Join National Archives docent Jeff Feinstein for a celebration of the documents that created America!

This July 4th marks the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, so let’s get ready to celebrate America’s 250th birthday by time-traveling (virtually) to America’s founding! Our trip starts during the summer of 1776, where representatives of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies met to declare, then later won, their independence from their mother country. Next, we’ll jump ahead a decade, where that fledgling nation created a stable plan of government that exists to today. Lastly, we’ll see how the founders soon fortified that plan by adding guarantees that protected individual rights.

The Charters of Freedom -- the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights -- are the essential documents of America’s founding that declared our nation’s independence, established our government, and protects our rights. In this presentation, we’ll learn why and how each of the Charters was written, and why each still remains critically vital to each of us today. We’ll also learn fun facts about the Charters, like:

• We celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, but did America actually become independent on that date?
• How Nicholas Cage got it half-right: There IS a message on the back of the Declaration of Independence. (Just not the one he thought was there.)
• The founders never sent England’s king the Declaration of Independence, so why are there three originals in Britain’s National Archives? And,
• How a college student’s grade of C led to a constitutional amendment.

Jeff Feinstein has lived in Collingwood with his family since 1990. He was a government lawyer for 18 years in New York City and Washington, D.C., and then taught history (AP U.S. History and others) for 24 years at West Potomac High School. Since retiring, Jeff volunteers as a docent at the National Archives (the permanent home of the Charters of Freedom), where he shares their story with visitors, and as a researcher for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Lorton Prison Museum. He also volunteers in a second-grade classroom at Waynewood Elementary School. Jeff’s children think his most annoying habit is stopping to read every historical marker he sees.

This presentation will be repeated on Sunday, June 21 at 3:00 p.m.

Adults and teens. Registration is not required but will allow visitors to receive email reminders for the event and assist organizers with planning.