I had the chance last night to check out the copy of the Declaration of Independence on display at the Minnesota History Center for the Sesquicentennial. It is truly an awesome experience to get an up close and personal view of one of the world's oldest copies of one of the world's most important historical documents. The ink hit the paper on that document on July 4, 1776 -- the day commonly celebrated as the birthday of the United States of America. And here was I looking at an original copy of the birth certificate.
I grew up in Massachusetts, where colonial history is thick in the air. (I even had my own tri-cornered hat!) It's easy to view the figures of that time as bigger than life -- demigods in our pantheon of democracy. But they were human beings who had no idea what would happen when they signed their names to that "seditious" document. In an alternate history where the British won the war, the text books would tell us that the "Founding Fathers" were a group of radical separatists who were all hung for treason.
William Mitchell College of Law Professor Mike Steenson gave a nice spiel at the reception for the Declaration last night describing the history and what a revolutionary act it represented. Last night's reception was sponsored by the MSBA, RCBA, Federal Bar Association and Minnesota Lawyers Mutual. (As I have mentioned before, our parent company, Dolan Media, is the presenting sponsor for the Declaration, which will be here through the Sesquicentennial festivities. Click here for a Strib piece written by Dolan Media's founder and chair on the significance of the document.)
It seems obvious now the Founding Fathers took the right path, but it wasn't so obvious then. What was obvious was that it was a dangerous path. It's interesting to contemplate as you view a copy of the Declaration printed when the result of their actions was far from certain. What would you have done?
Showing posts with label Declaration of Independence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Declaration of Independence. Show all posts
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A good Sesquicentennial? That's self evident ....
The Declaration of Independence is now in town, so let the Sesquicentennial festivities begin!
Politics in Minnesota has a video chronicling the arrival of one of the oldest extant copies of the historic document to our fair state. (Click here to see the video.) This copy of the Declaration was one of 200 produced on July 4, 1776. (Only 25 are known to have survived -- and only this one travels.)
Politics in Minnesota has a video chronicling the arrival of one of the oldest extant copies of the historic document to our fair state. (Click here to see the video.) This copy of the Declaration was one of 200 produced on July 4, 1776. (Only 25 are known to have survived -- and only this one travels.)
The Declaration flew in yesterday accompanied by two security guards and its handler, Christie Manning. It will be on display at the Minnesota History Center through the Sesquicentennial celebration. The declaration was brought to Minnesota courtesy of Dolan Media, which is the parent company of Minnesota Lawyer, Finance and Commerce, the Legal Ledger (Capitol Report) and Politics in Minnesota.
Flying around with the Declaration would be an interesting job. What does it say when the customs agent asks if it has anything to declare? ("Why, yes. We hold these truths to be self evident ...") By the way, the Declaration gets its own first-class seat -- although I assume it declines the complimentary cocktail ...
I hope you all get a chance to see the Declaration while it is here. It's rare to be able to forge such a close link with the Founding Fathers. It's definitely an opportunity that should be taken advantage of -- particularly given that it's free.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
We hold this truth to be self evident: Movie references are universal
I had the opportunity earlier today to stop in at a press conference at the Office of the Secretary of State where Mark Ritchie announced that an original copy of the Declaration of Independence will be on display during the sesquicentennial celebration in May. (Click here for Minnesota Lawyer story.)
Now before I go any further, I should mention that one of the reasons I decided to check out the press conference was that the costs of bringing the Declaration to Minnesota are being underwritten by Minnesota Lawyer's parent company, Minnesota-based Dolan Media. I also have a lifelong interest in Thomas Jefferson, the one founding father with whom I share a birthday. Plus he was a lawyer and a writer. If Jefferson were alive today, I'm sure he'd be posting on this blog ...
In any case, as I listened to the expected nice, but vanilla descriptions of the document's historical importance, I wondered who would be the first person to mention the action flick, "National Treasure." I did not have to wait long -- it was Ritchie himself. After a recitation of what made the Declaration significant, the secretary of state added that there had been a lot of interest in the document since the movie "National Treasure."
Sigh. Ritchie was, of course, right. The film did generate quite a bit of interest in the Declaration. But it's unfortunate that the fact that the Declaration is the cornerstone document of our entire democracy isn't enough by itself to spark everyone's curiosity. Some folks need that "as seen in the Nicolas Cage movie" tagline to get them interested. I would have asked what that means for our dwindling attention spans our celebrity-obsessed culture, but I was too busy checking on my iPhone for more coverage on last Monday's Duluth visit by George Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Andrea Kajer of the Minnesota Historical Society, who is coordinating the security locally, no doubt will hear a lot of references to "National Treasure" in the next couple of months. I thought I'd be among the first, so, in a conversation with her immediately after the press conference, I asked whether precautions had been taken to avoid a Nicolas-Cage-type scenario. She graciously responded to my admittedly weak quip, "Yes, we don't want anyone looking for treasure maps on the back."
Now before I go any further, I should mention that one of the reasons I decided to check out the press conference was that the costs of bringing the Declaration to Minnesota are being underwritten by Minnesota Lawyer's parent company, Minnesota-based Dolan Media. I also have a lifelong interest in Thomas Jefferson, the one founding father with whom I share a birthday. Plus he was a lawyer and a writer. If Jefferson were alive today, I'm sure he'd be posting on this blog ...
In any case, as I listened to the expected nice, but vanilla descriptions of the document's historical importance, I wondered who would be the first person to mention the action flick, "National Treasure." I did not have to wait long -- it was Ritchie himself. After a recitation of what made the Declaration significant, the secretary of state added that there had been a lot of interest in the document since the movie "National Treasure."
Sigh. Ritchie was, of course, right. The film did generate quite a bit of interest in the Declaration. But it's unfortunate that the fact that the Declaration is the cornerstone document of our entire democracy isn't enough by itself to spark everyone's curiosity. Some folks need that "as seen in the Nicolas Cage movie" tagline to get them interested. I would have asked what that means for our dwindling attention spans our celebrity-obsessed culture, but I was too busy checking on my iPhone for more coverage on last Monday's Duluth visit by George Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Andrea Kajer of the Minnesota Historical Society, who is coordinating the security locally, no doubt will hear a lot of references to "National Treasure" in the next couple of months. I thought I'd be among the first, so, in a conversation with her immediately after the press conference, I asked whether precautions had been taken to avoid a Nicolas-Cage-type scenario. She graciously responded to my admittedly weak quip, "Yes, we don't want anyone looking for treasure maps on the back."
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