July 6th, 1776
Benjamin Towne’s Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first newspaper to print the Declaration of Independence, on July 6th, 1776.
The Pennsylvania Evening Post was distributed far and wide, even by members of the Continental Congress. “I have this Moment folded up a Magazine, and an Evening Post,” John Adams wrote to Abigail on July 7, “and sent it off, by an Express, who could not wait for me to write a single Line.”
Declaration of Independence : A Brief History
Resolution and Declaration
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, proposed a resolution calling for American independence. The Congress appointed a Committee of Five—John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson—to draft an appropriate message. Written by Jefferson, with minor edits by Franklin and Adams, the draft was submitted to Congress on June 28.
The Declaration was a formal explanation of why the Continental Congress voted to declare American independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
The Declaration justified the independence of the colonies, citing 27 colonial grievances, against the king and asserting certain natural and legal rights, including a right of revolution.
The Continental Congress ordered that the draft "lie on the table" and then methodically edited Jefferson's primary document for the next two days, shortening it, removing unnecessary wording, and improving sentence structure. One significant change was dropping Jefferson's assertion that King George III had forced slavery onto the colonies, done so to appease South Carolina and Georgia.
Jefferson later wrote in his autobiography that Congress had "mangled" his draft version, but the Declaration that was finally produced was "the majestic document that inspired both contemporaries and posterity".
Congress adopted the final text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
John Dunlap and Benjamin Towne made some of the first printings of the Declaration, most likely because of their proximity to the Congressional meetings in Philadelphia. Dunlap is documented as the first printer to print a broadside flyer including the text of the Declaration. He printed 200 copies of his broadside on July 4, 1776, the day the Declaration’s wording was approved.
Towne produced the first printing of the words of the document in the July 6 edition of his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, just two days after they were penned.
At the time the Declaration was adopted by Congress, the American Revolution had already been going on for over a year. Even after the war broke out, there was no immediate movement toward independence; the war was more so a reaction to years of negative relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain.
The document was meant not only to reach the King, and colonists, but to announce to the world that the colonies were now a new country.
The Declaration continues to be an influential and globally impactful statement on human rights, inspiring people world wide against tyranny and oppression.
Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July 2025!
John Stanton
John is the founder of The Stanton Group WP. With more than three decades of experience in the financial services industry, and through SeaCrest Wealth Management, LLC, serves as the Registered Investment Advisor Representative for clients, focusing on financial planning and the investment strategies to support their financial plan.
Based in Naperville, Illinois, John serves clients in Naperville, Plainfield, Darien, Aurora, Geneva, St Charles, and throughout the Chicagoland area.
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