Printer John Dunlap produced about 200 copies of the first broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence.
After Congress approved the final wording on July 4, 1776, a handwritten copy was sent to Dunlap’s printing shop in Philadelphia. He worked overnight to produce broadsides, large single-sheet copies intended for public distribution and reading.
These sheets became known as the Dunlap broadsides. They were sent throughout the colonies, to General George Washington’s army, and to destinations in Europe. The original source copy used by Dunlap has not survived.
The Dunlap broadside did not list all 56 signers’ names in the way the later Goddard broadside did. Only a small number of Dunlap copies survive today, making them among the most important and valuable surviving artifacts from the founding era commemorated by America250.