The enemy kept a copy

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

NICK EICHER, HOST: A footnote to our 250th anniversary celebrations:

Researchers in Britain revealed a remarkable discovery.

The National Archives found one of just 11 known copies of an early printed edition of the Declaration of Independence. It was among papers captured from a Revolutionary American ship.

Amanda Bevan of the Archives.

BEVAN: They’re not fighting because they were aggrieved in particular. They’re fighting for an ideal. They were putting their lives on the line, and they were captured. And they spent years in prison, and they did it for that declaration.

The document survived.

As did—more importantly—its ideals.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.