Today we began by reviewing the goals of the Constitution: to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, to insure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense, to promote the general welfare and to secure the blessings of liberty. We discussed the major principals which are: popular sovereignty, republicanism, limited government, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances and individual rights. We then looked at how our nation's founding historical documents: the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are housed for public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. They are kept in tightly secured chambers to preserve the documents and to protect them from damage or theft. The systems in place sound like something out of a movie - but it's true! We viewed how the documents are displayed and protected in the National Archives by viewing spectacular scenes from the film, "National Treasure," filmed on location in Washington, D.C. Bella was absolutely intrigued.