CHICHESTER, England (Reuters) - British experts will carry out tests to try to determine how a rare copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence found its way to an archive in southern England The Sussex Declaration: Dating the Parchment Manuscript of the Declaration of Independence Held at the West Sussex Record Office (Chichester, UK) Danielle Allen and Emily Sneff1 4.20.2017 Under final revision and preparation for publication at Papers of the Bibliographic Society of America One of only two parchment manuscripts of the United States Declaration of Independence has been discovered in the UK city of Chichester. The original declaration was signed on 4 July 1776, officially declaring the 13 colonies independent from Great Britain. One of only two parchment copies of America’s Declaration of Independence has been discovered in a record office in West Sussex, filed away without fanfare for half a century. Researchers from A rare copy of the United States' Declaration of Independence has been discovered in a small records office in South East England. Researchers constructing a database of every known copy of Harvard researchers have discovered a second manuscript written on parchment of the Declaration of Independence in a county archive in Chichester, UK. The only other parchment manuscript is the original Matlack Declaration in the National Archives, the large-scale, or “engrossed,” in the parlance of 1776, version with John Hancock’s John Hancock that everyone pictures when they think of One of the most important documents in American history has been rediscovered. The United States of America declared independence from the British Empire on July 4 1776. Only two parchment A priceless copy of the American Declaration of Independence has been unearthed at the West Sussex Records Office in Chichester. The story behind how this parchment copy of the US Declaration of Independence ended up in Chichester is still being looked in to, as researchers investigate its life before it was deposited in the Record Office in 1956. Hidden away in the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester, it is only the second known parchment manuscript of the historic document. Of course, Chichester’s own connection to American democracy doesn’t end with Paine. The Sussex Declaration, one of only two known handwritten parchment copies of the American Declaration of Independence, is preserved in the West Sussex Record Office. The other, of course, is situated in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Key Facts: Housed at the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester, UK; uncovered by the Declaration Resources Project in August 2015 The only known parchment manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence apart from the engrossed and signed parchment in the National Archives (referred to herein as the Matlack Declaration). Researchers found a rare copy of America's Declaration of Independence in a British archive. According to AFP news, a team lead by two Harvard University scholars discovered the manuscript at the West Sussex Record Office in the city of Chichester. A copy of the American Declaration of Independence found in Chichester has been verified as one of only two ceremonial parchment copies in the world. The Sussex Declaration Background In 2015 professor and political philosopher, Danielle Allen, established the Declaration Resources Project at Harvard University. The purpose of this project was to identify previously unknown copies of the American Declaration of Independence and to use new developments in technology and archival practice to answer questions about the text, the signatories Many of our followers will recall the news last year of the 'Sussex Declaration', an early copy of the US Declaration of Independence, and the only other ceremonial copy of the Declaration known to exist besides the signed 1776 copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the manuscript has been catalogued and stored here at West Sussex Record Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original. Danielle Allen and Emily Sneff came across the “Sussex Declaration,” as it has come to be known, in August 2015, while conducting online research of the digitized records collection of the United Kingdom National Archives for Harvard’s Declarations Resource Project. When Donald Trump – then American President – visited the UK in 2019 there was one document he was particularly fascinated to be shown. It was a rare parchment of the American Declaration of Independence held in Sussex. One of the most important documents in American history has been rediscovered. The United States of America declared independence from the British Empire on July 4 1776.
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