How Was The Declaration Of Independence Made – The university owns two rare early printings of the Declaration, and “Declaration of Independence: Documents that Created and Re-Created America” ​​is a permanent exhibit at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.

Albert H. Small was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated in 1946 from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He began collecting rare books and manuscripts and, beginning in 1999, gifted his extraordinary collection of Declaration of Independence to the university.

How Was The Declaration Of Independence Made

To celebrate the holiday, take a look back at 10 things you probably didn’t know about the document.

Dunlap Broadside Of The Declaration Of Independence

The Second Continental Congress passed the bill that day, but it was not until nearly a month later, on August 2, that 56 representatives picked up the quill.

John Dunlap, Congress’ official printer, worked through the night and into the morning of July 5 to produce the “broadsheet,” a large single-sided paper similar to a poster. The permanent exhibit at UVA includes one of only 26 known surviving copies of the first edition—just without all the signatures affixed to the bottom.

2. The only names appearing in the first copy are those of Congressional President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson.

The Declaration of Independence exhibition features rare early prints and a subscription book from which Benjamin Irving Taylor took fax orders. His subscription book contained the signatures of Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams and other luminaries of the New Republic.

Transcript Of Declaration Of Independence (as Adopted)

“A replica of Albert Small’s Dunlap broadside now housed at UVA may well have once belonged to George Washington,” said David R. Whitesell, Curator of Special Collections (David R. Whitesell) said. “Its origins date back to the early 19th century, when it was owned by Tobias Lear. As we all know, Lear was Washington’s personal secretary in his later years, and shortly after Washington’s death in 1799, he Numerous documents were taken from Washington newspapers, possibly including this slamming article.

The library also owns an additional copy purchased in the 1950s. It is in poor condition and is only available to qualified researchers.

4. The Penn Evening Post published the statement in its July 6 issue, the first publication to do so since Dunlap’s lashing out.

On July 5, Hancock ordered that the slamming articles be distributed for reading and posting. More prints were quickly added throughout the colonies to spread independence. The collection includes copies of Philadelphia newspapers as well as paper reports from other colonies.

The Declaration Of Independence Vs. The U.s. Constitution

5. Thomas Jefferson was only 33 when he wrote the Declaration, but was already a well-known and accomplished writer. With the help of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, he drafted a revolutionary document that he called “an expression of the American mind.”

Jefferson left clear instructions. He wanted his tombstone to be engraved with the following words: “Here lies Thomas Jefferson, author of the American Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Religious Freedom Act.” , the father of the University of Virginia.”

“The New York delegates to the Continental Congress did not adopt the Declaration because they were awaiting instructions from the New York Provincial Congress,” Whitesell said. “These instructions (to vote for independence) did not arrive until after July 4, because as British troops approached, The New York Provincial Legislature had to evacuate New York on June 30.”

This lithograph reproduces a painting by John Trumbull that now hangs in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. In 1817, the United States Congress commissioned Trumbull to co-create the painting on July 4, although not all of the signers were included.

Declaration Of Independence (1776)

Pennsylvania Representative Benjamin Rush wrote that their actions “were viewed by many at the time as our own death warrant.” The British did target the Founding Fathers, destroying and looting many of their homes. There is a story that John Hart of New Jersey never found all of his children when he came out of hiding and returned home.

9. The Marquis de Lafayette hung the official engraving of the United States Declaration of Independence in his bedroom suite.

In 1823, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned an official facsimile of the Declaration from William J. Stone, and 200 copies were printed, two of which the State Department sent to La Fit.

10. The Albert Small Collection is the most comprehensive collection of letters, documents, and early printings related to the Declaration and its signers.

The Declaration Of Independence: Six Lesser Known Facts

The exhibit also includes historic prints of the Declaration, letters and documents from the 56 signers, and a 13-minute documentary that tells the story of the events that led to the founding of this country.

For those who live far away from Charlottesville, you can visit the library’s online exhibit to learn the story behind the production and dissemination of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is considered the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, although Jefferson’s draft underwent a revision process by members of his committee and by the Second Continental Congress.

The United States’ declaration of independence from the British Empire was a founding moment for the country. But it’s not inevitable. Until the spring of 1776, most colonists believed that the British Empire provided freedom, protection, and opportunity for its citizens. The mother country purchased the colonists’ goods, protected them from Native American Indians and European invaders, and extended British rights and freedoms to the colonists. In return, the colonists traded primarily with Britain, abided by British laws and customs, and swore allegiance to the British crown. For much of the eighteenth century, the relationship between Britain and its American colonies was a mutually beneficial one. Even as late as June 1775, Thomas Jefferson stated that he “rather be dependent on Great Britain, subject to due limitations, than on any nation on earth, or on no nation at all.”[1]

But after the Seven Years’ War, this good relationship began to face serious challenges. During that conflict with France, Britain ran up huge debts and looked to its American colonies to help pay for the war. Between 1756 and 1776, Parliament enacted a series of acts to tax the colonies, including the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Duty of 1766 and the Tea Act of 1773. Even though the taxes were relatively light, there was strong resistance from the colonists when it came to taxation. The colonists feared that “taxation without representation” was tyranny, and political control of the colonies was increasingly exercised by London. The colonists felt they were treated like second-class citizens. But after initially compromising on the Stamp Act, Parliament supported increasingly stringent measures to force colonists to comply with the new law. Tensions finally came to a head with shootings between British troops and colonial militia in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

The Fight Behind The Declaration Of Independence

Despite the outbreak of violence, most colonists still wanted to remain in Britain. Only when King George III failed to address the colonists’ complaints to Parliament or accept their calls for compromise did the colonists begin to view independence as a last resort. Encouraged by Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense,” more and more colonists began to consider independence in the spring of 1776. Meanwhile, ongoing warfare and rumors of a massive invasion by British troops and German mercenaries dashed the colonists’ hopes for independence. reconciliation.

Although the issue had been quietly discussed in the corridors of the Continental Congress for some time, it was not until June 7, 1776 that the Continental Congress made its first formal proposal for independence. It came from Virginian Richard Henry Lee, who introduced a resolution insisting that “all political ties should be dissolved” between Britain and the American colonies. [2] But this is not a unanimous view. Many representatives wanted to postpone a decision on independence or avoid it altogether. Despite this disagreement, Congress nominated a drafting committee—the Committee of Five (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman)—to draft the Declaration of Independence . Known for his eloquent writing style and conservative attitude, Thomas Jefferson emerged as the primary author.

As Jefferson sat at his desk in a Philadelphia boarding house, he drafted a treatise on “common sense” using “simple and firm phrases, winning the assent of mankind.” [3] Some of his language and many of his ideas were taken from famous political works, such as George Mason’s Declaration of Rights. But his ultimate goal was to express American unity—what he called “an expression of the American mind”—against British tyranny. [4]

Jefferson submitted a “draft” of the Declaration on June 28. Congress eventually accepted the document, but not without debating the draft for two days and making extensive revisions. Jefferson was unhappy with many of the revisions, particularly the deletion of passages about the slave trade and the insertion of language that was less offensive to the British, and in later years frequently provided his first drafts to reporters. Benjamin Franklin tried to reassure Jefferson by telling him a now-famous story about a merchant whose store sign read: “John Thompson, Hatter, Makes and Sells Hats for Ready Money;” After criticism from a group of critical friends, the sign simply read “John Thompson” with a picture of a hat. [5]

The Signers Of The Declaration Of Independence: Their Triumphs & Sacrifices Beyond 1776

Under pressure from the news that the British fleet was anchored

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