How Did People First Hear About the Declaration of Independence?

When you think of the Declaration of Independence, you probably think of the handwritten manuscript with John Hancock’s famous signature. But that document, which formally severed the 13 Colonies’ ties to the British Empire, is not how most colonists first learned that the Continental Congress had declared independence from Great Britain in July 1776.

Informing the colonies’ roughly 2.5 million residents that they were no longer British subjects was no easy task. It depended on word of mouth and public readings of broadsides—large, single-sheet publications posted publicly to announce current events—as well as couriers to distribute them. The process was remarkably fast for the 18th century, but it was hardly instantaneous.

The effort began in Philadelphia.

The Declaration announced that the colonies were formally to be considered “thirteen united States of America.” Shortly after it was adopted on July 4, a manuscript copy was sent to John Dunlap, the official printer to Congress. He worked through the night at his press in Philadelphia to print 200 broadsides, now known as the Dunlap Broadsides.

These were sent to printers across the former colonies so they could reproduce the words in local newspapers. Couriers on horseback brought other broadsides to committees, assemblies and commanders of the Continental Army across the new states.

“John Dunlap printed the broadsides which were sent to George Washington, and then they were sent to each of the 13 former colonies, now states,” explains John Vile, dean and professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. “Washington actually lined the troops up and had the Declaration read [aloud].”

In fact, Washington learned of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in a letter from John Hancock he received on July 6. The letter included several copies of the Dunlap Broadsides.

Benjamin Towne, publisher of The Pennsylvania Evening Post, produced some of the first newspaper printings, which appeared on July 6, 1776, making Philadelphians among the first to read the Declaration. A German-language translation was printed three days later in the Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote, for the area’s large German community.

Other printers, including those in Massachusetts and South Carolina, created similar broadsides, while some newspapers simply reprinted Dunlap’s. Some copies were sent overseas on ships, but these were often confiscated and thrown overboard.

In the Revolutionary era, about half of adult white men could not read, making public readings essential for spreading news and political ideas. This was true in the summer of 1776 when readings of the Declaration of Independence were held in town squares, churches, taverns and military camps. Through these gatherings, news of independence spread quickly.

The first people to hear the words were in Philadelphia’s State House Yard (now Independence Square) on July 4. “There’s some belief that it may have actually been publicly read that day by either Charles Thomson or Timothy Matlack,” Vile says. This wasn’t a formal public reading, Vile explains. It’s likely Thomson, who was secretary of Congress, or Matlack, his secretary who engrossed the official document, read it aloud to a small group at the State House.

Four days later, it was officially read in Easton, Pennsylvania, and in Trenton, New Jersey, before spreading up and down the states.

Public readings were often dramatic. Some town readings included ringing bells, beating drums and cheering crowds, while others had celebrations with bonfires and fireworks.

One of the most famous celebrations occurred in New York City on July 9. Inspired by the words they heard, soldiers and civilians tore down a statue of King George III in Bowling Green. “They took the lead in it and melted it down for [musket balls] to fight the war,” Vile says.

Written records from soldiers, such as Samuel Blachley Webb, who was one of Washington’s aides-de-camp, suggest that the news was well received by troops.

But not all reactions were celebratory. About 15 to 20 percent of the population remained loyal to the British Crown and saw independence as treasonous. These Loyalists, or Tories, feared economic collapse and military defeat. Others thought a rebellion against the Crown was morally wrong.

“There was a denominational division [among] Anglican priests in the United States,” Vile says. “They had to take an oath to support the King, and so a fair number…returned to England rather than stay and remain an Anglican minister in the newfound country.”

For these reasons, printers in some states refused to include the Declaration of Independence in their newspapers. These communities depended instead on public readings of the Dunlap Broadsides.

By the end of the summer of 1776, the Declaration of Independence had become one of the most widely distributed political documents in American history. What began as a few hundred broadsides printed in Philadelphia spread across the burgeoning nation. Printers in Great Britain even began producing the document in mid-August.

“One thing to remember is that there were two main audiences for the Declaration of Independence: one is domestic, and it worked well,” Vile explains. “But the other major reasons for writing the Declaration was to convince other nations that we’re declaring our independence [and saying], ‘We are now a separate country, and we have no intention of reuniting.’ That ultimately brought in France and Spain and other countries on our behalf.”

The handwritten version of the Declaration of Independence was finalized and written on August 2 and first signed by Continental Congress President John Hancock. Not all delegates were present that day, but by the end of January 1777, 56 of them signed the Declaration of Independence.

Because so many different printers created copies, there were perhaps as many as 40 broadside versions, none of which included signatures of delegates.

“Signing the document would have been considered an act of treason, and treason was a capital offense,” Vile says. “People could be drawn-and-quartered for just imagining the death of the king, much less for declaring their independence.” For that reason, the names of the signers were withheld from the public.

That is until January 18, 1777, when Congress tasked Baltimore printer Mary Katharine Goddard with publishing the first copies with the signers’ names. The Goddard Broadsides are the first printings that include the names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Goddard’s name also appears on the document, marking her the only woman whose name appears on an official printing of the Declaration of Independence.