John Dunlap printed the first widely distributed copies of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Dunlap was a Philadelphia printer who produced the documents now called the Dunlap broadsides. Congress ordered the Declaration printed soon after adopting it on July 4, 1776, allowing the text to circulate beyond the delegates who had approved it.
About 200 broadsides were printed, although only a smaller number survive today. Copies were sent to colonial governments, military leaders, and other destinations, including George Washington’s army. The printed sheets helped turn a congressional action into public news across the colonies.
The Dunlap broadside is not the same object as the famous engrossed parchment document displayed at the National Archives. The broadside is a printed version; the engrossed copy was handwritten on parchment and carries the delegates’ signatures. Both are central artifacts of the Declaration’s history.