Italy's role in US independence to be honored

ROME – The first U.S. museum dedicated to the American Revolution will feature an exhibit explaining the influence of the Italian Enlightenment on the thinking of the Founding Fathers.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and the president of the American Revolution Center signed an agreement Thursday aimed at opening an Italian section in the center's Museum of the American Revolution, which is due to be opened in Philadelphia by 2015.

The president of the center, Bruce Cole, says the influence of the Italian Enlightenment, particular the ideas of individual liberties and forms of government, on drafters of the U.S. Constitution is a little known but important part of U.S. history.

The Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and established the U.S. constitution.