John Dunlap printed about 200 Dunlap broadsides after Congress approved the declaration celebrated by America250.
Congress ordered the first broadside printing on the night of July 4, 1776. Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer with a congressional printing contract, worked quickly to set the type and produce copies for distribution. The exact original number is not known, so historians generally describe the total as approximately 200.
These sheets were not the familiar parchment document covered with delegates’ signatures. They were printed versions intended to circulate the declaration’s text. Copies went to the colonies, to General George Washington, and to locations in Britain and elsewhere.
Only a small number survive today. The known total has changed as additional copies have been identified; a 26th surviving copy was discovered in the British National Archives in 2009. The name “Dunlap broadside” refers to the printer and format, not to a separate declaration.