John Dunlap printed the first widely distributed broadsides of the Declaration of Independence, central to America250.
Dunlap was the official printer for the Continental Congress. After Congress adopted the Declaration, he produced roughly 200 large printed copies, now known as the Dunlap broadsides. These copies carried the text quickly across the colonies and to military leaders.
The broadsides were printed before the famous engrossed parchment copy was completed and signed by the delegates. They were intended for public circulation, unlike the carefully handwritten document preserved today at the National Archives.
John Dunlap should not be confused with Benjamin Franklin, who was a signer and member of the Committee of Five, or Paul Revere, who was a silversmith and engraver associated with revolutionary Boston. Isaiah Thomas was another important colonial printer, but he did not produce the first official congressional broadsides.