Printer John Dunlap produced about 200 copies in the first printing of the Declaration of Independence.
These printed sheets are known as the Dunlap broadsides. After Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776, John Hancock arranged for a copy to be sent to Dunlap’s Philadelphia print shop so the news could circulate quickly.
The broadsides were distributed throughout the colonies, sent to military commanders, and shipped overseas. General George Washington received one and ordered that it be read to the Continental Army in New York. The broadside was not the later parchment document bearing the delegates’ signatures.
Only a fraction of the original printing survives. Twenty-six Dunlap broadsides are known today, including one discovered at the British National Archives in 2009. The small number of surviving copies makes the first printing an important part of the Declaration’s documentary history.