“We hold these truths to be self-evident”

Historian and author, Walter Isaacson, calls it the greatest sentence ever written. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Thomas Jefferson wrote it in the Declaration of Independence.

We are about to celebrate America’s birthday.  On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration separating the thirteen colonies from Great Britain.  It had never been done before. The United States of America was born. 

I have had the honor and privilege to see the Declaration in-person at the National Archives here in Washington several times.  It is a moving experience.  

Though we do have Jefferson’s “original Rough draught,” the copy of the final text voted on by Congress has been lost to history.

It was delivered to printer John Dunlap who printed 100-200 broadsides to be distributed to relevant groups for reading and posting.  Twenty-six are known to survive today.  No one knows what Dunlap did with the original 

So, the Dunlap broadside (approximately 15” x 19”) is actually the first copy of the Declaration.  On July 19, 1776, Congress directed that the Declaration be “engrossed” (copied in a large, formal hand) on parchment so delegates could sign it.

This was done by Timothy Matlock and it is this document that we are familiar with and is on display in the Archives. 

The parchment (animal skin) is 29 1/2” x 29.”  Matlock spent days carefully copying the text in perfectly straight lines and by August 2, 1776, it was ready for signing.  (Jefferson and John Adams maintained that the Declaration had been signed by the delegates on July 4.

The original sent to Dunlap may have been what they referred to since the engrossed copy wasn’t available yet.) 

John Hancock of Massachusetts, President of the Congress, signed first in his now familiar large, flowing hand.  Eventually, fifty-five other delegates added their signatures. 

During the Revolutionary War, the document was carried along when the Congress moved around.  There is ample evidence that it was rolled up and folded for transport.

Several copies were made with wet paper applied to transfer some of the ink.  In 1823, William Stone engraved the document and signatures on a copperplate.  It is the Stone version that is reproduced to this very day. 

During the 19th century, the signed Declaration was on display for 35 years in the Patent Department, one year at Independence Hall, and 17 years at the State Department library under uncontrolled environmental conditions.  

The Declaration bore physical witness to many years of being handled, rolled, folded, exposed to light, subjected to copy techniques, and mounted for exhibition. Over the decades, ink had sunk into the parchment, flaked off during handling and rolling the document, and been removed during the wet-transfer copy processes used to create facsimiles. 

As a result, little original ink remains. The damage to and loss of ink led someone in the past to enhance some signatures, most notably John Hancock’s bold distinct handwriting. 

So, while this original signed Declaration of Independence is far from pristine, it still symbolizes the ideals for which this nation was founded and to which we are still committed 250 years later. 

I hope all of you will be able to come to Washington someday and see it up close along with the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The Declaration concludes “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” 

May we all do the same. Happy Birthday, America! 

Contact Rick at dave@tri-citytimes.com