America’s Founding Documents Take a Trip Around the Country

Now in Houston, the Freedom Plane is bringing original documents to eight cities across the United States for the nation’s 250th birthday celebration.

The "Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation" is a 2026 National Archives initiative celebrating America's 250th anniversary. Mike Rathke

HOUSTON—A Boeing 737-7BC known as “Archive One,” or the “Freedom Plane,” is flying nine founding-era documents to eight cities to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.

Onboard are the 1774 Articles of Association from the First Continental Congress, which called for the boycott of British goods; three Oaths of Allegiance from 1778, signed by Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington; the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the War for Independence; New Jersey delegate David Brearley’s secret printing of the United States Constitution; the delegates’ voting record for passing the Constitution; the Bill of Rights, with annotations and edits from Senate members; and one of approximately 50 surviving copies of William Stone’s 1823 engraving of the Declaration of Independence.