n.the collective name for three principal founding documents of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of RightsGSA 1954, 39The most important publication of the year, “Charters of Freedom,” was issued on the occasion of the enshrining of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the National Archives.Gustafson 1976, 271In 1952 the Library of Congress transferred the original engrossed copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the National Archives. Together with the Bill of Rights, they are the Charters of Freedom, the most precious documents in the National Archives of the United States.Kratz 2016The travels of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have been chronicled frequently over the years—in fact, they are fascinating stories. However, the third “Charter of Freedom”—the Bill of Rights—has been largely overlooked.Gustafson 2002Thus opened the new exhibit for these three parchment documents, together for the first time in one place and with a new collective name never before used: “the Charters of Freedom.” Where did that phrase come from? Certainly we must give President Truman credit for first expressing the idea in 1951 of exhibiting the Bill of Rights with the Declaration and the Constitution. But the three documents did not become the Charters of Freedom until 1953, when the National Archives published The Charters of Freedom, an exhibit catalog that included facsimile copies of all seven parchment sheets.NIST 2022Since our nation’s earliest days, leaders, philosophers, and even everyday citizens have advised that three vital documents—the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights—must never fade away. On the six pages of animal-skin parchment that make up these Charters of Freedom, the founding fathers set down the fundamental principles that have successfully guided our 225-year-old democracy.Kamps and Shogan 2024, 16When the National Archives Building opened in 1935, the shrine that John Russell Pope had created for the Charters of Freedom was missing something: the Charters of Freedom. Although the Bill of Rights arrived at the new Archives Building in 1938 from the Department of State, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were on display at the Library of Congress (where they had been since 1924).NPS 2024Prior to their move to the National Archives in 1952, the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights, collectively referred to as the Charters of Freedom, were controlled by the State Department. NARA 2026The simple truth at the heart of the American Revolution is that people are born with certain natural rights, including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” that do not come from presidents, kings, or charters. These and other rights of the American people are secured by this nation's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, these three documents are on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building.
Notes
When it was constructed in 1935, the National Archives building included a shrine in the rotunda to display the Charters of Freedom. However, the exhibits were not installed until 1952, when the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were ceremoniously relocated from the Library of Congress, where they had been held since they were transferred from the Department of State in 1921. They joined the Bill of Rights, which had been transferred to the National Archives from the Department of State in 1938.
