About 200 Dunlap broadsides of the Declaration of Independence were printed in 1776.
John Dunlap produced the broadsides in Philadelphia shortly after Congress approved the Declaration on July 4. A broadside was a large sheet printed on one side, a practical format for posting, reading aloud, and distributing quickly across the colonies.
The broadsides carried the text into public life before the carefully handwritten engrossed copy was completed and signed. Copies went to colonial governments, military commanders, and other recipients. General George Washington received a copy and had the Declaration read to his troops in New York City.
The original run was much larger than the number surviving today. Twenty-six Dunlap broadsides are known to survive, including one discovered in the British National Archives in 2009. Their scarcity makes them valuable primary evidence for the founding event commemorated by America250.