Winthrop asked for. Whether this is true or not, the king did
sign one of the most liberal charters granted to any colony in
America. It gave the Connecticut people power to elect their own
governor and to make their own laws. This is the famous charter
which is said to have been hidden later in the Charter Oak Tree.
Two copies were made of it, and one of these Governor Winthrop
sent home, September, 1662, in an odd-shaped, leather-covered
box. This box, which is lined with sheets from an old history of
King Charles the First and has a compartment at one side that
once held the royal seal of green wax attached to the charter,
can be seen to-day in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical
Society.

When the people understood what a good charter they had received
they were greatly pleased. The record of the General Assembly for
October 9, 1662, says, "The Patent or Charter was this day
publickly read to the Freemen [that is, the voters] and declared
to belong to them and to their successors"; and October 29 was
appointed a "Thanksgiving Day particularly for the great success
God hath given to the endeavors of our Honored Governor in
obtaining our Charter of His Majesty our Sovereign." Samuel
Wyllys, in front of whose home stood the oak tree which was
afterward to become known as the "Charter Oak," was appointed one
of the first keepers of the charter.

For about a quarter of a century the government of Connecticut
was carried on under the charter. Then King Charles the Second
died, and his brother, the Duke of York, became king. The
advisers of the new king, James the Second, wished to unite all
the little scattered New England colonies under one strong