John Dunlap printed about 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
After Congress approved the Declaration’s final wording on July 4, its president, John Hancock, arranged for Philadelphia printer John Dunlap to produce copies for rapid distribution. These large printed sheets became known as the Dunlap broadsides.
The printing was done overnight, and copies were sent to colonial governments, military leaders, and other recipients. George Washington received one and ordered that the Declaration be read aloud to Continental Army troops near New York. The broadsides helped spread the independence message before the official engrossed parchment was completed.
The Dunlap copies are not the same as the famous signed parchment displayed at the National Archives. Most historians associate the parchment’s main signing with August 2, 1776, while the broadsides were printed immediately after adoption. Only a limited number of Dunlap broadsides survive today.