KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday in 2026, the National Archives has planned a tour for the public to see historic documents that date back to the country’s founding. And it all starts in Kansas City.
The National Archives announced Tuesday that the “Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents that Forged a Nation” will visit eight cities, beginning at the World War I Museum and Memorial from March 6-22.
The documents, most of which are leaving the nation’s capital for the first time in several years, include:
- Original Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, 1823: One of only about 50 known engraved copies of the Declaration of Independence, 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, adopted by the First Continental Congress and signed by all 53 delegates, urged colonists to boycott British goods.
- George Washington’s, Alexander Hamilton’s, and Aaron Burr’s Oaths of Allegiance, 1778: Oaths of Allegiance all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War.
- Treaty of Paris, 1783: Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, the 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.
- Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787: The voting records of the Constitutional Convention reflecting the debates, resolutions, and eventual vote on the final text that would become the Constitution.
The exhibition is free to the public, and details about tickets will become available on Feb. 6…