Over the night of July 4/5, 1776, Dunlap printed possibly one of the most important documents of his career with these first editions of the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, he produced the first public and published version of the Declaration. John Dunlap, official printer to the Continental Congress, produced the first printed versions of the American Declaration of Independence in his Philadelphia shop on the night of July 4, 1776. After the Declaration had been adopted by the Congress earlier that day, a committee took the manuscript document, possibly Thomas Jefferson's "fair copy" of his rough draft, to Dunlap for printing. On For his new country, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap printed currency. And the Declaration of Independence. John Dunlap, a Philadelphia newspaper printer, turned out a small number of broadside copies on the night of 4-5 July, and independence was proclaimed in Philadelphia on 5 July 1776. On 18 July, Abigail Adams was in the crowd that heard the Declaration read aloud—perhaps from this very copy—from the balcony of the Old State House in Boston. Approved on 4 July 1776 after three days of debate, the Declaration of Independence was swiftly printed by John Dunlap, Congress’s official printer. Dunlap’s broadside spread through the thirteen colonies, where local printers hastened to create their own versions to meet the public’s demand for evidence of independence. This document is the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. Drafted for the most part by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence justified breaking the colonial ties to Great Britain by providing a basic philosophy of government and a list of grievances against the Crown. That evening the Declaration was taken to a print shop at Second and Market Streets where John Dunlap printed an estimated 100-200 copies. The authenticated copy was not saved. There are 26 known Dunlap broadsides, three of which are in British repositories. The Continental Congress did not send any copies to King George III. John Dunlap (21 August 1746 – 27 November 1812) was an early American printer who emigrated from Ulster, Ireland and who printed the first copies of the United States Declaration of Independence and was one of the most successful Irish/American printers of his era. He served in the Continental Army under George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. The Library of Congress owns two copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, also known as the Dunlap Broadside, printed in Philadelphia on the evening of July 4 and the early morning of July 5, 1776. Text of the Declaration of Independence Note: The source for this transcription is the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, the broadside produced by John Dunlap on the night of July 4, 1776. This is the Dunlap Broadside Declaration of Independence that James Forten, a wealthy African American businessman and abolitionist, said he heard read on July 8, 1776 in Independence Square. John Dunlap printed over 100 broadsides that were used to spread the word of the declaration throughout the colonies. There are 26 surviving Dunlap The Dunlap broadsides were printed on the night of July 4, 1776, by order of Congress, by John Dunlap, from his shop near the corner of 2nd and Market Streets in Philadelphia, just blocks away from the State House (Independence Hall). Printed by hand in the recreation of Ben Franklin's printing office operated by the National Park Service. Printed on 100% Cotton Linen, the Declaration of Independence is the founding document of The United States of America. Made for history nerds and history lovers - only from The History List. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. On the evening of July 4, 1776, a manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence was taken to Philadelphia printer, John Dunlap. By the next morning, finished copies had been printed and delivered to Congress for distribution. On the night of July 4, 1776, by order of the Second Continental Congress, immediately after its approval of the text of the Declaration, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap printed approximately 200 copies of The Declaration of Independence as a broadside. This is the first printing of the Declaration of Independence by John Dunlap. You can see quotation marks which were copied from Thomas Jefferson’s original draft that was read to the Continental Congress. At the very least, with his broadside, variants, and two newspapers, Dunlap was the most prolific printer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. For more on the Dunlap and his broadside: Frederick Goff, The John Dunlap Broadside: The First Printing of the Declaration of Independence, 1976 Visit Gray’s Printing Press in Strabane. On the evening of July 4th, 1776, Philadelphia printer and engraver John Dunlap, official printer to the Continental Congress, was given an order to print broadside copies of the Declaration of Independence. It is believed that Dunlap likely printed at least 200 copies that night and perhaps more. John Dunlap, official printer to the Continental Congress, produced the first printed versions of the American Declaration of Independence in his Philadelphia shop on the night of July 4, 1776.
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