US Declaration Of Independence Comes Home To Parent Nation.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31822545

Churchill plan to give Magna Carta copy to US revealed

Winston Churchill's plans to give the US a copy of Magna Carta, in return for its support in World War Two, are revealed as part of a new exhibition.

Government papers revealing Churchill's part in the bid to boost US support are on display at the British Library.

Also on display for the first time in the UK are the US Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights, alongside two Magna Carta manuscripts.

Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy marks the manuscript's 800th anniversary.

Magna Carta, authorised on 15 June 1215, is considered one of the first steps towards parliamentary democracy. It included the principle that no one was above the law, including the King.

As World War Two broke out, one of the original copies was stranded in America, following its display at a trade fair in New York.

Foreign Office papers now on display at the British Library show the Cabinet contemplated giving the manuscript to the United States as a gift, describing it as "the only really adequate gesture which it is in our power to make in return for the means to preserve our country."

Winston Churchill had added handwritten comments in favour of the proposal but it fell through as the Magna Carta was not the government's to give away.

It actually belonged to Lincoln Cathedral and for the rest of the war it was guarded at Fort Knox before being returned in 1946.

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[DaveDodo007]

That was awefully nice of him considering it didn't belong to him in the first place.

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That was awefully nice of him considering it didn't belong to him in the first place.

Churchill found that out when the Bishop's Staff landed on his foot.