Government: Constitution

Independence National Historical Park

"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada."

- Liberty Bell Inscription

Independence Hall and the related historical buildings which make up the park witnessed an exciting time - when the 18th century delegates to the Second Continental Congress argued over the next step in the dangerous game of rebellion and then issued the Declaration of Independence. Eleven years later, secret deliberations and hard compromises resulted in a new frame of government to hold the country together - the Constitution of the United States.

Millions of 20th century visitors explore the ideas and challenges of the past - so remote in time but so important to how we think today - and who we will be in the 21st century - when they visit Independence National Historical Park.