jan 7, 1776 - Declaration of Independence

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John Dunlap, official printer to the Continental Congress, produced the first printed versions of the American Declaration of Independence in his Philadelphia workshop on the evening of July 4, 1776. After the Declaration was adopted by Congress earlier that day, a committee took the handwritten document, possibly Thomas Jefferson's "faithful copy" of his own draft. for Dunlap to print. On the morning of July 5, copies were dispatched by members of Congress to various assemblies, conventions, and security committees, as well as to commanders of Continental troops. Also on July 5, a copy of the printed version of the approved Declaration was inserted in the "draft diary" of the Continental Congress for July 4. The text was followed by the words "Signed by Determination of and in the Name of Congress, John Hancock, President. Attest. Charles Thomson, Secretary.''It is not known for certain how many copies of what came to be called "the Dunlap circular" had been printed on the evening of the fourth. Twenty-five copies are known to exist: twenty owned by American institutions, two by British institutions, and three privately owned. Shown, here, is the copy belonging to the United States National Archives and Records Administration.

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