Every Copy
It’s publication week for When the Declaration of Independence Was News!
One of the central themes of the book—and the Declaration Stories initiative—is the simple but often overlooked fact that every copy of the Declaration of Independence has a story to tell. Many copies from 1776 survive, each reflecting different personal experiences, locations, and moments.
Here is a preview of the book’s contents and a recap of some of the Declaration Stories which you can find in the book, as well:
Introduction: The News of Independence
Miss Polly or Myra – Polly Palmer’s lost Declaration
Chapter 1. Short of Independence: The May 15 Resolution
Chapter 2. Postponed: The Continental Congress Debates Independence
The Thing – Thomas Jefferson’s fair copies of the committee draft
Chapter 3. Publish and Declare: The People Learn the News
Ties of Common Kindred, Road Trip, and Last Remains – John Dunlap’s broadsides
Eine Erklärung – Melchior Steiner and Charles Cist’s German broadside
Early Intelligence – Benjamin Towne’s Pennsylvania Evening Post
Philadelphia or Baltimore – John Dunlap’s newspapers
No Small Mirth – Mary Katharine Goddard’s Maryland Journal
Free and Independent Sates – The post-Isaiah Thomas Massachusetts Spy
Chapter 4. Melted Majesty: Statues Fall and Tensions Rise in New York
Washington’s Declaration – George Washington’s Dunlap broadsides
Chapter 5. The Reigning Subject: Inoculation and Independence in Massachusetts
Collecting – Harbottle Dorr’s annotated newspaper
American Broadside – Gill, Powars, and Willis’s broadsides
New England Becomes Independent – Powars and Willis’s New England Chronicle
Freshest News – The short-lived American Gazette
Chapter 6. Words and Wampum: Native Americans Acknowledge Independence
Chapter 7. Embarrassment: Clergymen Close Churches and Change Prayers
Chapter 8. Intercepted: Broadsides in British Hands
Full Circle – Jonas Phillips’s Dunlap broadside
Dunmore’s Cruel Declaration – The Virginia Gazettes
Chapter 9. Pretended Acts: London Changes the Declaration
The Other Mary – Mary Say’s Gazetteer and General Evening Post
Hanging Up Hancock – The London broadside
Hoofdzakelyk – Johannes Enschedé’s Haerlemse Courant
World News – Notizie del Mondo
Chapter 10. An Old Storey: Silas Deane Waits for the Declaration
Conclusion: A Lasting Testimony
The Original – the signed parchment
