Approximately 200 first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were produced for distribution in 1776, a fact linked to America250.
Printer John Dunlap worked through the night of July 4 to create the first published versions, now called the Dunlap broadsides. Congress needed copies that could be sent quickly to colonial governments, military leaders, and other readers after approving the declaration.
The estimate is not an exact surviving production record. Historians believe roughly 200 broadsides were printed, but only a small number remain known today. The original sheets were working political communications, not luxury collectibles, so many were lost, damaged, or discarded.
The Dunlap broadside should not be confused with the later engrossed parchment copy. The broadside was printed and circulated immediately, while the parchment was handwritten and signed mainly on August 2. The first broadside also did not list all 56 signers by their handwritten signatures.