Five Things You Didn’t Know About the Declaration of Independence Series
Part 1: The Engrossed Copy
Part 1 Blog
The document most commonly associated with the Declaration of Independence is the engrossed parchment version. It’s the formal, beautifully handwritten copy that features the delegates’ signatures. Although it is not the earliest draft, it is the iconic one widely recognized as the “original.” How did this version come to be?
Part 2: The “Original” Declaration
Part 2 Blog
The Declaration of Independence that most people picture, the one with John Hancock’s bold, sweeping signature surrounded by the autographs of the other delegates, the one with the date July 4, 1776, at the top, is a copy. Yes, that grand, engrossed parchment, now enshrined behind glass at the National Archives, the one that became the official record, wasn’t the first Declaration. There was another that actually announced independence to the world. What was it, and how did those revolutionary words first reach the people far beyond the State House doors?
Part 3: The Jefferson-Hemings Scandal
Part 3 Blog
You can’t talk about the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, and “all men are created equal” without discussing the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings controversy. That subject alone could fill books, and it has, for over two hundred years. But, since we’re in a printing museum, let’s explore how print has shaped that story.
