A part of the Memorial of the Signers’ of The Declaration of Independence

In my search for the Founding Fathers, The Constitution Gardens is a place to go in Washington DC. Here is a link to the National Mall with the many memorials and museums. The Rangers can answer questions and arrange guided tours.

The Constitution Garden was created to celebrate the Nation’s bicentennial. It’s easy to pass it without noticing it. Few would know that President Nixon took the initiative to have it built in the early 1970s.

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The park is located at the National Mall in Washington D.C. close to The Vietnam Memorial. The 56 names and signatures of the signers of the Declaration of Independence are carved in stone placed in a semi-circle. The document was not signed on 4 July 1776, but little by little that same year. They knew that they risked their lives doing it. The fourth of July was the day it was printed, and once it became the day of celebrating the independence from King George the third, those in charge found it suitable to keep that date. The original documents are held not far away in the National Archives which is like a museum, and it’s free to visit.

The National Archives in Washington D.C. is seen from the Navy Memorial at Pennsylvania Avenue

I am reading a humorous book on the signers “Signing their lives away” by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese. Inside the cover is a print of The Declaration of Freedom.

Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence:

We must hang together, gentlemen or else we shall most assuredly hang separetely 

The last words of the Declaration of Independence:

And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes and our Honors