Walking along The National Mall

The National Mall is not a shopping centre. The National Mall is where all the national museums and monuments are. The Mall basically begins at The Capitol and you can then walk all the way along it to the Lincoln Memorial. Yes, it was another day of walking The National Mall is sort of like Canberra’s Parliamentary Triangle.

Our first visit was to the National Archives. Out of the front of the building are lots of large columns, which reminds me of the National Library in Canberra. The National Archives hold a lot of history on America. It is also where you can see the original copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; altogether these documents make up the Charter of Freedom. These documents were the first documents to form the United States, after the Americans fought the British for their freedom and their rights to no longer be part of the British Empire. The United States Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July 1776.

I also saw two other exhibitions they were:

1. The Public Vaults – this was a mix of exhibits about American history from about  the late 1700s up until today. We also saw a patent for a solar hot water system dating back from the mid 1800s.
2. Discovering the Civil War – this was about how North and South America fought each other over State Rights, Politics and the abolition of slavery. The Civil War lasted for four years, 1861 -1865, and many Americans died in this war. At the end of this war the President, Abraham Lincoln, made the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which outlawed slavery.

After visiting the National Archives we walked along the National Mall to visit the Washington Monument. It was built to honour George Washington, who led the country to independence in 1776. This is the tallest freestanding stone structure (about 169 metres) in Washington. If you look closely the Washington Monument has two different coloured bricks. This is because the Government started to build it in 1848 but run out of money to complete it, then there was the Civil War as well. It was finally finished on December 6, 1884.

We then walked further along the National Mall to visit the National WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial was built in 1922 in memory of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. The memorial was built because Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery and give freedom and rights to the black Americans. This caused the American Civil War. Lincoln Memorial is where people come to celebrate and protest about civil rights. It is also where Martin Luther-King, Jr, gave his ‘I Have a Dream‘ speech, on the 28th August 1963.

I have learned so much about American history in the last few days. My legs are also getting a good work out

Other photos you may find interesting that we took:

• National WWII Memorial
• Vietnam Veterans War Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Attacking squirrel