“When in the Course of Human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another…” begins the Declaration of Independence, the document that pronounced that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject to British rule. This week, Tidbits celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary of this document.
• While Thomas Jefferson is generally credited as the author of the Declaration, there was a committee of five that met together to help shape it – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Jefferson. Their meeting place was a popular Philadelphia pub, the Indian Queen Tavern. Because of his articulate writing style, Jefferson was chosen as the principal author, with his first draft completed in just 17 days in his Philadelphia boarding house.
• Congress spent two-and-a-half days editing Jefferson’s draft, making 86 changes, shortening the Declaration by about 25%.
• There were 27 specific grievances against King George III, including taxation without representation, obstructing the growth of population, and refusal to allow the colonies to elect their own judges. A copy was sent across the Atlantic to the King, arriving there in late August, 1776.
• The original title of the document was “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress Assembled,” and later changed to “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” When the Declaration was adopted in 1776, the Colonies and Great Britain had already been at war for over a year.
• The document was written on animal skin parchment, 29.75 inches by 24.5 inches in size. Jefferson’s words were put into the familiar elegant handwritten version by Timothy Matlack, a clerk to the Continental Congress, who was renowned for his extraordinary penmanship. Matlack took two weeks to complete the work, which was then sent to a Philadelphia printer named John Dunlap, who worked all night on July 4th to produce 200 copies of the document. Contrary to what we might have learned in school, the Declaration was not signed on July 4th. That date signifies the adoption of the document by Congress. The actual signing took place over the next several weeks, with all delegates signing by August 2, 1776 in the Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall.
• Matlack’s original handwritten copy is kept in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Just 26 of Matlack’s copies survive today. American institutions own 21, British institutions have two, and three are in private collections. Perhaps the most famous find was a copy spotted at a Pennsylvania flea market in 1989, hidden behind a painting with a price of $4. TV producer Norman Lear obtained it from the individual for $8.1 million. • As Congress president, John Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration in his large elaborate style, which gave way to his name being used as a popular way to request someone’s signature. Four of the 56 signers were physicians, two later became U.S. Presidents. The 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer of the Declaration, while a South Carolina delegate, Edward Rutledge, was the youngest at 26. All those who signed put themselves at risk of committing treason against Britain, punishable by death. In fact, five signers were captured as traitors by the British during the Revolutionary War, and tortured before their death.
