WEBVTT - Safeguarding Liberty: The Documents That Shaped America | The Next Frontier With Dr. Kevin Roberts

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<v Speaker 1>Here we are now in the world renowned rotunda of

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<v Speaker 1>the National Archives, where the Charters of Freedom live, or

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<v Speaker 1>in the two fiftieth two and a fiftieth celebration year,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think the word's gotten out.

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<v Speaker 2>This is part of our American DNA. I'm walking into

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<v Speaker 2>the vaults that house America's history. One guards the documents

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<v Speaker 2>that inspired this nation. The other guards the charters of

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<v Speaker 2>freedom that protected And I'm asking a simple question, what

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<v Speaker 2>does it take to preserve the ideas that make a

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<v Speaker 2>nation possible? In Washington, d C. The rotunda at the

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<v Speaker 2>National Archives holds what we call the Charters of Freedom,

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<v Speaker 2>the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the.

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<v Speaker 1>Bill of Rights.

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<v Speaker 2>We met up with National Archivist Jim Byron, who is

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<v Speaker 2>helping safeguard the words that shape this nation. Jim, I

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<v Speaker 2>have to confess right away that's sort of a geek

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<v Speaker 2>out alert here being in National Archives as an early

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<v Speaker 2>American historian. Thank you and your staff for your great service,

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<v Speaker 2>especially in this year of America's two fifty. There are

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of people here to see these founding documents.

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<v Speaker 2>I think the audience knows why they're important, but sort

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<v Speaker 2>of high level, why do you think you're almost overrun

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<v Speaker 2>with visitors today.

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<v Speaker 1>We're in the two fiftieth, two hundred fiftieth celebration year,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think the word's gotten out. You know, this

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<v Speaker 1>is the home of the Declaration of Independence. The whole

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<v Speaker 1>foundation that our country was built upon is right here.

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<v Speaker 1>It's one hundred steps that way. It's pretty amazing to

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<v Speaker 1>see people come in from not only all over the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, but but all over the world, and to

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<v Speaker 1>appreciate the impact that the Declaration has had on two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty years later.

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<v Speaker 2>You know. Having taught the founding era many, many times,

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<v Speaker 2>more times than I can remember, which is a common

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<v Speaker 2>on my age, I'm always filled with patriotism. Frankly, I'd

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<v Speaker 2>step in here and see so many people, probably most

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<v Speaker 2>of them Americans, but hopefully people from all around the

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<v Speaker 2>world because they're drawn to that timeless document. What is

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<v Speaker 2>it about the history of that the sort of historical

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<v Speaker 2>context that is just timeless in its appeal to the

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<v Speaker 2>human heart.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, a lot of ideas come together in the Declaration

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<v Speaker 1>of Independence, right, I mean, if another seminal document in

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<v Speaker 1>world history, the Magnet Carta, is here in this building

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<v Speaker 1>as well. Those concepts of individual liberty of participation in

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<v Speaker 1>one's government really sort of formed and fomented with the

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<v Speaker 1>Magne Carta. And then of course you have John Locke

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<v Speaker 1>in sixteen eighty nine, which was a major influence on

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<v Speaker 1>our founding fathers, and again sort of those then philosophical

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<v Speaker 1>concepts of individual liberty and participation in government. Walter Isaacson

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<v Speaker 1>has done a new book called The Greatest Sentence Ever

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<v Speaker 1>Read and short. It's it's only about eighty pages. It's

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<v Speaker 1>well worth I think everyone taking a look at. And

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<v Speaker 1>he writes in there that Benjamin Franklin was heavily influenced

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<v Speaker 1>by a Scottish philosopher called David Hume and goes and

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<v Speaker 1>stays with him in Scotland for a month in seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>forty eight. And it's just so many different ideas from

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<v Speaker 1>different great thinkers and Enlightenment thinkers over the sixteenth, seventeenth,

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<v Speaker 1>and ultimately eighteenth centuries come together in that document, not

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<v Speaker 1>to mention those of Thomas Jefferson, really the principal principal

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<v Speaker 1>writer on the Committee of Five. And it's a masterpiece.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think this year it's very special to be

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<v Speaker 1>here at the National Archives, the home of the Declaration

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<v Speaker 1>of Independence. To be able to celebrate that and it's

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<v Speaker 1>continued impact on our country.

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<v Speaker 2>The Archives present the founding is something you can see

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<v Speaker 2>with your own eyes. That's the quiet power of the

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<v Speaker 2>Charter of Freedom. The public isn't asked to trust an interpretation.

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<v Speaker 2>The public is invited to look for themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>And the paintings are very interesting. They're actually painted, they're allegorical,

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<v Speaker 1>but they were painted in the nineteen thirties in New

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<v Speaker 1>York City, actually in Grand Central Station. Really yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>And so this is the presentation of the Constitution to

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<v Speaker 1>George Washington. This is the presentation of the Declaration of Independence.

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<v Speaker 1>And you can see Thomas Jefferson, it's principal author.

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<v Speaker 2>Those murals have their own history. The rotunda's monumental canvasses

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<v Speaker 2>were painted to honor the Charters of Freedom and bring

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<v Speaker 2>a sense of reverence to this sacred place. But beyond

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<v Speaker 2>safeguarding the documents, the National Archives has an additional obligation

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<v Speaker 2>of making the very words understandable and in many cases

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<v Speaker 2>legible for younger generations whose education has let's say evolved.

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<v Speaker 1>Believe it or not, a lot of students actually have

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<v Speaker 1>issues reading and writing cursive yeah, So what we've done

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<v Speaker 1>is taken you know, Lincoln's handwriting and in many cases

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<v Speaker 1>typed it out as well for people to sure to

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<v Speaker 1>be able to read. So this is George Washington's copy

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<v Speaker 1>of the Constitution in draft form. That amazing, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>his handwriting. Well, this is the first page. And then

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<v Speaker 1>it's unbelievable.

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<v Speaker 2>Ideas can be timeless. Paper is not light, oxygen, heat,

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<v Speaker 2>and time itself can erase with the Founders put down.

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<v Speaker 2>When you think about all of those philosophers, and not

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<v Speaker 2>only in the Enlightenment, although they were very important obviously,

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<v Speaker 2>thinking about Hume, Montesquieu, many others, but even going centuries back,

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<v Speaker 2>that one of the great geniuses of Jefferson and the

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<v Speaker 2>people who came together around the Declaration was putting all

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<v Speaker 2>of that together into this singular document that could speak

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<v Speaker 2>not only to the American condition at the time and

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<v Speaker 2>not only the American condition two hundred and fifty years later,

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<v Speaker 2>but to the condition we're all wired to, which is

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<v Speaker 2>toward freedom absolutely and along the way. While those ideas

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<v Speaker 2>have persisted, sometimes there has been challenges in preserving the

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<v Speaker 2>document itself right.

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<v Speaker 1>Sort of the science of this place as well it's.

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<v Speaker 2>Right to that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the Declaration has had an interesting life over the

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<v Speaker 1>last two hundred and fifty years. Arkaval preservation wasn't necessarily well,

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<v Speaker 1>I should say. The degree to which the document is

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<v Speaker 1>preserved today was certainly not what it was back then.

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<v Speaker 1>Now the Declaration is encased in something called argone ar

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<v Speaker 1>gone gas, which is a natural element. But by sucking

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<v Speaker 1>the oxygen out of the document, it actually keeps it

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<v Speaker 1>in its perfect form, so to speak. It's not going

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<v Speaker 1>to deteriorate. Now. The Declaration itself is far from perfect.

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<v Speaker 1>It was displayed in the White House in the Executive

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<v Speaker 1>Office Building for a long time, and it hung actually

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<v Speaker 1>above a fireplace, so it got smoked out. It has

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<v Speaker 1>traveled all over the United States. It was saved and

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<v Speaker 1>smuggled out of the Capitol during the War of eighteen twelve.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's lived a very interesting life. Today it's the

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<v Speaker 1>job of the National Archives to preserve it, and so

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<v Speaker 1>it's encased in that argonne glass. It doesn't move and

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<v Speaker 1>it's here for everyone to see.

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<v Speaker 2>But the founding record doesn't begin in the rotunda. It

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<v Speaker 2>begins with books and pamphlets passed around before the founding

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<v Speaker 2>documents were made Cannon. To see the intellectual scaffolding, we

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<v Speaker 2>met up with Kevin Butterfield, a director at the Library

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<v Speaker 2>of Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>We're in the Rosenwald Room, Rare Book Special Collections Division

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<v Speaker 1>of the Library of Congress. I want to take you

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<v Speaker 1>down to the founding of the nation. Here we have

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<v Speaker 1>the sort of early settlement, but the founding of the

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<v Speaker 1>nation really I think kicks off in January of seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy six with this pamphlet called Common Sense. Thomas Paine

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<v Speaker 1>wrote this. He's only lived in America for a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of years at this point. He writes a powerfully moving

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<v Speaker 1>argument for independence. You know some of the lines that

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<v Speaker 1>he calls the king the royal brute, and he's a

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<v Speaker 1>great rhetoric in common sense, though powerful rhetoric. And it

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<v Speaker 1>was a sensation that this is a very first printing.

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<v Speaker 1>But I'll actually let you take hold of a slightly

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<v Speaker 1>later printing out of Blancashire. This is a This is

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<v Speaker 1>the original stab stitching from Michael would have been used

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<v Speaker 1>later in seventeen seventy six. And this gives you an

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<v Speaker 1>indication of just how ephemeral these things really were. These

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<v Speaker 1>things were there to be read passed around and in

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<v Speaker 1>some cases, of course bound and beautifully preserved, but in

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<v Speaker 1>most cases not. I mean, what a treat. So do

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<v Speaker 1>you know James Thompson is a Scottish poet here and

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<v Speaker 1>so the one sort of kind of high literary device.

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<v Speaker 1>He pulls a couple of lines out of Thompson's poetry

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<v Speaker 1>from the seventeen forties I think seventy thirties actually, But

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of it is just very ordinary, plain spoken language,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's the power of it. The struggles of seventy six,

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<v Speaker 1>which I think we all have some sense of, but

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<v Speaker 1>it culminates ultimately with the crossing of the Delaware in

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas Day of seventeen seventy six. Just before that, Thomas

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<v Speaker 1>Paine took another stab at writing for the American people,

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<v Speaker 1>this is the American crisis. These are words perhaps even

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<v Speaker 1>more powerful in terms of the rhetorical impact of just

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<v Speaker 1>a handful of sentences than common sense. I think every

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<v Speaker 1>American has heard these things. But I'll read a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of senses. These are the times that tri men souls,

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<v Speaker 1>the summer soldier in the sunshine, patriot will in this

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<v Speaker 1>crisis shrink from the service of this country. But he

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<v Speaker 1>that stands it now deserves the love and the thanks

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<v Speaker 1>of man and woman. He published this about a week

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<v Speaker 1>before the crossing of the Delaware. The story is that

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<v Speaker 1>true Washington had it read to his troops. It's very

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<v Speaker 1>possible that they were just reading it themselves, but either way,

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<v Speaker 1>this was setting a power in a moment that's culminated

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<v Speaker 1>on December twenty fifth.

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<v Speaker 2>This is part of our American DNA one.

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<v Speaker 1>Percent, and I think to everyone is these are the

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<v Speaker 1>times the tribe and souls. I mean, it entered the

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<v Speaker 1>lexicon in a way that Pain would have been very

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<v Speaker 1>happy about. As we head into the founding across the

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<v Speaker 1>Wars concluded, there's the seventeen eighties, I think people commonly

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<v Speaker 1>call a critical period of American history, and it culminates

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<v Speaker 1>in what Thomas Jefferson would later call one of the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest statements of political theory and the Federalist. So there

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<v Speaker 1>are eighty five essays that John j Alexander Hamilton, and

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<v Speaker 1>James Madison Wright to argue for the ratification of this

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<v Speaker 1>newly written constitution. What you're looking at here is Thomas

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<v Speaker 1>Jefferson's copy of The Federalist. Jefferson's copy of the Fellows.

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<v Speaker 1>Jefferson's copy came to the library when he came to

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<v Speaker 1>Ira Library in eighteen fifteen. After the British burned the

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<v Speaker 1>Library of Congress went while burning the Capitol in eighteen fourteen,

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<v Speaker 1>Thomas Jefferson sold to the library, sold to the Congress

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<v Speaker 1>at what a price they were willing to pay him

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred and eighty seven books, and this is one

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<v Speaker 1>of them. And this copy actually has a more interesting

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<v Speaker 1>provenance than just that. Elizabeth Hamilton was the first owner.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the wife of Alexander Hamilton. She gave it to

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<v Speaker 1>her sister, Angelica s gal er Church, who became friends

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<v Speaker 1>with the Jeffersons while they were stationed overseas in Paris

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<v Speaker 1>in particular, and that moving from the Hamilton family over

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<v Speaker 1>to Jefferson, he receives this. He actually then does what

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<v Speaker 1>many Americans were doing at this time, because these were

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<v Speaker 1>all written under a pen name Pouplius. He writes down

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<v Speaker 1>who he thinks wrote each of them, and of course

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<v Speaker 1>he's good friends with Madison, so who wrote by asim

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<v Speaker 1>inside knowledge, he lists the numbers written by Jay, the

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<v Speaker 1>numbers written by Madison, the rest by Alexander Hamilton. He's

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<v Speaker 1>wrong on a few instances.

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<v Speaker 2>By the way, this is instructive for those of us

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<v Speaker 2>who still theorized about the mystery of of the authorship of.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of those essays. I think I think a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people don't realize this unless they've taken my course

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps yours, that there are still a few essays

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<v Speaker 1>that we're just not sure. Madison and Hamilton wrote in

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<v Speaker 1>such a similar way, with a similar power and argument,

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<v Speaker 1>that there's a handful of essays that could well have

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<v Speaker 1>been either one of them. And that's just where we are.

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<v Speaker 1>But The Federalists was printed in two volumes. That's in

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<v Speaker 1>the McLean edition, the very first printing. In fact, people

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<v Speaker 1>usually say the eighty five essays were first published in newspapers.

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<v Speaker 1>There were eight that were first published in book form

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<v Speaker 1>and only later came out in newspapers. The last several,

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<v Speaker 1>and this Jefferson copy is also with the green ribbon,

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<v Speaker 1>is an instance of a book that survived from that

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<v Speaker 1>original sale in eighteen fifteen to the present. Sadly, some

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<v Speaker 1>of Jefferson's books didn't. In eighteen fifty one, there was

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<v Speaker 1>another fire that damaged some of those books, But the

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<v Speaker 1>Library of Congress has worked hard to reconstruct the entirety

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<v Speaker 1>of that original sale. The six thousand and four and

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<v Speaker 1>eighty seven books were nearly there, a handful that we

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<v Speaker 1>may never be able to track down. But it's a

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<v Speaker 1>really amazing project. People can come to the library and

0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:07.000
<v Speaker 1>actually see it on display.

0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.520
<v Speaker 2>Oh, that's remarkable. And this, given that it's Jefferson's volume,

0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.200
<v Speaker 2>would be special enough. With the fact that missus Hamilton

0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:15.479
<v Speaker 2>owned it prior as or real story.

0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:19.200
<v Speaker 1>Amazing and Jeffson, as everyone knows, Jefferson and Hamilton parted ways,

0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.240
<v Speaker 1>but there is a connection between the two right here.

0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.000
<v Speaker 2>Given the work that happens here, the collections here, the

0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:30.479
<v Speaker 2>preservation of literature, why is that crucial for us distinctively

0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:31.280
<v Speaker 2>as Americans.

0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.880
<v Speaker 1>One of the things this library does is it combines

0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.240
<v Speaker 1>a couple of purposes. We're a legislative library, right We're

0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.640
<v Speaker 1>here to serve Congress, and there's a law library. There's

0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.880
<v Speaker 1>an entire division called the Congressional Research Service that actively

0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.440
<v Speaker 1>serves Congress the ports their work. But we are also

0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.719
<v Speaker 1>a de facto national library, a collecting. You think of

0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.920
<v Speaker 1>the British Library, I think of the BNF in Paris,

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.960
<v Speaker 1>a collecting of the great cultural record of this country

0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.760
<v Speaker 1>and that and beyond to be frank, but that work

0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.439
<v Speaker 1>is something that we believe serves. It creates a permanence

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:06.720
<v Speaker 1>to what happens here.

0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:11.800
<v Speaker 2>Taken together, these two institutions do something irreplaceable. One safeguards

0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:15.000
<v Speaker 2>the nation's charters, the other keeps the documents that tell

0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.960
<v Speaker 2>the story of how we arrived here. What many Americans

0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 2>don't realize is these institutions are here for them. And

0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.600
<v Speaker 2>I don't just mean in a general public sense. These

0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.520
<v Speaker 2>institutions will step up and help any individual American citizen

0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 2>who requests it.

0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.800
<v Speaker 1>There are thirteen and a half billion pieces of paper,

0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.800
<v Speaker 1>with a billion pieces of eight and a half billion

0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.160
<v Speaker 1>in the National Archives across about forty facilities around the country,

0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.120
<v Speaker 1>including the presidential libraries at which the National Archives plays

0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.120
<v Speaker 1>a role. And you want to talk electronic records, right,

0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:52.760
<v Speaker 1>So you know nowadays most business gets done on the Internet,

0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:57.960
<v Speaker 1>and it's done electronically. Thirty five billion electronic records that

0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.280
<v Speaker 1>all make their way here the different federal agencies at

0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.560
<v Speaker 1>the end of their life. So it's a massive amount

0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.800
<v Speaker 1>of information. And I would encourage anyone who wants to

0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:12.880
<v Speaker 1>look up their family history through genealogy, or is interested

0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:17.160
<v Speaker 1>maybe in presidential research, Contact an archivist, Contact a specialist.

0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.560
<v Speaker 1>Can go online to archives dot org, excuse me, archives

0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.120
<v Speaker 1>doc gov and they'll help you out.

0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.600
<v Speaker 2>So the National Archives isn't just for historians and researchers

0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.080
<v Speaker 2>for that matter, not even just for the very important

0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:31.880
<v Speaker 2>visitors who are here to see the founding documents and others.

0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:33.520
<v Speaker 2>It really is the people's house.

0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.320
<v Speaker 1>And that's what we've been Yeah, exactly, that's what we've

0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.560
<v Speaker 1>been really trying to highlight during this two hundred fiftieth aniverse.

0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.360
<v Speaker 2>For a year, when you stand before the Charters of Freedom,

0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:45.440
<v Speaker 2>you are encountering a standard. These documents survive because Americans

0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.720
<v Speaker 2>decide they are worth protecting, and the work of institutions

0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.160
<v Speaker 2>like the National Archives and the Library of Congress keep

0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.640
<v Speaker 2>that standard visible. So every generation has a chance to

0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.800
<v Speaker 2>measure itself honestly against the founding claim that rights are

0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.520
<v Speaker 2>real and self government depends on a people serious enough

0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.600
<v Speaker 2>to preserve the truth. On behalf of all of us

0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.360
<v Speaker 2>in heritage. But I think I can speak on behalf

0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.920
<v Speaker 2>of fellow Americans who are grateful. Thank you, thank your

0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.480
<v Speaker 2>staff for your service, especially in this year of America

0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:17.880
<v Speaker 2>two fifty. It's been a great conversation.

0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:18.720
<v Speaker 1>Thank you, Thank you.

0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.360
<v Speaker 2>I want to thank you on behalf of Americans because

0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:26.000
<v Speaker 2>I think that your great guide through each of these

0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.840
<v Speaker 2>books will inspire a lot of people, hopefully to visit

0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.640
<v Speaker 2>the library, but at the very least to appreciate the

0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.560
<v Speaker 2>importance of preserving the past.

0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.760
<v Speaker 1>While we're here, and we are still here to have

0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.840
<v Speaker 1>people come in and use these collections. I'm excited I

0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:38.520
<v Speaker 1>got to show with you.

0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:40.400
<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much, very careful