The Declaration of Independence enshrined in the National Archives (White House History 35)

In the years before it was enshrined in the Archives, the Declaration of Independence was moved many times. In the late 1800s it was kept in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Trenton, Annapolis, and New York. The document was moved along with the federal government to the City of Washington in 1800, where it was kept until it was hidden from the British in Leesburg, Virginia, in 1814. During the next century it was housed at the Patent Office, Library of Congress, and State, War, and Navy Building in Washington, D.C., before being moved to Fort Knox during World War II. After the war it was returned to the Library of Congress and today can be seen on display in the rotunda of the National Archives.

The dimly lit hall at the National Archive where the Charters of Freedom, the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, are displayed. Washington, D.C.