Existing comment:
Records of Rights:
Citizens petition and protest, lawmakers draft bills, and courts make rulings. The passionate and continuous national debate about our rights is recorded in the original documents displayed here.
In the 13th century, Magna Carta asserted in writing that fundamental rights exist and must be protected. More than 200 years ago, our revolutionary ancestors, influenced by Magna Carta, enshrined certain rights in our Charters -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights -- on display one floor above this gallery in the Rotunda of the National Archives.
The debate about our rights continues in public laws, constitutional amendments, executive orders, judicial decisions, and other records preserved in the National Archives. These records document the expansion -- and sometimes the retraction-- of our rights. Shown here are Records of Rights -- significant moments in the ongoing struggle to define our rights, recorded in these original documents. |