Existing comment:
Declaration of Independence
July 11, 1776
Printed by John Holt
This rare printing of the Declaration of Independence by John Holt was included in the July 11, 1776 edition of his paper, the New York Journal or General Advertiser, which was printed just blocks from where George Washington's army was stationed. Word of the July 4 signing had arrived from Philadelphia just two days before, and the city was electric with the news. This document is one of only six known printings of its kind.
[Note that July 4 was the date of the approval of the Declaration, not its signing. After being approved, it was sent out to be "engrossed". The actual signing was done on August 2.]
The Declaration includes the then-unheard-of-idea that all people have an inalienably right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Lincoln was working to make this brave idea more of a reality, and he wrestled with emancipation here at the Cottage. He hoped to realize more fully his vision of America as a place of freedom and opportunity, and to bring America closer to the founding principles in this document.
It was a shared belief in those founding principles. Lincoln thought that linked all Americans together, whatever their country of origin or family background. The document's placement here at the Cottage connects the initial excitement around the Declaration with Lincoln's commitment to its ideals during the difficult circumstances of the Civil War. |