Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is an item found in the ruins of D.C's National Archives. It can be recovered by the Lone Wanderer for the Rivet City historian Abraham Washington.

Background
The Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing that the thirteen American colonies (then at war with Great Britain) were no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America is called Independence Day which is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.

Location
In the National Archives' Strongroom, in a safe in the back of the room where you encounter Button Gwinnett.

Related quests

 * Stealing Independence

Bugs

 * If you give Abraham Washington a copy of the declaration and take this item afterward, it will be stuck in your inventory, weighing you down.
 * You can, however, remove it using the console command, or use the command to remove the "quest item" flag.
 * It seems if you take the Bill of Rights and give it to Abraham before you give him the declaration it will break the quest dialogue and he will assume you already gave him the declaration and refuse to take it from your inventory. Sydney doesn't trust you enough to "wait here" when the document is in your inventory so basically you're forced to either kill or disable her via the console to stop her from following you.