Five Founding Documents on Display Inside Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World
Franklin was the only American to sign five of the United States’ founding documents. Original versions of all five of these documents, with eye-opening scribbles and notes from our founding fathers revealing the process they used to forge the documents that shaped our nation’s government and history, are on display in the Western United States for the first time. A description of these versions can be found below.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
—Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, as a proclamation to the world that colonial America sought independence from Britain. It stated that independence rested on the principles that men are created free and equal, and they cannot rightfully be governed without their consent. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the document with help from a committee including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. The Declaration of Independence was written, in part, to demonstrate America’s resolve and solidarity in its formal split from Britain. This was important because the colonies needed to persuade potential allies—especially France—to support the American cause.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to adopt the Declaration of Independence based on Jefferson’s draft. John Dunlap, the official printer for Congress, worked through the night and into the next morning, printing the text of the Declaration as broadsides, which served as both flyers and posters. Early on July 5, John Hancock dispatched these broadsides to be read, posted, and reprinted in order to announce the colonies’ independence. Only 25 copies of the John Dunlap broadside survive today, few in pristine condition.
Version in Denver: Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776. Owned by the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
—Constitution of the United States of America, September 17, 1787
The Constitution of the United States of America was signed in 1787 and declared that ultimate political authority resides not in the government, nor in any single government official, but in the people. It called for the creation of a new system of government that distributed power among three separate but interdependent branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. Under an elaborate system of checks and balances, each branch was given the power to control and check the powers of the other two branches. The Constitution also called for the division of power between the federal government and the states.
Benjamin Franklin was one of 39 people to sign the Constitution. At the age of 81, he was also the oldest to sign.
How many people realize that the stirring words, “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union. . .” were a late addition to this seminal document? During the long, hot summer of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, various plans were submitted, debated, amended and finally compromised. On August 7, 1787, a committee presented the draft of a document that called for a balance of powers generally acceptable to a majority. This draft was printed so that the delegates could evaluate it. Since the proceedings were secret, the edition was limited and never issued publicly. One copy went to each delegate. This copy is that of John Dickinson, one of the most celebrated statesmen of his day, who wrote extensively on his copy, documenting changes adopted in the course of debate. A corrected draft incorporating those changes was printed and circulated on September 13, amended, and then reprinted as the final version on September 17.
Version in Denver: Constitution of the United States. Philadelphia: Dunlap and Claypoole, 1787. Owned by the Library Company of Philadelphia.
TREATY OF PARIS
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States...to be free sovereign and independent.
—Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783
Although the Revolutionary War ended with the American victory at Yorktown in the fall of 1781, the terms of peace between Britain and the United States were not formalized until September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. In the two years between the end of hostilities and the signing of the Treaty, the American negotiators––Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay––worked with their British, French, and Spanish counterparts to shape a treaty that guaranteed American sovereignty. The Treaty gave formal recognition to the United States, established its national boundaries, and provided for the evacuation of British troops. The French copy of the treaty was printed by Philippe-Denis Pierres, “First Printer in Ordinary to Louis XVI,” for the American commissioners.
Version in Denver: The Definitive Treaty, between Great-Britain and the United States of America, signed at Paris, the 3rd day of September 1783 (bound with other pamphlets)
Paris: [Philippe-Denis Pierres], 1783. Originally owned by Benjamin Franklin; now owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
ALBANY PLAN OF UNION
[It is proposed] That humble Application be made for an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, by Virtue of which, one General Government may be formed in America.
—Benjamin Franklin, Albany Plan of Union, July 10, 1754
In 1754, Britain and France struggled for control over North America. Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union to unite the British North American colonies and create a legislative body that would have the power to control commerce and organize defense in the face of attacks by the French or their Native American allies. However, the Albany Plan was rejected by both the colonists and Britain as the colonists themselves did not yet recognize the value of colonial unity and Britain worried that this Plan would create a powerful colonial alliance that might prove difficult to control.
The Albany Congress appointed a committee, including Franklin, to prepare a memorandum setting forth the outlines and terms of a proposed union. The committee report, surviving only in a transcript prepared by Meshech Weare, a New Hampshire delegate to the congress, drew extensively on Franklin’s “Short Hints,” even for its title.
Version in Denver: Short hints towards a Scheme for a General Union of the British Colonies on the Continent (draft version of the Albany Plan of Union), 1754
Manuscript copy in the hand of Meshech Weare. Owned by The New York Public Library.
TREATIES OF AMITY AND COMMERCE
There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal Peace, and a true and sincere Friendship between the most Christian King, his Heirs and Successors, and the United States of America.
—Treaty of Amity, February 6, 1778
In 1778 the Treaties of Amity and Commerce (commonly known as the Treaty of Amity) produced a strategic alliance between the United States and France, in which each nation agreed to aid one another in the event of British attack. Already at war with Britain, the new American nation needed significant support in the form of loans, military supplies, and troops. The Treaty officially brought France into the American Revolutionary War, providing aid at a crucial time and ultimately enabling the Americans to win their independence. Negotiating the Treaty on behalf of the United States were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee, and Conrad Alexander Gerard.
On November 4, 1778, the U.S. Congress ordered that 300 copies of the Treaties of Amity and Commerce, and of Alliance be printed by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap. This is one of the few surviving copies of that printing.
Version in Denver: Treaties of Amity and Commerce. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1778. Owned by the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
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