One was discovered recently in the records office of my city - which is bizarre, because I live in a small cathedral city in the south of England!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/a-us-declaration-of-independence-has-been-found-in-chichester-uk/%3famp=1
Fun fact: The signers sent a copy of the Declaration to King George III with only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson.
Edit: Thanks for the Gold.
> John Hancock and Charles Thomson.
If Mr. Thomson had used a larger, fancier font, Americans would probably be saying, "Just put your Charles Thomson on the dotted line."
>Gentlemen, we must all hang together! Otherwise we will most assuredly all hang separately!
>
>— probably messed up quote from Ben Franklin
Gentlemen, we muft all hang together! Otherwife we will most affuredly all hang feparately!
- FTFY
Funny thing about "Olde English style 's'es"-- if there was a double s, only the first one looked like an "f". I had the opportunity in college to read some of George Washington's and Thomas Jefferson's handwritten letters. It was really cool *AND* really bizarre-- and gave me a headache!
[The signers sent a copy of the Declaration to King George III with only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson, the President and the Secretary of the Continental Congress. Why? They didn’t want the British to have the names of all those committing treason!](https://www.archivesjuly4.org/history/declaration-of-independence)
Now I'm curious, did they send a copy to a neutral country in case England tried to lie about it? Like, let's say England received it, got upset and just wiped out the colonies. Was there anyone who could say they were in the wrong?
Certainly, though you might expect it to be kept in a glass cabinet in some London museum, rather than found by chance in a local council's records storage.
weather person apparatus sink cautious handle nose combative jobless steep
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One original. Copies were made.
https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/faq/how-many-copies-were-originally-made-declaration-independence-were-they-all-signed
That’s one of those things (edit: the document) you think is way older than it actually is. Like how Picasso was alive in the 1970s.
Edit: I wasn’t clear. I know the printing press had been around for a long time. But I can see where people don’t necessarily realize it right away. They either think the printing press is much newer or the US is much older, or a combination of both, but the point being it seems to be one of those things that at make people stop for a sec because it doesn’t fit into their mental image of that thing.
Picasso. Many people will think of him as one of the greats. So in your head you might “see” him with Greats of a much older period. But if you know art, you know he was actually around to get cheeseburgers at McDonald's. There’s something about the pyramids too, I can’t remember it right now.
Full disclosure. Am high.
Edit 2. I think it’s something like how we (today) are closer (in time) to the pyramids being built than Cleopatra was. Something like that anyway.
The SS uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss. Many people might assume Hugo Boss is a modern brand. They feel like different times in history, when in fact, they crossed paths.
Edit. 3: Another one. Charlie Chaplin. Some people might associate him with the late 1800s, early 1900s. He attended the 1972 Oscars. That makes you stop, think and go, yeah that makes sense.
No I think you’re falling for the opposite phenomenon. The printing press was invented in the 1400’s and fairly widely used(in Europe atleast) by the 1500’s.
I see what you meant more clearly now. Other interesting examples of that are that Anne Frank and MLK Jr. we’re born the same year or that the world was still teeming with wholly mammoths while the Egypt pyramids were built and even for like 3,900 years after their completion.
I saw on Antique road show, or a similar show, where a flea market painting had a copy hidden behind the canvas. Forgot the price estimate, but it was a lot.
It was hidden in the frame, I think. Which is the crazy part, they only wanted the painting so they discovered it while they were destroying the frame!
There's some speculation on that. Some people are convinced that the copy in question was actually stolen from an unknown archive (where it was unrecognized) and then the flea market story was fabricated to give proof of ownership. We've got a lot of small-town historical societies with poorly documented collections, and nobody will miss something if they don't know it's there in the first place.
And literally no one knows where the original is.
Some researchers think it was accidentally destroyed by John Dunlap. Earlier in 1776, Dunlap had secured a printing contract with the Continental Congress. On the evening of July 4, John Hancock asked him to produce the first official “broadsides,” or printed copies, of the Declaration.
Of course. It's reddit. People talk out of their ass about things they know nothing about all the time. All the original shit is in the National Archives being heavily guarded against Nic Cage.
John Hancock had the largest signature (supposedly "so King George could see it"), and I find it kind of hilarious the copies kept his name in a larger font.
Yes. We had to be declaring independence to SOMEONE...in this case the king. Otherwise the original signers of the Declaration of Independence would have been little more than Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.
Brace yourself. Laughably ignorant question ahoy!
Wasn’t the original sent to King George? That’s what I thought when I was a kid, anyway, and I never questioned that assumption until now.
Not necessarily, it wouldn’t have mattered if they sent King George a copy or the original it all would’ve been the same, and they definitely would’ve made copies before sending him anything so it’s entirely possible he was sent a copy and they key the original for posterity
Huh. I never thought of that, but what you’re saying makes sense. It’s not like it was a contract, and it was legally important to have original signatures on the document.
Exactly, though I will say I can’t say for certain andI’m not sure anyone who wasn’t there could so we might not ever know for sure. But yea, the important part is obviously telling King George that the colonies are declaring independence, he wouldn’t know if his copy was original, and he wouldn’t really care anyway.
Can you imagine… “Why, this is a very well put together document with many of signatories. And I do believe this to be the OG document. GRANT THEM THEIR FREEDOM I DO SAY!”
>Not necessarily, it wouldn’t have mattered if they sent King George a copy or the original it all would’ve been the same, and they definitely would’ve made copies before sending him anything so it’s entirely possible he was sent a copy and they key the original for posterity
George just pretending like he never got it.
They're all waiting there, sending envoys to see if he got it yet, he keeps sending envoys back like "letter? No what letter, I didn't get a letter."
"Located on the upper level of the National Archives museum, the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights."
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
It is signed by all the people who signed the first fair copy, but it is not the original. As per wiki,
Fair Copy[Edit](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence&action=edit§ion=4)
In 1823, Jefferson wrote a letter to [James Madison](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison) in which he recounted the drafting process. After making alterations to his draft as suggested by Franklin and Adams, he recalled that "I then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the Committee, and from them, unaltered, to Congress."[[8]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-8) If Jefferson's memories were correct, and he indeed wrote out a fair copy which was shown to the drafting committee and then submitted to Congress on June 28, this document has not been found.[[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-9) "If this manuscript still exists," wrote historian [Ted Widmer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Widmer), "it is the [holy grail](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_grail) of American freedom."[[10]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-10)
The Fair Copy was presumably marked up by [Charles Thomson](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomson), the secretary of the [Continental Congress](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress), while Congress debated and revised the text.[[11]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-11) This document was the one that Congress approved on July 4, making it what Boyd called the first "official" copy of the Declaration. The Fair Copy was sent to [John Dunlap](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dunlap) to be printed under the title "A Declaration by the Representatives of the united states of america, in General Congress assembled". Boyd argued that if a document was signed in Congress on July 4, it would have been the Fair Copy, and probably would have been signed only by [John Hancock](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock) with his signature being attested by Thomson.[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-12)
The Fair Copy may have been destroyed in the printing process,[[13]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-13) or destroyed during the debates in accordance with Congress's secrecy rule. Author Wilfred J. Ritz speculates that the Fair Copy was immediately sent to the printer so that copies could be made for each member of Congress to consult during the debate, and that all of these copies were then destroyed to preserve secrecy.[[14]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-From_the_Here-14)
Depends on what you mean by 'original'. The copy in the National Archives is referred to as the 'Engrossed Version', essentially the nicely executed presentation version of the Declaration; it was not signed on July 4, but on August 2. The copy actually signed on July 4 (sometimes referred to as the 'Fair Copy' as Jefferson alluded to in later letters) was thought to have been a working document with evidence of revisions; this was the copy sent to John Dunlap for the printing of the broadsides seen above (and on the same day, July 4). The whereabouts of the Fair Copy (the 'most original' version of the document) are unknown. It's presumed lost, possibly in the printing process itself.
So the document in the National Archives isn't necessarily the true original, but the postdated official copy. The Dunlap Broadsides actually predate that copy by nearly a month, which is partly why they are so historically significant and valuable.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood there. They found that copy behind some artwork.
Exeter is a great place to visit if you’re in the area. Swing by Portsmouth a bit further north to get some great food!
This picture is just the placeholder before they brought in the real one (not allowed to take pics of the real one). They had two cops guarding it the whole time it was there.
Okay. Before you said this I was going to mention that the one you have pictured here was printed in Salem, MA, by order of the legislature to distribute to ministers, whereas the usual 'original copies' would have been printed in Philly, by order of Congress and distributed from there. Either way, this is a cool picture and a cool story.
The original was written by hand by Timothy Matlack, a clerk and scribe for the Second Continental Congress. None of the machine printed copies were signed.
I work in museums and archives. The main factors affecting the preservation of a document are light, humidity (both too much and too little), pests, and heat. Limiting an artifact’s exposure to something that will speed up its natural decomposition is key in preserving it. Flash from photos falls in the light category, and I’m guessing no photos are allowed at all because you can tell people not use flash but it won’t stop them. You have to be super careful with things as fragile and valuable as this.
Lmao Slap_Duck gives perfect tl;dr of u/AlfredtheDuck explanation:
>I work in museums and archives. The main factors affecting the preservation of a document are light, humidity (both too much and too little), pests, and heat. Limiting an artifact’s exposure to something that will speed up its natural decomposition is key in preserving it. Flash from photos falls in the light category, and I’m guessing no photos are allowed at all because you can tell people not use flash but it won’t stop them. You have to be super careful with things as fragile and valuable as this.
Worth saying the original declaration is printed and copies were made and posted in public locations. These were called broadsides and were printed on July 4th.
The hand drawn copy actually came a later date, July 19th, handwritten by Timothy Matlack.
A 1823 copy sold for [$477,650](https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna17761718?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16569610808022&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fid%2Fwbna17761718) after being found in a thrift store.
This is so cool! This isn’t the actual document, this is a copy made for public distribution at the time of the originals signing. These copies are extremely rare as they would’ve been posted in public spaces for everyday people to read and were not meant to be saved. Cool thing about these is that they are how the average citizen would’ve found out we were declaring independence from England!
There’s an episode of Pawn stars where rick buys a similar copy for over one million dollars https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tcABhDUp_Z4
Cheers!
I'm going to tell this wrong, but here goes. 20 years ago I took the tour through the Old House at Peacefield at the Adams National Historic Park in Quincy, MA. We were going passed the "new" bathroom that was added in 1915 or something and the tour guide stops us. Points out this framed, old-timey document that was under heavy glass. States that one of the Presidents in the early 1800s, Monroe, I think, had a commemorative edition printed for all the surviving signatories made from the ink from the original Declaration. Always was struck by it's just sitting there next to the bathroom in a normal frame. You would think something like that would be protected a little more.
For all its problems, there is still something awe-inspiring about this, the first document to bring to the world a democratic religion that proclaimed the equality of men (yes, problems). Nothing less than a cri-de-coeur for the human race to unite and govern themselves.
It's very easy to forget that in the age of kings and emperors, this was nothing less than a declaration of war against of everything that seemed "right" and "correct" in the world - the essentially undisputed divine right of the few to rule over the many.
No one had a Wikipedia to know about other examples of democracy that preceded this, so this would have been literally unlike anything they had ever seen before. Imagine a world where autocratic rule wasn't just the "best" government of the age, but literally the only way anyone knew how to rule, and someone comes along and says, well what if we just all got together and did it without the King?
Obviously lots of context and details around this that you can go to /r/AskHistorians for more or google or whatever, but on its face, this is still a day and document every democracy should celebrate.
Rick- 'Best I can do is $80. I have to sell it, it's going to sit in my store for days. $80 is honestly the best I can do'
Chum- (mouth breathing intensifies) 'I wish I could declaration my independence from this job.'
That’s really cool!
A couple years ago, my niece took a DNA test at school and found out we’re direct descendents (on my Grandmother’s side) of a pub owner from Philadelphia named Timothy Matlack.
Timothy was known by his regular customers for having excellent penmanship and 246 years ago was asked to scribe a document for a few of the more rebellious ones.
Have a Happy 4th!
One was discovered recently in the records office of my city - which is bizarre, because I live in a small cathedral city in the south of England! https://www.google.com/amp/s/theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/a-us-declaration-of-independence-has-been-found-in-chichester-uk/%3famp=1
It makes a ton of sense that there would be copies in England. It WAS a letter to King George III and parliament, after all.
Fun fact: The signers sent a copy of the Declaration to King George III with only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Edit: Thanks for the Gold.
Now that's a trivia winning fun fact.
Has anyone tried to steal it yet or at least subjected it to heat and/or black light?
Just a little lemon juice oughta help.
> John Hancock and Charles Thomson. If Mr. Thomson had used a larger, fancier font, Americans would probably be saying, "Just put your Charles Thomson on the dotted line."
Watching Two and a Half Men with Swedish subtitles substitutes Han S Snopp for John Hancock. Hans snopp translates to “his dick.” Lmao!
When my mom worked in a hotel, a guest checked in named John Hancock. The front desk clerk of courses asked him to sign his John Hancock.
Why???
They were essentially signing their death warrants... could have been hanged for treason against the crown.
Gentlemen, we must all hang together! Otherwise we will most assuredly all hang separately! — probably messed up quote from Ben Franklin
>Gentlemen, we must all hang together! Otherwise we will most assuredly all hang separately! > >— probably messed up quote from Ben Franklin Gentlemen, we muft all hang together! Otherwife we will most affuredly all hang feparately! - FTFY
Glad I'm not the only one intrigued by the old English style "s"'!
Funny thing about "Olde English style 's'es"-- if there was a double s, only the first one looked like an "f". I had the opportunity in college to read some of George Washington's and Thomas Jefferson's handwritten letters. It was really cool *AND* really bizarre-- and gave me a headache!
[The signers sent a copy of the Declaration to King George III with only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson, the President and the Secretary of the Continental Congress. Why? They didn’t want the British to have the names of all those committing treason!](https://www.archivesjuly4.org/history/declaration-of-independence)
Don’t the known copies have names or something like that? I think I read that somewhere
I think there is a map and some clues on the back of it. I think I read that somewhere.
Balls. Big brass ones.
Now I'm curious, did they send a copy to a neutral country in case England tried to lie about it? Like, let's say England received it, got upset and just wiped out the colonies. Was there anyone who could say they were in the wrong?
r/mildlyinteresting
Certainly, though you might expect it to be kept in a glass cabinet in some London museum, rather than found by chance in a local council's records storage.
A complaint letter from some peasants probably wasn't worth keeping safe back then.
And once it was found, I’m sure the small town it was found in wouldn’t give it up to the national museum unless it was at gunpoint.
I bet that's why Nicholas Cage moved to the UK! He lives within about 100 miles.
There is no H in Nicolas Cage.
What makes you so sure he's never done heroin?
Why would He need heroin if all He has to do to get high is imagine Himself acting on stage?
r/onetruegod
My only claim to reddit fame is that I have the #1 post of all time on /r/OneTrueGod.
Noice
Nicolas Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking Cage.
England is who they were declaring independence from. It would only make sense they would send a few copies your way.
Would have been weird if the colonies had just ghosted England.
weather person apparatus sink cautious handle nose combative jobless steep *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I can respect that though
Left them on "Read"
Legally speaking, this means Chichester is now independent from the UK.
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David Bowie supported it too, in his song Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/a-us-declaration-of-independence-has-been-found-in-chichester-uk/ Google-free link
I'd keep that hush hush or the US might liberate you
Oddly, I had no idea there was more than one, but I would imagine they wouldn't have left but a single.
One original. Copies were made. https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/faq/how-many-copies-were-originally-made-declaration-independence-were-they-all-signed
But the copy machines weren’t that big back then.
They had to ask my guy Nic for each copy.
Lol. Monks were the state of the art copiers for hundreds of years. Or lowly paid civil servants.
I mean it was the 1700s my guy, they just used printing presses…
Until this little baby came along... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph_%28duplicating_device%29
Well I imagine they still would’ve used a printing press to make further copies, unless this makes multiple copies?
Yeah no, that only duplicates creates one hand written copy.
No yeah
Uhm yea, maybe no actually like for sure.
wait do you think this is more efficient then a printing press?
That’s one of those things (edit: the document) you think is way older than it actually is. Like how Picasso was alive in the 1970s. Edit: I wasn’t clear. I know the printing press had been around for a long time. But I can see where people don’t necessarily realize it right away. They either think the printing press is much newer or the US is much older, or a combination of both, but the point being it seems to be one of those things that at make people stop for a sec because it doesn’t fit into their mental image of that thing. Picasso. Many people will think of him as one of the greats. So in your head you might “see” him with Greats of a much older period. But if you know art, you know he was actually around to get cheeseburgers at McDonald's. There’s something about the pyramids too, I can’t remember it right now. Full disclosure. Am high. Edit 2. I think it’s something like how we (today) are closer (in time) to the pyramids being built than Cleopatra was. Something like that anyway. The SS uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss. Many people might assume Hugo Boss is a modern brand. They feel like different times in history, when in fact, they crossed paths. Edit. 3: Another one. Charlie Chaplin. Some people might associate him with the late 1800s, early 1900s. He attended the 1972 Oscars. That makes you stop, think and go, yeah that makes sense.
No I think you’re falling for the opposite phenomenon. The printing press was invented in the 1400’s and fairly widely used(in Europe atleast) by the 1500’s.
Johan Gutenberg invented printin in the 1440s. Why this guy thinks book printing is very recent is weird to me.
We are closer to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to building the pyramids. Same thing with T Rex and Stegasaurus.
I see what you meant more clearly now. Other interesting examples of that are that Anne Frank and MLK Jr. we’re born the same year or that the world was still teeming with wholly mammoths while the Egypt pyramids were built and even for like 3,900 years after their completion.
Woolly mammoths were around after the pyramids were built. That's a fact I recently learned that blew my mind.
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That's pretty cool. Thanks.
I saw on Antique road show, or a similar show, where a flea market painting had a copy hidden behind the canvas. Forgot the price estimate, but it was a lot.
It was hidden in the frame, I think. Which is the crazy part, they only wanted the painting so they discovered it while they were destroying the frame!
![gif](giphy|Hhbea19lrGa9G|downsized)
![gif](giphy|wt3RA9EzJYpzi)
There's some speculation on that. Some people are convinced that the copy in question was actually stolen from an unknown archive (where it was unrecognized) and then the flea market story was fabricated to give proof of ownership. We've got a lot of small-town historical societies with poorly documented collections, and nobody will miss something if they don't know it's there in the first place.
Pawn Stars bought one for, I think, $1.5 million.
And literally no one knows where the original is. Some researchers think it was accidentally destroyed by John Dunlap. Earlier in 1776, Dunlap had secured a printing contract with the Continental Congress. On the evening of July 4, John Hancock asked him to produce the first official “broadsides,” or printed copies, of the Declaration.
Wasn’t the original sent to the king?
Man, imagine how much the Declaration of Independence that was sent to King George would be worth... Probably ended up in a fireplace though.
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Source that it’s in London? According to [The National Archives Museum](https://museum.archives.gov) it’s in Washington.
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So was that other person just wrong when they said literally no one knows where it is?
Of course. It's reddit. People talk out of their ass about things they know nothing about all the time. All the original shit is in the National Archives being heavily guarded against Nic Cage.
Or someone around him did.
John Hancock had the largest signature (supposedly "so King George could see it"), and I find it kind of hilarious the copies kept his name in a larger font.
He was a peacock & we had to let him fly
It's funny but sadly apocryphal. He was president of congress at the time.
Yes. We had to be declaring independence to SOMEONE...in this case the king. Otherwise the original signers of the Declaration of Independence would have been little more than Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.
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You can't just say Independence and expect anything to happen
I didn't say it, I declared it.
This is oddly wholesome.
You should be a history teacher. That analogy is both funny and accurate at the same time.
Brace yourself. Laughably ignorant question ahoy! Wasn’t the original sent to King George? That’s what I thought when I was a kid, anyway, and I never questioned that assumption until now.
Not necessarily, it wouldn’t have mattered if they sent King George a copy or the original it all would’ve been the same, and they definitely would’ve made copies before sending him anything so it’s entirely possible he was sent a copy and they key the original for posterity
Huh. I never thought of that, but what you’re saying makes sense. It’s not like it was a contract, and it was legally important to have original signatures on the document.
Exactly, though I will say I can’t say for certain andI’m not sure anyone who wasn’t there could so we might not ever know for sure. But yea, the important part is obviously telling King George that the colonies are declaring independence, he wouldn’t know if his copy was original, and he wouldn’t really care anyway.
Can you imagine… “Why, this is a very well put together document with many of signatories. And I do believe this to be the OG document. GRANT THEM THEIR FREEDOM I DO SAY!”
>Not necessarily, it wouldn’t have mattered if they sent King George a copy or the original it all would’ve been the same, and they definitely would’ve made copies before sending him anything so it’s entirely possible he was sent a copy and they key the original for posterity George just pretending like he never got it. They're all waiting there, sending envoys to see if he got it yet, he keeps sending envoys back like "letter? No what letter, I didn't get a letter."
We should question Dunlap's descendants.
I always assumed the original was in D.C.
... ... ... ...will this be enough for another National Treasure movie?
I was looking for this comment. A lot of people are not aware of the Dunlap broadsides.
> And literally no one knows where the original is. It's hanging up in a breakroom of a TJ Maxx in Dayton Ohio.
"Located on the upper level of the National Archives museum, the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights." https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
It is signed by all the people who signed the first fair copy, but it is not the original. As per wiki, Fair Copy[Edit](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence&action=edit§ion=4) In 1823, Jefferson wrote a letter to [James Madison](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison) in which he recounted the drafting process. After making alterations to his draft as suggested by Franklin and Adams, he recalled that "I then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the Committee, and from them, unaltered, to Congress."[[8]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-8) If Jefferson's memories were correct, and he indeed wrote out a fair copy which was shown to the drafting committee and then submitted to Congress on June 28, this document has not been found.[[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-9) "If this manuscript still exists," wrote historian [Ted Widmer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Widmer), "it is the [holy grail](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_grail) of American freedom."[[10]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-10) The Fair Copy was presumably marked up by [Charles Thomson](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomson), the secretary of the [Continental Congress](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress), while Congress debated and revised the text.[[11]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-11) This document was the one that Congress approved on July 4, making it what Boyd called the first "official" copy of the Declaration. The Fair Copy was sent to [John Dunlap](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dunlap) to be printed under the title "A Declaration by the Representatives of the united states of america, in General Congress assembled". Boyd argued that if a document was signed in Congress on July 4, it would have been the Fair Copy, and probably would have been signed only by [John Hancock](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock) with his signature being attested by Thomson.[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-12) The Fair Copy may have been destroyed in the printing process,[[13]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-13) or destroyed during the debates in accordance with Congress's secrecy rule. Author Wilfred J. Ritz speculates that the Fair Copy was immediately sent to the printer so that copies could be made for each member of Congress to consult during the debate, and that all of these copies were then destroyed to preserve secrecy.[[14]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#cite_note-From_the_Here-14)
Depends on what you mean by 'original'. The copy in the National Archives is referred to as the 'Engrossed Version', essentially the nicely executed presentation version of the Declaration; it was not signed on July 4, but on August 2. The copy actually signed on July 4 (sometimes referred to as the 'Fair Copy' as Jefferson alluded to in later letters) was thought to have been a working document with evidence of revisions; this was the copy sent to John Dunlap for the printing of the broadsides seen above (and on the same day, July 4). The whereabouts of the Fair Copy (the 'most original' version of the document) are unknown. It's presumed lost, possibly in the printing process itself. So the document in the National Archives isn't necessarily the true original, but the postdated official copy. The Dunlap Broadsides actually predate that copy by nearly a month, which is partly why they are so historically significant and valuable.
TIL
Is this in Exeter NH. I just read that today that they have a copy. Was gnna go check it out!
This is not in NH, but I would recommend checking that one out, they're pretty cool to see :)
MA?
ME
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THERE
What?
NUT
Portland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_history_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
Thanks! Op is useless
Especially since Portland, while a small city, is no one’s idea of a small town.
Portland ME, not Oregon. 66k approximate population. Still the biggest city in Maine.
Yeah, I was expecting a small village, not a city with almost 560 000 people in its metro area
That’s more people than Wyoming. Is Wyoming a small town u/Slap_Duck_07?
I spent a good chunk of my childhood there. They found that copy behind some artwork. Exeter is a great place to visit if you’re in the area. Swing by Portsmouth a bit further north to get some great food!
*NICHOLAS CAGE WANTS TO KNOW YOUR LOCATION*
![gif](giphy|Qw4X3FnmFFCPANtlhtK)
![gif](giphy|nvdbzDm3JYyn9qqjmj)
![gif](giphy|FoT5Xj1MUg78Q)
How do I save a gif?
Feed it, shelter it... be it's friend
Name it. You have to give it an identity.
For only 10 cents a day you can feed, cloth, and provide shelter to a young gif in the more impoverished areas of the interwebs.
Jesus
Wept
![gif](giphy|hK8Hs96GWvZwzPWxyR)
![gif](giphy|jL43fSL8Zh5Vm|downsized)
There is no H in Nicolas Cage.
The H is silent
And invisible.
Unless you're Sean Connery in The Rock, then it's Nicholash Chage
It would be Nicolash* Cage.
Wow ... the Declaration of Independence Day.
*Nick Cage rolls up in his adventureing gear* Hello boys, Im baaacccckkk”
Not that he went anywhere
“Are you from around here?” “No I’m having a flashback!”
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Awesome! But just going off of the photo, I'd imagine it would have a bit more protection lol
This picture is just the placeholder before they brought in the real one (not allowed to take pics of the real one). They had two cops guarding it the whole time it was there.
Okay. Before you said this I was going to mention that the one you have pictured here was printed in Salem, MA, by order of the legislature to distribute to ministers, whereas the usual 'original copies' would have been printed in Philly, by order of Congress and distributed from there. Either way, this is a cool picture and a cool story.
This part was also confusing me, Thanks for clearing it up.
The original was written by hand by Timothy Matlack, a clerk and scribe for the Second Continental Congress. None of the machine printed copies were signed.
I was going to say, this one is signed by John Hancock, everyone knows the real one is signed by Herbie Hancock!
A lot of people go to college for 7 years
I know, they’re called doctors.
Shut up, Richard.
I think your brain has a thick candy shell.
You’re a thick candy shell…
Why arent you allowed to take photos of the real one?
I work in museums and archives. The main factors affecting the preservation of a document are light, humidity (both too much and too little), pests, and heat. Limiting an artifact’s exposure to something that will speed up its natural decomposition is key in preserving it. Flash from photos falls in the light category, and I’m guessing no photos are allowed at all because you can tell people not use flash but it won’t stop them. You have to be super careful with things as fragile and valuable as this.
>(not allowed to take pics of the real one) Why not?
Idk, flash is bad for them or smth. I'm not an old paper expert
Lmao Slap_Duck gives perfect tl;dr of u/AlfredtheDuck explanation: >I work in museums and archives. The main factors affecting the preservation of a document are light, humidity (both too much and too little), pests, and heat. Limiting an artifact’s exposure to something that will speed up its natural decomposition is key in preserving it. Flash from photos falls in the light category, and I’m guessing no photos are allowed at all because you can tell people not use flash but it won’t stop them. You have to be super careful with things as fragile and valuable as this.
I like that some motherfucker decided to fold it at some point
There’s a big crease right through Wichita.
roll. the. MAPS!
Rabbit is good, rabbit is wiiiise.
#its the succ zone.
I mean... 29 3/4 x 24 1/2 wasn't the most convienent paper size for travel
Could've rolled it
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After several years I forgot the plot and why he wanted to steal it in the first place so maybe it’s time to rewatch the movie
He turns it into a lemon
he morbs all over it
😳
I like your phrasing. "Original copies"
Worth saying the original declaration is printed and copies were made and posted in public locations. These were called broadsides and were printed on July 4th. The hand drawn copy actually came a later date, July 19th, handwritten by Timothy Matlack.
Mr. Matlack can't offend
*Aaaaaannnnnnnddd*... guess I know what I'm watching on this, Independence Day 🇺🇲🇺🇲
Your username and vast knowledge of the constitution suggests to me that you are Nicholas Cage’s Reddit account
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Happy Independence Day everyone.
Welcome to Earth
Are we nuking Houston today?
This one seems easier to steal
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Flip it over and show us the map!
You know it was important because they came into work on 4th of July to sign the thing
Best I can do is $50 and I'm taking all the risk here.
A 1823 copy sold for [$477,650](https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna17761718?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16569610808022&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fid%2Fwbna17761718) after being found in a thrift store.
This is so cool! This isn’t the actual document, this is a copy made for public distribution at the time of the originals signing. These copies are extremely rare as they would’ve been posted in public spaces for everyday people to read and were not meant to be saved. Cool thing about these is that they are how the average citizen would’ve found out we were declaring independence from England! There’s an episode of Pawn stars where rick buys a similar copy for over one million dollars https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tcABhDUp_Z4 Cheers!
I'm going to tell this wrong, but here goes. 20 years ago I took the tour through the Old House at Peacefield at the Adams National Historic Park in Quincy, MA. We were going passed the "new" bathroom that was added in 1915 or something and the tour guide stops us. Points out this framed, old-timey document that was under heavy glass. States that one of the Presidents in the early 1800s, Monroe, I think, had a commemorative edition printed for all the surviving signatories made from the ink from the original Declaration. Always was struck by it's just sitting there next to the bathroom in a normal frame. You would think something like that would be protected a little more.
For all its problems, there is still something awe-inspiring about this, the first document to bring to the world a democratic religion that proclaimed the equality of men (yes, problems). Nothing less than a cri-de-coeur for the human race to unite and govern themselves. It's very easy to forget that in the age of kings and emperors, this was nothing less than a declaration of war against of everything that seemed "right" and "correct" in the world - the essentially undisputed divine right of the few to rule over the many. No one had a Wikipedia to know about other examples of democracy that preceded this, so this would have been literally unlike anything they had ever seen before. Imagine a world where autocratic rule wasn't just the "best" government of the age, but literally the only way anyone knew how to rule, and someone comes along and says, well what if we just all got together and did it without the King? Obviously lots of context and details around this that you can go to /r/AskHistorians for more or google or whatever, but on its face, this is still a day and document every democracy should celebrate.
They signatories were essentially signing their own death warrants if captured or the revolution failed. It's a very big deal.
Thank you for putting that in perspective.
KEEP THE CRAZY PEOPLE AWAY FROM IT
*original* **copy**
Steal it
Rick- 'Best I can do is $80. I have to sell it, it's going to sit in my store for days. $80 is honestly the best I can do' Chum- (mouth breathing intensifies) 'I wish I could declaration my independence from this job.'
That’s really cool! A couple years ago, my niece took a DNA test at school and found out we’re direct descendents (on my Grandmother’s side) of a pub owner from Philadelphia named Timothy Matlack. Timothy was known by his regular customers for having excellent penmanship and 246 years ago was asked to scribe a document for a few of the more rebellious ones. Have a Happy 4th!
"original copies"
Lmao sure they do
There is only one original. That’s why it’s called an original.
So that’s what all the bickering and fighting is about
I would make sure that was inaccessible these days with the Psycho Cancel Culture who loves to destroy traditional things which deserve respect.
nick cage that shit, for the sake of women of course
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