Key Points The US Declaration of Independence was written to declare independence for the 13 Colonies on 4th July 1776. A free PDF copy of the Declaration of Independence is available for download. The PDF is newly formatted and made accessible without commentary or explanations. I have, in this copy, fol-lowed the arrangement of paragraphs adopted in the publication of the Declaration in the newspaper of John Dunlap, and as printed by him for the Congress, which printed copy is inserted in the original Journal of the old Congress. Declaration of Independence: A Transcription Print This Page 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. A facsimile of the first English printing of the Declaration of Independence in The Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, published on August 17, 1776. This full text of the Declaration was printed on the third page of the newspaper. 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. Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. On his next print day, Thursday the 4th, John Dunlap was still the only printer with the text of the Declaration. But by Saturday the 6th, Towne had gotten a copy of the text, and printed the Declaration of Independence as front page news, scooping Dunlap's own Pennsylvania Packet by two days (the Packet typically printed on Mondays). 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. The Continental Congress charged five men with the responsibility to commit to paper the American colonies’ Declaration of Independence from Britain: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), John Adams (1735-1826), Robert Livingston (1746-1813), and Roger Sherman (1721-93). The Declaration of Independence, True to it's Original Size and Layout - Reprint Printed on Antiqued Parchment. 23 x 29, Ships in Plastic Collector's Tube The Declaration was first published as a broadside printed by John Dunlap of Philadelphia. One broadside was pasted into Congress's journal, making it what Boyd called the "second official version" of the Declaration. [15] On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and ordered that it be printed and copies disseminated to the colonies. The copies were printed by In 1777, Congress ordered an authenticated copy of the Declaration of Independence printed with the names of the signers. Nearly every printed or manuscript edition of the Declaration of Independence has slight differences in punctuation, capitalization, and even wording. To find out more about the diverse textual tradition of the Declaration, check out our Which Version is This, and Why Does it Matter? resource. On July 2, 1776, after months of deliberation and while directing battle in the colonies and Canada, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare the “united States of America” separate and independent from Britain. On July 4, the Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson. Copies were immediately printed and distributed throughout the 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. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind CONCORD, N.H. — Two historic copies of the Declaration of Independence are on display temporarily inside the New Hampshire State House, where visitors can get an up-close look at the penmanship Contrary to popular belief, the Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4th, the day it was officially adopted by the Continental Congress. On the evening of July 4, 1776, a manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence was taken to Philadelphia printer, John Dunlap. The 1776 “engrossed” copy of the Declaration of Independence—sometimes referred to as the “official” or “signed parchment” version—stands on display in the rotunda of the National
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