https://vid.freedif.org/videos/watch/bd638a39-57a3-49e4-ab62-191c6d0eafbd Trace the history of passports to find out why we need these documents and what challenges travelers face within this system. -- Passports are not the first form of travel documents: in Ancient Egypt, travelers carried “letters of safe conduct” issued by rulers; in Han China and Tudor England, foreigners were issued travel passes. However, for much of human history, borders have been relatively fluid, and travel lacked bureaucratic requirements. So, what changed? Kristin Surak details the history of the passport system. Lesson by Kristin Surak, directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat. Support Our Non-Profit MissionSupport us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShopConnect With UsSign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagramKeep LearningView full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-did-we-start-using-passports-kristin-surak Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-did-we-start-using-passports-kristin-surak/digdeeper Animator's website: https://www.youtube.com/@tomaspichardoespaillat Music: https://www.workplaywork.comThank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, and Vinh-Thuy Nguyen. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:11:32 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://vid.freedif.org https://vid.freedif.org/client/assets/images/icons/icon-1500x1500.png https://vid.freedif.org/videos/watch/bd638a39-57a3-49e4-ab62-191c6d0eafbd All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://vid.freedif.org/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.