The first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence are called Dunlap broadsides.
Philadelphia printer John Dunlap produced them on the night of July 4, 1776, after Congress approved the Declaration. A broadside is a large sheet printed on one side, a practical format for posting, reading aloud, and distributing quickly. Dunlap likely printed about 200 copies, although the exact original number is uncertain.
The broadsides carried the text and identified John Hancock as president of Congress, with Charles Thomson as secretary. They did not provide the full list of delegates’ signatures. Congress sent copies throughout the colonies and to military leaders, allowing the declaration to spread rapidly.
The Dunlap broadside is distinct from the Goddard broadside, printed in 1777 by Mary Katherine Goddard. The later Goddard version listed the names of the signers, making it the first widely distributed version to reveal who had signed the document.