Coming to St. Paul: 232 Years of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
To
celebrate Minnesota's 150 years of statehood, the Declaration of
Independence is coming to Minnesota and will be on public display in
the library of the Minnesota History Center May 6-18. Minnesota
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL)
is coordinating the effort, in partnership with the Minnesota
Historical Society, the Sesquicentennial Commission and Dolan Media
Company (which is sponsoring the Declaration and recently acquired Politics in Minnesota).
Two things. One, the exhibit will be free (thank you, Dolan Media). Two, the Declaration coming to Minnesota is actually a copy...printed the night of July 4, 1776. Minnesota Lawyer's Mark Cohen has the details here.
After the language in the Declaration was agreed to by these guys, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap--in a perilous act of sedition--printed 200 copies on the evening of July 4, 1776. Off those copies flew on horseback to the colonies to be read in public squares and announce a revolution. George Washington read a copy aloud to his troops. A copy was also sent to Great Britain's King George III. The Declaration detailed the King's "history of repeated injuries and usurpations," and "let Facts be submitted to a candid world." The King no longer had 13 colonies. There were now 13 independent states.
We'll never know the exact history of the copy of the Declaration coming to St. Paul. But it sure will be fun to let our imaginations run wild as we stare at the 232-year-old copy. Maybe it's the copy Washington read. Maybe it's the copy that was read in some small hamlet in New Hampshire. Greeted with glee, fear and dread by men who left their families to fight the revolution. Greeted with glee, fear and dread by the wives and children they left behind to run the farms -- and fend off the British, themselves.
In the coming weeks, we'll have lots more about the Declaration, as will our sister publications, Finance and Commerce, Minnesota Lawyer and the St. Paul Legal Ledger. Meanwhile, don't miss MPR's Tom Weber and his clever explanation of the arrival of the Declaration in St. Paul. Or HBO Films' miniseries, John Adams, based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning book.
Two things. One, the exhibit will be free (thank you, Dolan Media). Two, the Declaration coming to Minnesota is actually a copy...printed the night of July 4, 1776. Minnesota Lawyer's Mark Cohen has the details here.
After the language in the Declaration was agreed to by these guys, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap--in a perilous act of sedition--printed 200 copies on the evening of July 4, 1776. Off those copies flew on horseback to the colonies to be read in public squares and announce a revolution. George Washington read a copy aloud to his troops. A copy was also sent to Great Britain's King George III. The Declaration detailed the King's "history of repeated injuries and usurpations," and "let Facts be submitted to a candid world." The King no longer had 13 colonies. There were now 13 independent states.
We'll never know the exact history of the copy of the Declaration coming to St. Paul. But it sure will be fun to let our imaginations run wild as we stare at the 232-year-old copy. Maybe it's the copy Washington read. Maybe it's the copy that was read in some small hamlet in New Hampshire. Greeted with glee, fear and dread by men who left their families to fight the revolution. Greeted with glee, fear and dread by the wives and children they left behind to run the farms -- and fend off the British, themselves.
In the coming weeks, we'll have lots more about the Declaration, as will our sister publications, Finance and Commerce, Minnesota Lawyer and the St. Paul Legal Ledger. Meanwhile, don't miss MPR's Tom Weber and his clever explanation of the arrival of the Declaration in St. Paul. Or HBO Films' miniseries, John Adams, based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning book.
Morning Reports
Declaration of Independence
Check out http://hennepintheatredistrict.org/LiteraryLegends/ for information on an upcoming visit by John Adams historiam David McCullough - speaking on the American Presidency. This visit by the Declaration is an amazing opportunity for all Minnesotans to reflects on the gifts we have been so generously bestowed - especially the founders' commitment - in word and in deed - to liberty and justice for all.