constitution Center is proud to display a first edition Stone Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, a rare copy of the first public printing of the U.S. Constitution, and a reproduction of one of the 12 surviving copies of the Bill of Rights in the George H.W. Bush Gallery. The original Bill of Rights, which was exhibited at the Center between 2014 and 2017, is now at The New York Public Library. It will be returned to the National Constitution Center after 2020 and will be displayed on a rotating basis to the public in both Pennsylvania and New York for the next 100 years. 

• Click here to read CONSTITUTING LIBERTY: FROM THE DECLARATION TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS by JEFFREY ROSEN AND DAVID RUBENSTEIN.
• View the exhibition press kit to learn more about this document and this historic agreement.
• Check out our interactive Constitutional Rights: Origins and Travels website. Discover which documents and ideas influenced the Founders when drafting the Bill of Rights. Explore Rights Around the World to see how rights have been expEdit Linkressed in different countries and at different times.
• Click here to view our  Constituting Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights Exhibition video announcement from spring 2013, in Philadelphia and New York. The video features National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen, the Center’s Chairman of the Executive Committee Doug DeVos and Chairman Jeb Bush as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, New York Public Library President and CEO Anthony Marx, National Constitution Center Secretary and General Counsel  Stephen J. Harmelin and the Superintendent of the Independence National Historical Park, Cynthia MacLeod.