Charters of Freedom

The term Charters of Freedom is used to describe the three documents in early United States history which are considered instrumental to its founding and philosophy.

While the term has not entered particularly common usage, the room at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. that houses the three documents is called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.

[3] Putnam requested funds to allow the documents to be put on display so "might be treated in such a way as, while fully safe-guarding them and giving them distinction, they should be open to inspection by the public at large".

[3] The parchments were laid over moisture-absorbing cellulose paper, vacuum-sealed between double panes of insulated plate glass, and protected from light by a gelatin film.

James Madison had custody of it as Secretary of State (1801–1809) but having left Washington DC, he had lost track of it in the years leading to his death.

In 1883, historian J. Franklin Jameson found the parchment folded in a small tin box on the floor of a closet at the State, War and Navy Building.

[16][17] The copy retained by the First Congress has been on display (along with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence) in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom room at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. since December 13, 1952.

In 1952, the Charters were sealed in specially prepared airtight enclosures of tinted glass filled with humidified helium to protect the documents,[21] along with 12 sheets of paper custom-made by the National Bureau of Standards.

[23] Micro-droplets of liquid and tiny white crystals were forming (in a process known as crizzling) on the surface of the protective glass, and it was feared that they might continue growing if left unchecked,[24] and could be a sign of unexpected moisture inside the enclosure.

[27] Another method employed by the second team was the use of a "mini-cooler," or dew-point hygrometer,[28] which cooled an extremely small, localized portion of the glass encasement, and measured the resulting condensation to determine interior humidity.

Once the Charters were sealed, the backing paper slowly released the excess water vapor it had soaked up, causing the internal humidity to rise.

"We're happy we were able to apply technology, originally developed at Langley for atmospheric science, remote sensing, laser spectroscopy and wind tunnel measurements, to ensure the future stability of the Charters of Freedom.