What name was given to the first printed copies of the United States Declaration of Independence?

The first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were called Dunlap broadsides.

John Dunlap, the Continental Congress’s official printer, produced the copies in July 1776. A broadside was a single large sheet printed on one side, making it suitable for rapid distribution and public posting. Dunlap printed roughly 200 copies for Congress.

These sheets were made before the famous parchment engrossed copy was completed and signed. They carried the text approved by Congress and circulated the declaration throughout the colonies and beyond. Several Dunlap broadsides survive in museums, libraries, and private collections.

They are sometimes confused with the Goddard broadside, a later 1777 printing that included the names of the signers. The Dunlap version generally did not list the delegates’ signatures.