Who printed the first broadsides of the Declaration of Independence?

John Dunlap printed the first broadsides of the Declaration of Independence.

Dunlap was a Philadelphia printer who served as the official printer to the Continental Congress. After Congress approved the declaration’s wording on July 4, 1776, a copy was sent to his shop. He worked through the night to produce broadsides for distribution to the states, the army, and the public.

A broadside is a large sheet printed on one side, designed for posting or wide circulation rather than binding into a book. Dunlap produced about 200 copies of the Declaration broadside. These became the earliest widely distributed printed versions of the document.

The signed parchment now displayed at the National Archives was created later and is not the same object as a Dunlap broadside. Twenty-six Dunlap broadsides are known to survive, including one found in the British National Archives in 2009. Dunlap’s printing helped transform a congressional action into news that could travel rapidly across the colonies.