BOSTON -- Some of America's most revered historical documents will go on full display starting Monday at the new Commonwealth Museum located next to the JFK Library in Dorchester.

The free museum features various historical Massachusetts foundation documents that have never before been on public display.

Among the historical documents is a copy of the document John Winthrop carried onto the shores of Massachusetts, the 1629 Massachusetts Bay Charter.

“This is the document that many historians trace to the beginnings of representative government,” Commonwealth Museum archivist Michael Comeau said.

Some of the documents on display are up to 400 years old.

The 1780 Massachusetts Constitution is also on display next to a copy of the Bill of Rights, which was signed by John Adams, then vice president of the United States.

“This is the oldest written constitution still functioning as a structural piece of government in the world,” Comeau said.

The museum also displays one of the 14 original copies of the Declaration of Independence. The document was signed in 1777 because in 1776 writers were reluctant to sign due to fears of being hung for treason.

“This is the document that for the first time publicly identifies the signers of the declaration as new citizens of the new nation,” Comeau said.