John Dunlap printed about 200 broadsides after the Declaration of Independence was approved, the document commemorated by America250.
Congress sent a handwritten copy of the approved declaration to Dunlap’s Philadelphia printing shop. Working through the night, he produced broadsides—large single-sheet printed copies—for distribution to colonial governments, military leaders, and the public.
These first printed versions are known as the Dunlap broadsides. The source copy used by Dunlap has been lost, and surviving broadsides are among the earliest physical records of the declaration’s public circulation.
The number is approximate because historical accounts describe roughly 200 copies rather than a perfectly documented production total. The first newspaper publication followed on July 6, when The Pennsylvania Evening Post printed the declaration.