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Declaring Independence
In anticipation of a vote for independence from Great Britain, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia behind a veil of congressionally imposed secrecy in June 1776 for a country wracked by military and political uncertainties. Jefferson worked diligently in private for days to compose a document, which was first revised by John Adams and Ben Franklin, and then by the full Continental Congress before final adoption on the morning of July 4.
Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence was delivered directly to John Dunlap, who held the contract as printer for the Continental Congress. It is estimated that of the two hundred copies of the "Dunlap Broadside" that were printed on July 4, 1776, twenty-six survive, two of which are in the collections of the Library of Congress. |