The Loss and the Founding

Seaport Museum Exhibit Evokes Words That Give Life to These Self-Evident Truths

Thomas Paine, perhaps the most eloquent wordsmith of Revolutionary America (with apologies to Thomas Jefferson) once observed that, “government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence”—meaning that if human beings had never been tempted in the Garden, they would have need of neither raiment nor rulers.

This sentiment was recalled on Tuesday by curator Seth Kaller at the opening of the South Street Seaport Museum’s new exhibit, “The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation,” which features original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Also on display are a 1776 copy of Paine’s incendiary pamphlet, “Common Sense,” handwritten pages from an undelivered inaugural address by George Washington, an 1863 edition of the Emancipation Proclamation, and an advance copy of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the March on Washington, a century later.

“The founding didn’t stop in 1776,” Mr. Kaller continued. “’In order to form a more perfect union,’ our government was always designed to be a perpetual work in progress. So this whole exhibit is telling stories, one after another.” The episodes chronicled include the end of slavery, the enfranchisement of women, and the struggles of the Civil Rights era. Noting that the words contained in the writs on display in “The Promise of Liberty” are both timeless and timely, he added, “if you read the Declaration of Independence, there are seven minutes of grievances. No matter where you stand politically, if you read the whole text of the Declaration, you can make a little check mark and say, ‘oh, this is in the news again.’ More than half of these grievances are actually affecting our lives today. The same issues.”

The Seaport Museum’s president, Captain Jonathan Boulware, observed, “there’s no better place to be thinking about the birthplace of our nation than in the place where it began, the place where it was settled initially by the Dutch, and where later, it would become the United States.’ The Promise of Liberty’ reflects the creation of a republic through debate, negotiation, and compromise in the written word. Many pivotal moments happened right here in Lower Manhattan.

“The show invites New Yorkers and visitors to stand in the presence of the documents that laid out the promise of the nation,” he added. “These give us an understanding of what was intended, what was left out in the beginning, and how these documents have worked together, and in contradiction to one another, over time.”

Many of the documents in “The Promise of Liberty” were loaned by financier and philanthropist Ken Griffin, who said, “the Constitution is far more than a founding document—it is one of humanity’s greatest achievements and a testament to the promise of America. As we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary, broadening access to it invites the next generation to discover its meaning, cherish its ideals, and carry forward the principles that continue to shape and strengthen our country.”

The South Street Seaport Museum is presenting “The Promise of Liberty” in partnership with Sail4th 250, a nonprofit organization that is coordinating the semiquincentennial observances of America’s founding this summer.