Jeffrey Brasie

Fifty years ago, I lived in Washington, D.C. during America’s Bicentennial. Leading the 200-year event was the late Senator John W. Warner. I worked for him when he was Secretary of the Navy serving active duty on his public affairs staff.

The nation’s birthday celebration was not just limited to Washington and the July 4th week. Rather a year-long event across all the states and territories.

On Sunday, July 4, 1976, I vividly recall a massive Washington parade. That evening, I viewed a spectacular firework from the Potomac River’s shoreline.

This year America celebrates its 250th birthday or sesquicentennial.

We are not a perfect nation. We have made correct and wrong decisions. As well as experiencing numerous ups and downs. America is a democracy designed to serve the people.

Considering our multi-culture “roots” during a revolutionary war, our founding fathers crafted a document, the U.S. Constitution, which has maintained our democracy.

This year there will be numerous celebrations across our nation, in Michigan, your hometown, and perhaps your backyard.

Recently, I learned there is a unique and important 250-year celebratory tribute crossing the nation and coming to Michigan. It is called the “Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation.”

The Michigan stop is slated for Thursday, July 9th through Sunday, July 26th at Dearborn’s Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.

Beginning Friday, March 6th, the tour begins in Kansas City, Missouri, with subsequent tour cities being Atlanta, Georgia, Los Angeles, California, Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Miami, Florida, and Seattle, Washington.

The National Archives and Records Administration, in partnership with the National Archives Foundation, is bringing important American founding-era documents to each of these cities.

The sponsoring organizations jointly commented, “Americans across the country can bear witness to the people and principles that shaped our nation through the Freedom Plane National Tour.”

Senior Advisor to the Archivist of the United States Jim Byron added, “There is no more noteworthy an occasion than America’s 250th birthday to share this history, to inspire our fellow Americans to champion our nation’s founding ideals into the future.”

The Freedom Plane National Tour is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation, and through the generous support of The Boeing Company, Comcast Corporation, Microsoft, and Procter and Gamble Corporation.

The original National Archives records featured in the traveling exhibit for the first time, 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. This engraving captured the size, text, lettering, and signatures of the original document.

Articles of Association, 1774: Signed by all 53 delegates, the Articles of Association urged colonists to boycott British goods and was the Continental Congress’s first major unified act of resistance against Britain.

George Washington’s, Alexander Hamilton’s, and Aaron Burr’s Oaths of Allegiance, 1778: Oaths of Allegiance that all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War.

Treaty of Paris, 1783: Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, this 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 the delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

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 exhibits will be free and open to the public at all eight venues. To secure tickets, visit the individual museum website or contact the museum directly.

For additional information visit the National Archives at www.archives.gov , the Freedom Plane Tour at www.freedomplane.org, and The Henry Ford at www.thehenryford.org.