Why the 1297 Magna Carta is at the National Archives

In case you were wondering, the 1297 Magna Carta is one of 17 surviving versions of Magna Carta in the world today, the only one in North America, and the only Magna Carta in private hands. The document is on loan to the American people from David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group in Washington, DC. After its re-encasement, it will return to display in the Rotunda Gallery on Wed Feb. 17th.

The Magna Carta put in written form traditional rights and liberties of “all freemen of our kingdom.”  It is seen as a source for some rights and liberties in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and is particularly meaningful for visitors coming to the National Archives to see those documents in the Rotunda.  

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  1. sowhatifilikeprettythings reblogged this from preservearchives
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  3. ladyrynn13 reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    with my Chaucer unit every year.
  4. girlwithalessonplan reblogged this from preservearchives and added:
    Ha! I just explained this...other day! *knowledge flex*
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  7. churchofmeat said: Unfortunately Rubenstein is a bit of an asshole when it comes to people who can’t afford to blow 23 million on historic documents and instead can’t even pay rent.
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  9. This was featured in #History
  10. laughterkey reblogged this from preservearchives and added:
    Hey! Thanks, archive folk!
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