A More Perfect Union: December 2008 - March 2009
For more than two hundred years, the Capitol has been the place where representatives of the American people have debated how best to achieve the nation’s ideals. This exhibit displays some of our most important documents, drawn primarily from the collections of the Library of Congress and the National Archives, to illustrate the role of Congress in defining and helping to realize national goals and aspirations.
The aspirations of unity, freedom, common defense, general welfare, knowledge, and exploration all derive from the Constitution. The Preamble declares that the highest goals of the government are “to form a more perfect Union,” and to provide for “common defense,” “general Welfare,” and the “Blessings of Liberty.” Article I gives Congress the power to promote “Science and useful Arts,” which has resulted in congressional support of knowledge and exploration. The meaning of liberty is further defined in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which guarantee specific freedoms.
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Building the First Communications System
Post roads, so called because mail was carried over them, date to colonial times. They were the major land routes linking towns. So vital were these links that both houses of Congress established a Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads as one of their first standing committees. As mail was the only means of long-distance communication until the invention of the telegraph in the 1840s, the speed of mail delivery affected every citizen.
Guaranteeing Health Care for the Elderly
In the 1960s, public attention focused on rising health care costs for the elderly. Congress responded in 1965 with the Medicare Act to provide seniors with medical insurance. Medicare was an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935, becoming the first major addition to the landmark social legislation of the 1930s—laws that had signaled a new relationship between the government and its citizens. When enacted, 36 million senior citizens benefited from the Medicare program.
Protecting Natural Resources - 1
The development of the west brought an ever-increasing number of settlers. When resources became depleted or despoiled, voices were raised to preserve the West’s scenic lands and their fragile environments. In 1864, Congress acted. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias became the first parklands set aside by the federal government. They were initially granted to the state of California and later made part of the National Park Service when it was established by Congress in 1916.