Prior to being the first of the original thirteen colonies to pen a constitution, Connecticut was granted a very generous charter by King Charles II of England, which it very bravely preserved when Charles’ brother, James, ascended the throne and tried to have this wonderful piece of Connecticut history revoked. The way it was protected demonstrates pure Yankee ingenuity. After this remarkable document came The Fundamental Orders of 1638-1639, a first attempt at a constitution that defined citizen rights.

If you look at the flip side of the new Connecticut quarter you’ll find the outline of the “Charter Oak” tree. Estimated at over 500 years of age, the tree was a huge white oak. The paper with which it was involved was a Royal Charter granted to Connecticut by England’s King Charles II in 1662. It defined the state’s borders and bestowed ownership of the land as well as giving certain rights to the people of Connecticut.

Over the next twenty-five years after it was granted, the British colonies became very attractive to British aristocracy, so much so that in 1687, King James II ordered his representatives to seize the Connecticut Charter. In characteristic defiance, the people of Connecticut refused to surrender it, so the British threatened to claim the land and divide it. Some would go to New York and the remainder to Massachusetts.

On October 26, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, the crown’s appointed governor of New England, traveled to Butler’s Tavern in Hartford (now Connecticut’s capital) and demanded the Charter be surrendered to him at once. Had the people living in Connecticut given it up, their rights would have been revoked, and Connecticut history would have ended there. Considerable debate ensued that night, and during a rowdy argument, the candles lighting the room were suddenly and quite mysteriously extinguished.

Captain Joseph Wadsworth, a man fiercely protective of the Charter, was waiting outside. In the midst of the confusion inside the tavern, the Charter was slipped out the door to him. Wadsworth quickly made his way to the Wylls estate in Hartford, where he found an oak tree. An opening in its trunk became the ideal hiding place for the document.

The majestic tree, better known as th “Charter Oak Tree, helping in part to preserve the rights of the state’s citizens, stood proudly in Hartford until August 21, 1856, when high winds toppled it. It has become as representative of Connecticut history as has the first Constitution to be drafted in this country.

It is presented below in its original wording, which is at times difficult to comprehend. Editing it to adhere to modern-day speech, however, would be to deprive the reader of its originality and to provide a glimpse into just how far the “King’s English” has evolved.