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I know…I haven’t posted in a month. Been busy. But I’ve also been taking pictures, just not posting them. Like this one: the original handwritten draft of the state’s constitution!
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I had the good fortune of sauntering about the capitol on a day when state agencies were putting on displays for the legislative session…and I have to say, the State Historical Society probably stole the show with this one!
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Not only did they have the Constitution (I don’t recall if it’s proper to capitalize it, but I’m such a fan of this sort of thing I’m going to anwyay) on display, but they also flipped through it carefully. Yes, I got to touch it.
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Want some preamble? We’ve got preamble. And a little bit of Article I, too! Ah, I miss the fine art of good penmanship…
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How about that…this is an incredible piece of history! Only in North Dakota can you witness something this cool. I did keep an eye out to see if Nicolas Cage was lurking in Memorial Hall somewhere…
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How’s that for an amendment? This was the first draft, after all. It was written by multiple authors and contains notes of input from others.
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Edits. In the days before Liquid Paper, one simply had to cross things out and write in the changes. After all, this is a draft. Or at least that’s how it started out…
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And here are the signers. Pretty wild, seeing all these signatures of men who contributed to, and ultimately approved by adding their names to, this incredible document.
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Remember what I said about my love of the lost art of penmanship? Look at these glorious signatures. I might have to dig out my old calligraphy markers and give it a shot. They’re certainly all dried up by now.
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Needless to say, this made my day. It made my year, and this took place only a few days into 2023! It’s going to be hard to top something like this. Thank you to the State Historical Society for bringing this piece out for people to view! I suppose some time later it’ll occur to me that these are among the most significant photos I’ve ever taken. History is so amazing.