There was a very interesting article in the The Observer yesterday about the Bill of Rights. Actually, it was North Carolina's copy of the Bill of Rights.
When the Bill of Rights was drafted, 14 copies of it were made. 13 were distributed to the states, and one copy to be kept by the federal government.
In 1865, when Union troups took over the N.C. Capitol, they found pieces for the lighthouses hidden in the gallery. The Confederates had taken them from the lighthouses so the Union ships couldn't navigate the coast very well. The Northern troups wrapped the parts in legislative papers they found and one soldier apparently came upon the Bill of Rights, recognized it for what it was, and put it in his saddlebag. He was from Troy, Ohio. The Bill hung on the wall of a tavern or store there.
Then a guy named Charles Shotwell bought it for $5 and took it home to Indianapolis, where he hung it on the wall at his Trade Mart. It passed down to his descendents.
North Carolina received information about the document in 1897, 1925 and 1995. Each time, the state tried to get it back, but they didn't want to pay for it.
And then early in 2003, a document broker offered to sell it to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. He wanted $4 million.
The Governor of Pennsylvania called the Governor of North Carolina to tell him about it. The Center wanted it, but wouldn't buy it unless N.C. okayed it. And they wondered if N.C. might want to go in on the purchase.
So Governor Easely called the FBI. A sting operation was set up and the Bill of Rights was procured. One half-owner of the document, a man from Connecticut who is an antiques dealer, fought the seizure in federal court in North Carolina but finally signed over his half-ownership to the state.
But his partner, Robert Matthews, is a bit more tenacious. Matthews is a real estate investor in New Haven, Ct. His lawyer contends the sting was illegal and North Carolina shouldn't get it anyway, since they abandoned the Bill of Rights when the state signed on with the Confederates.
The lawyer said "You fought a war. You lost a war. The spoils of the war go to the victor."
Food for thought. Here is a link to the article. But you'll have to sign on to the Observer online.
8:06:31 AM 
|
