Smithsonian Magazine

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence Was Breaking News. Here’s How the Founding Document Reached the American Public

In January 1777, Baltimore printer Mary Katharine Goddard published the first copies of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers’ names. By then, the document was already old news.
JSTOR

Who Wrote the Declaration of Independence?

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. We now credit Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration’s authorship, but that was not the case on that momentous ...
The University of Chicago Chronicle

As America turns 250, how the Declaration of Independence endures

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a document introducing a new nation to the world, composed of 13 “free and independent states.” This Declaration of Independence, read to crowds ...
The Conversation

Declaration of Independence’s promises ring out today as loudly as they did for Lincoln, FDR and through 249 years of US history

The Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary in 2026 is certain to be a time of national reflection. Americans tend to look to the Constitution to assess whether the nation is living up to its ...
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

The Declaration of Independence

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to declare independence from Great Britain.