HAVERHILL — The Bill of Rights, which has guaranteed Americans' freedoms for well over 200 years, originally had 14 copies.
Now there are 11, according to retired Haverhill High School history teacher Thomas Madson, and the students in Thomas Jordan's honors U.S. government class viewed Massachusetts' copy of this much-admired document during a field trip to the state archives in Boston last week.
They also saw 17th century maps of Haverhill, the original text of the Massachusetts Constitution, the 1629 Massachusetts Bay Charter issued to John Winthrop and Paul Revere's engravings of the Boston Massacre in 1770 and Boston Harbor.
Madson, who retired from Haverhill High 10 years ago but still takes students in to see the state archives — and has lost none of his passion for history and the teaching thereof — wanted to make sure every student in Jordan's class knew just how notable the state Constitution is. So after they exited the van and were met by an Eagle-Tribune reporter, he asked them, all seniors, to explain the significance of the commonwealth's Constitution.
"The oldest living constitution in the world," the young people answered.
"Written by whom?" Madson asked.
"John Adams in 1780," came the response.
Now what about Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre?
"It was the most successful propaganda of all time," student Casey Joseph said. Indeed, Revere's engraving shows a line of British soldiers firing into a crowd of civilians. Actually, the Redcoats were surrounded by a taunting mob, Madson noted.
The state's assistant archivist, Michael Comeau of Haverhill, guided the local students around the priceless historic documents and other artifacts.
"I hope they realize the importance of this," Madson said after they returned from the trip, which included a visit to Walden Pond in Concord, the site of Henry David Thoreau's classic, "Walden."
Chances are the young people grasped the significance of the archives. Haley Bresnahan said the state archives are important because they "preserve the memories of the original founders of the country."
During a previous tour of the archives, Madson said, a Haverhill High student looked at the muster list of Haverhill men who fought at Lexington and exclaimed, "That's my great-great-great-grandfather!"
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