Some of the most significant founding documents in U.S. history have touched down in Denver as part of a national tour, and Colorado is one of only eight locations to get them.
The ticketed exhibition opened Thursday, May 28, at History Colorado Center, and runs through June 14 with a bevy of historical wonders, including an original engraving of the Declaration of Independence and rare draft of the U.S. Constitution, all timed to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
Tickets for the exhibition are free, and you can pay $20 extra for general admission to History Colorado Center (both are free for kids and members). Call 303-447-8679 or visit and for more details. It’s open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 1200 Broadway in Denver.
“Freedom Plane offers a tangible opportunity to reflect on what it means to be American,” said Dawn DiPrince, president and CEO of History Colorado and the State Historic Preservation Officer, in a statement. “These documents embody the revolutionary idea that we are a nation bound together by shared ideals.”
The documents have never before traveled together outside of Washington, D.C., organizers said, but there’s precedent for the tour. It’s inspired by the Bicentennial Freedom Train in 1976, and backed by the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Archives Foundation.
Its treasures include:
- The 1823 original engraving of the Declaration of Independence, “one of only about 50 known engraved copies … printed from a copperplate of the original Commissioned by John Quincy Adams and made by engraver William J. Stone. “The engraving captured the size, text, lettering, and signatures of the original document (on loan from David M. Rubenstein).”
- Articles of Association, 1774: “The most important agreement at the time that was adopted by the First Continental Congress and signed by all 53 delegates, which urged colonists to boycott British goods.”
- George Washington’s, Alexander Hamilton’s, and Aaron Burr’s Oaths of Allegiance, 1778: “Oaths of Allegiance that all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War.”
- Treaty of Paris, 1783: “Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, this Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.”
- Secret Printing of the Constitution in Draft Form, 1787: “A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in draft form, with a delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787.”
- Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787
- Markup in the U.S. Senate of what would become the Bill of Rights.
