Rescuing the Declaration of Independence: How We Almost Lost the Words That Built America

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These are the words that helped found our nation. Today the Declaration of Independence is one of the United States’ most heavily guarded treasures, but during the War of 1812 it would have been destroyed if not for one man whose story has nearly been forgotten by time.

Come along on this historic adventure and learn how one ordinary clerk did a truly extraordinary thing.

As a clerk for the State Department, Stephen Pleasonton spent his days quietly immersed in paperwork. He never expected to receive an urgent message telling him that the British army was on its way to the capital.

And that the documents that Stephen was entrusted with—such as the original Declaration of Independence and the original Constitution—were all in danger!

It fell on Stephen to get our nation’s most cherished and priceless artifacts safely out of Washington!