I heard it claimed that the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are both on hemp paper.
This doesn’t seem all that far-fetched to me considering that hemp was grown by many of the founding fathers as a useful (and non-recreational) crop.
Of course, I favor legalization, so I recognize that I might be projecting a little wishful thinking on this possibility. So what’s the deal?
According to http://www.britannica.com , the Declaration is written on parchment, so the answer to that part of your question is no.
And this site , whose authority I cannot vouch for, claims the Constitution is on parchment as well.
I would be surprised if the Founding Fathers would have trusted anything less than parchment for documents they saw as important.
Arken
May 5, 2001, 1:28pm
4
We can always smoke it and find out.
Being for legalization, i fell for that one too. Hemp paper was used considerably in Revolution times. It was considered a lower grade paper like notebook paper today. Parchment was considered higher quality. Could you imagine the Declaration of Independence written on a piece of notebook paper?
“Okay, guys, here’s my first draft: it’s written on a bar napkin, sorry about that…”
(The Britannica also refers to the original document of the Declaration being on parchment.)
Which KneadToKnow already said. Never mind.
I always thought it was the Deloration of Independence that was written on hemp. Can anyone help me out on this one?