TREAT [over the noise]
My congratulations, Captain Wadsworth. A good bargain.
WADSWORTH
Indeed it was. Another foot up the tree, and the Sergeant would have had the charter.
BLIGH
ANNOUNCER
By saving the charter Connecticut preserved her claim to separate government, and in 1694 the King decided that the charter was in full legal force. It served as the fundamental order of Connecticut government down to the Revolution and until 1818, when a new state constitution superseded it.
The oak in which the charter was so well hidden was called from that time the "Charter Oak." It stood until August 21, 1856, when it fell. At sunset of that day the bells of Hartford tolled, and mourning was displayed for the historic old tree. And today interested tourists may see the spot where the Charter Oak stood and see a piece of the old tree in the State House.