The historic home of the author of the Declaration is hosting an exhibition titled “1776: Road to the Declaration.”
Nestled at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia residence, banners and T-shirts bearing the motto Our Guy Wrote It celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s estate also houses “1776: Road to the Declaration,” a compact new display charting the document’s origins.
The exhibit invites visitors in with a 1795 remark from Jefferson: “This ball of liberty, I believe most piously, is now so well in motion that it will roll around the globe.” A standout piece in the show is the commemorative copy of the Declaration owned by James Madison, Jefferson’s associate and the United States’ fourth president. The display also features a convenient timeline that interweaves important moments in Jefferson’s life with milestones in American history.
Since 1776, the bold assertion that “all men are created equal” and endowed with “unalienable Rights” to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” has inspired countless subsequent struggles for freedom. That beacon of liberty launched more than two and a half centuries ago by Jefferson’s Declaration continues to challenge tyrannies across the globe today.
