The first public readings of the Declaration of Independence took place on July 8, 1776.
The readings occurred at noon in three locations: Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, John Nixon read the document in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall.
The timing followed the document’s printing. Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, and the Pennsylvania Evening Post published it on July 6. Public readings then carried the news beyond Congress and made the declaration understandable to communities and soldiers across the colonies.
The date is often confused with July 4, the adoption date, or July 9, when George Washington had the Declaration read to troops in New York City. Those were separate events. The coordinated first public readings occurred on July 8, making that date an important but less familiar part of the story behind America250.