Declaration of Independence Road Trip

Just think, if this document had never been written, King George would still be pushing us around. He’d make us all drive on the wrong side of the road and wear powdered wigs, and demand that we call soccer “football” and freedom fries “chips.” That’s just the kind of tyrant he was. Luckily, the Declaration of Independence put a stop to all that. But seriously: It’s remarkable to think of how the ideals expressed so succinctly here—life, liberty, and all that jazz—have survived these 227 years and remain central to our concept of the America we want to be. Of the 200 originally printed, only 25 copies are known to have survived. The one on tour here was a recent discovery—found, weirdly enough, behind the frame of a $4 thrift-store painting and bought for $8 million by TV producer Norman Lear, who sent it out to spread its message just like it did circulating around the colonies in 1776. MIA, 2400 Third Ave. S., (612) 870-3131, www.artsmia.org