Transcripts For CSPAN2 Authors Discuss The Preservation Of A

CSPAN2 Authors Discuss The Preservation Of Americas Founding Documents February 19, 2017

Constitutional convention. It does not contain a bill of rights. Why . Madison says that a bill of rights would be unnecessary or dangerous. Unnecessary because the constitution itself is the bill of rights and by constraining Congress Power and the president s power, it gives the federal government no authority to infringe the retained inalienable natural rights of conscience and speech and other basic liberties. And dangerous because madison that is the right answer rights in the bill of rights, people might wrongly assumed it is separate down, it is not protected. Because the framers believed with certain unalienable rights are god or nature, not government can do is dangerous to confine them to a definitely a spirit because of the heroic protest that the antifederalist that neither three gentleman you can see just as site here and signers hall, george mason, ill are at the virginia declaration of rights, admin and kerry of massachusetts, they refuse to sign the constitution because it contained a bill of rights in the state ratifying conventions demanded the bill of rights. Congress that the bill of rights out for ratification. James madison changed his mind in the face of the protests and on september 5, 1789, Congress Proposes 12 amendments to the constitution. You can see one of the 12 original copyrights outside this room right past signers hall and our first panelists will talk about the document. What is so interesting as it contained not 10 amendments, the 12. The First Amendment says there has to be one in congress for every 30,000 inhabitants. Thered be Something Like 4000 people in congress today. The Second Amendment says congress can raise in salary without intervening election. I was finally ratified at the 27th amendment in 1892. It was sent out to the states at the beautiful process. I will be back now because it was virus or the original bill of rights. The conventions of a number of states have been at the time of their adopting the come petition expressed the desire in order to prevent this construction or abuse of its powers that the restrictive clauses should be added and as extending the ground of Public Confidence in the government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution result of the senate and house the following articles be proposed. So those amendment proposed on september 25, 1789 and december 15, 1791, 225 years ago, regina becomes the 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the original 12 amendments giving the little bright the necessary two thirds majority for ratification. That is why we are celebrating bill of rights day December December 5th team and that is why we are so thrilled to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the bill of rights today. We have a plot ouster lineup for you before spectacular authors about the bill of rights. Here are the constitutional you have in store. We will begin at the discussion of americas founding document with historian Stephen Puleo and then he announces. Then the Second Amendment and National Rifle Association President david king. We will talk about the Death Penalty with john bassler, jordan baker and we will end this wonderful festival. Looking forward to this ill have the chance to interview my great cause additional law teacher and dear friend to kill omar about his new book about the constitution. It will be great and im so glad youre joining us. [applause] thank you indeed. And now finally they will just end with a brief plug to you in her wonderful seats and viewers. If you have not yet checked it out, download the interactive constitution. You can find it online or you can download it in the app store. As you watch these beautiful panels, followed on. Go to the constitution, click on the amendment in question. There you will find the two leading liberal and conservative scholars of the Second Amendment nominated by the federalist society. Nelson london, adam at their describing what they did contradictory about some and disagree about and the eighth amendment and for all the beautiful bill of rights amendments today at the entry to constitution at the Constitution Center. Org. Ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming our first panel, Stephen Puleo, charles strain to and nancy rosen. [applause] [inaudible conversations] i am charles strain to come interim president and ceo of the Historical Society than romania. Im a legal historian and write entries in this document and the subject of their protection, their security and their veneration even. Im going to ask nancy and steve to tell you about their backgrounds and what ive been to write their books. Im a former museum to write their. The museum i was director of this write down this route. It is called the philadelphia history museum. When i got done with that job, and i became very curious and why museums had so much to. The public never gets to see. I wrote a book about that. And he shot her with on a different topic. When i got to the end about well, there one more topic to write about and i decided to write about something that stolen from a jewish family or two. As a Museum Director effect that so i figured id just call up someone who i knew had one of those objects on that but to go in here. Well, they wouldnt. I tried dozens of museums and nobody would let me see an object that i knew id of course rounded to the years of world war ii. So i thought that is what i want to write about. I was angry. But what happened was that i decided to put that into a broader context and look at a number of objects, all different kinds that have been stolen during times of stress in most countries and had essentially gone back home. I was writing this book i thought im going to read a series of true crimes worries, sort of like i dont know, agatha christie. The more i wrote, the more the book started writing it up and it he came not only a series of true crime stories, but always without ethics and law and history. That is how this book, stolen, smuggled, sold came about. One chapter of the North Carolina copy of bill of rights, which we come back to in a few minutes. Steve, tell us about your book your thank you for having me. My wife and i came here yesterday from austin and others always a good rivalry between boston and adelphia, not just teachers niggles, but where it all began. I appreciate you having to hear. American treasures is the story also has its roots in world war ii about the original declaration, original constitution, the gettysburg address and several other document moved to fort knox. And the term after pearl harbor for safe keeping. I began not to worry what that piece. I had read a small item in a magazine about the relocation and ive done a lot of reading and writing and teaching on world war ii and ever heard that story. That movement to fort knox then began the largest relocation of precious american documents for safekeeping in American History when the library of congress notes about 5000 boxes of other precious documents to various repositories to be a good potential german bombers commit saboteurs, real concerns in washington and called an attack on washington d. C. So that is one thread or one narrative, parallel track of this book and as i was doing it, i said to myself, wow, why are these documents so important . Okay Franklin Delano roosevelt beat the is do this kind of saving and protect them in preserving in the library of congress, why did he feel such a strong stewardship for these documents . I realized i had to go back and look at the creation of these documents on a different effort to save them throughout American History. This book takes you back to seven in 76, 1787, 1814 in the declaration of the constitution get moved out of washington d. C. And the women sat on the back of a wagon, et cetera comment better. It works in a narrative kind of way all the way up until 1952, when the documents are finally transferred from the library of congress to the National Archives. I found your organization, the structure of your book interesting. Listening to you tell how you got the idea to do the book, explains to me your organization better. And its easy to have some questions that ill ask you in a few minutes. You write about the Constitutional Convention and the creation of these original documents, the founding documents. But then your next job there may be in washington and in 238 or nine in order to hear that dinky job. You go right to the app or not the pearl harbor. And it goes back and forth. I thought not to be a really good site, to think about the importance of the documents. Your book seems to be a book about the protection of charter document, valuable document in our history. Nancys book seems to me to be about what happens when they are protected. The two books are well placed together in terms of thinking about security of documents, the importance of documents. I would like to ask you, you say that you started with an interest in world war ii. Out of the both of you to talk a little bit about why you think these documents, why we built a shrine for these documents and why we value in the case in North Carolina, which i think before you come a train to think how to get into this, lets talk about the North Carolina bill of rights first. Because this is bill of rights day. And nancy has written about the recovery of North Carolinas last copy. Id like you to talk about it and tell us that story and a little bit about how they got it back, the difficulty is, the time spent and how they approved of his fares. This actually is a National Constitution story because part of it happened here. Actually before the building was built. So, at the end of the civil war, the troops in raleigh, North Carolina, which is the capital city. Everybody knows the war is about to end. But the people in North Carolina are terrified because it has destroyed the south, right . So the troops come into North Carolina and they are set up, a group of them are sent out surrounding the Capitol Building in North Carolina. When they leave the city, the Capitol Building has been ransacked and many Important Documents have disappeared, including the bill of rights. The bill of rights had been folded up four times. It had been docketed when it arrived from washington d. C. No, new york, sorry. At the time, George Washington was in new york when the bill of rights was put together. So it came to North Carolina and the clerk brought on the back of it that they had to bribe him that he was in carolinas bill of rights. This happened in every state in the union. Somebody reported when the document arrived on the back of the document. So, North Carolinas bill of rights leads with the union troops. It ends up in tippecanoe outside of ohio and dennis purchased who takes a and hangs it on the of his office. Right . It is pegging their kids to love her time, when he dies, it passes down to his life who hangs it in her Senior Citizens home where she is. And it is inevitably turned author to the family daughters. What is interesting about this is all this time, over 100 years, North Carolina knows what theyre bill of rights is. They know its hanging on the wall. But because some smart guy over time had gotten money, we can sell North Carolinas bill of rights back to North Carolina. It is illegal to steal documents, government documents. But they thought nobody was paying much attention. What they didnt realize was how much North Carolina loved that bill of rights. They were the only state that refuse to sign the constitution without the bill of rights. They loved it so much that they refuse to make it a commodity and refuse to buy it back. So, the daughters get the document. They go to an antique dealer and they say weve got this great day we went to sell. Whoops, sorry. So what they do, they find an antique dealer and that antique dealer friend another and pretty soon, somebody has purchased a copy of the bill of rights and they are out to make as much money as they can. This is a man keep dealer actually who appeared here in hell itself yet many times. Said that is about what youre time . It was on the wall and offices. Well, this is around 2000 you be not when did they first offer it back to North Carolina for us now . For the first time around the turn of the 20th century. And then it was offered again in the 30s. So several times it is offered or sale. North carolina refused to buy it because of his fares and they didnt want to make it a quantity. Did they ever threatened legal action . Thats a good question, charles. They couldnt because the seller was always hidden behind a dealer or an agent that represented the seller. They didnt know who had it. At the notice with this said. So it ends up in philadelphia. With a dealer who tries to sell it to the National Constitution center right before the Constitution Center of end. The head of the Constitution Center, joe trussell and general do meet with this guy and they said we would love to have a bill of rights and the dealer said we then have a better deal for you. You can have it for free because we have found to wealthy donors who would fight for tax reduction and they are willing to buy this bill of rights and give it to you for free. This is not unusual. Often, people with very valuable things donate them to the institutions to receive the text of action. So thats unusual. So what happens with the general counsel and joe trussell love is worth it back to the governor of North Carolina that the National Constitution center has been offered a copy of the bill of rights. Within a day or so, the fbi is on the case. They come to philadelphia and say to the head of the cons editions and are coming if that helped us get back from North Carolina. So the fbi arranges for staying. [laughter] one of the law officers in philadelphia, the words . My husband is sitting back there. Hes a lawyer. It is a deal worth law firm. What happens is the agent for the bill of rights brings it to the office. Everybody looks over this document. It felt they did spot on it. But because of the bill of rights, the fbi goes crashing through and pushes everybody against the wall, confiscates the document applies back to the carolina. Seven years in court to get this document actually legally back to North Carolina. Said they got it back without having to buy it. Thats right. That is certainly an interesting dory and has been relevant for the copy that is in the zip room. I hope you all go see some question about whose it is. Lets come back to bed in a few minutes. Steve, you write about protect these charters of freedom included in the bill of rights that is the final one that was ratified. Tell us in brief if you can. They were there were so many stories told you the greatest honors world war ii. There were some others. Could you give us a little detail about that and the fort knox, some of that. Give us a story about protect them during wartime. Yes, i think the two most rheumatic. In American History, the word the team 12 for the original declaration of the original constitution. And in the engrossed impression that copies of this documents. When they are moved out of washington d. C. , when the reddish burn washington. State Department Clerk by the name of stephen pleasanton, very quick thinking takes those two documents from the rolls them up, soft and enough limit back in the first time in the back of the wagon investment urged a couple miles from d. C. And realizes that they be too close because the british are coming under strain the whole city. The next morning gets next morning can set the notes than 35 miles to the store, virginia and person in an abandoned farmhouse. Your original engrossed copies are now the archives, along with hundreds of other document. Pleasanton does this in defiance of secretary of war at the time. The War Department state department very close by. The secretary of war sees pleasanton packing up these documents. He asks them why they says because the british are coming again in 1814 and they are going to burn washington. Erica state department at that time. Yes. That it comes to the archives until the 1950s. Correct. So they have a kind of ambulatory existence until the fifth use. To go to state department, library of congress. The secretary of war says where are you moving document and assess because the british are coming. The secretary of war since they are not coming to washington d. C. They are interested in baltimore and on the baltimore. Pleasanton does it in defiance of data and saves them during the war of 1812. As they say, during world war ii, great world war ii, creatures and, creatures in washington d. C. Of an attack on d. C. After pearl harbor. A year before, in the fall of 1940, fdr start planning, even though the u. S. Has not entered the war yet, start planning the move of these documents and these

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