Status of The Original 14 Copies
George Washington had fourteen handwritten copies of the Bill of Rights made, one for Congress and one for each of the original thirteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia.
The copies for Georgia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania are missing. The New York copy is thought to have been destroyed in a fire, whereas the Pennsylvania copy reportedly disappeared in the later 18th century. Two unidentified copies of the missing four (thought to be the Georgia and Maryland copies) survive; one is in the National Archives and the other is in the New York Public Library.
North Carolina's copy was stolen by a Union soldier in April 1865 and returned to North Carolina in 2005, 140 years later by FBI Special Agent Robert King Wittman.
Virginia's copy was used for the Bill of Rights Tour, to mark the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights, in 1991.
Read more about this topic: United States Bill Of Rights
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