The first printed version of the Declaration of Independence celebrated by America250 was called the Dunlap broadside.
After Congress adopted the Declaration, printer John Dunlap produced multiple copies as large single sheets known as broadsides. The copies were printed in July 1776 and distributed to colonial governments, military leaders, and the public. Their purpose was rapid communication rather than elegant presentation.
The Dunlap broadside contains the declaration’s text and the printed names of John Hancock and Charles Thomson, the president and secretary of Congress. It does not display the full set of handwritten signatures found on the later engrossed parchment.
A different printed edition, the Goddard broadside, was issued later and included the names of the signers. That difference is a frequent source of confusion. The Dunlap broadside is important because it carried the new nation’s announcement into circulation soon after Congress adopted it.