Printer John Dunlap produced about 200 broadside copies of the Declaration of Independence for Congress.
After Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776, a handwritten copy was taken to Dunlap’s printing shop in Philadelphia. He worked through the night to produce broadsides, or large single-sheet printed copies, for distribution.
These early printings became known as the Dunlap broadsides. Copies were sent throughout the colonies and to George Washington’s army, where the Declaration could be read aloud to soldiers. Other copies went to Britain and locations in Europe.
The original source copy used by Dunlap has not survived, but a number of the printed broadsides remain. Their survival gives historians direct evidence of how the Declaration was first distributed, adding an important communications story to the political milestone commemorated by America250.