The Declaration of Independence

We received a bonus to our visit to Pearl Harbor: we got to view one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence! We had planned on going to Pearl Harbor on Wednesday, and then saw on the news Sunday night that a copy of the Declaration of Independence was on tour and would be at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday and Wednesday . . . the same week we were in Hawaii! We were very excited about this and thought it was neat that it happened the week we were there.

This original copy on tour is one of 200 copies printed hours after the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was finished. It was discovered in 1989 in the back of a picture frame that was purchased at a flea market for $4.00. It was then purchased by Norman Lear in 2000 for $8.1 million. It is the twenty-fifth remaining copy in existence today, and is the only one that tours.

The copy is called a "Dunlap Broadside." The Dunlap Broadsides were the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence. The term "broadside" refers to a sheet of paper printed on one or both sides, much like a newspaper page today. The average size of a Dunlap Broadside is about 20" high and 16" wide. On July 4, 1776, about 200 broadsides of the text were printed at John Dunlap's shop and rushed to the 13 colonies and to the army to be read aloud to the people.