The Location Today Of The Original Constitution
Delegates from all over America came together to revise the Constitution. It was many days before they realized that a new one had to be drawn, and it was many more days before the Constitution was officially put down in pen and paper. |
Since then, the original document of the Constitution has led an illustrious life. From its birth place of Philadelphia, it has traveled quite a bit, and been in many places while it was under the care of the Department of State. It was a long time before the government thought of NARA. NARA came into being in 1934 to bring all legal and federal documents and record under one roof.
NARA, or the The United States National Archives and Records Administration, is in Washington, D.C. The original document is now on proud display there. The document is hand written and consists of four pages. There is a page of transmittal also. The sheets along with the ink on them are well preserved thanks to diligent maintenance.
Pages one and four of the documents are kept in a case containing helium and water to preserve the paper. The case is also made of bulletproof glass. There is heavy security at night as the pages are secured in a vault behind hardy doors designed to withstand nuclear explosion. The other pages of the Constitution are kept in a vault, and are not available for year round viewing.
NARA hired the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to build casings with the cutting edge of technology in 2003. The casing helps by keeping the documents safe from the environment. This way, the documents are sure to last forever.
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