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Manuscript/Mixed Material Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July 1776.

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About this Item

Title

  • Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July 1776.

Created / Published

  • 4 July 1776

Headings

  • -  Presidents
  • -  Army officers
  • -  George III, King of Great Britain (1738-1820)
  • -  Revolution, 1775-1783 (U.S.)
  • -  Continental Army
  • -  Continental Congress
  • -  Declaration of Independence (1776)
  • -  Dunlap, John (1747-1812)
  • -  Hancock, John (1737-1793)
  • -  Resolutions, legislative
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Reproduction number: A121 (color slide; page 1); A122 (color slide; page 2)
  • -  Among the resolutions passed by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776 was one which called for the president of the Congress, John Hancock (1737-1793), to send to several commanding officers of the Continental army copies of the Declaration of Independence, which had just been adopted by Congress and printed by John Dunlap (1747-1812). Hancock sent this copy of the resolutions together with the "Dunlap Broadside" of the Declaration to Gen. George Washington (1732-1799) on 6 July. Washington had the Declaration read to his assembled troops in New York on 9 July. Later that night, the Americans destroyed a bronze and lead statue of King George III (1738-1820), which stood at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green. Washington's personal copy of the Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence remains in the Manuscript Division's George Washington Papers.

Source Collection

  • George Washington Papers

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress provides access to manuscripts at the Library of Congress for educational and research purposes and makes no warranty with regard to their use for other purposes. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may be content that is protected under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.

The Diaries of George Washington

The following statement is made by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, the copyright owners of The Diaries of George Washington.

Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976-79; a series of The Papers of George Washington. Copyright 1976-79 by the Rector and Visitors of University of Virginia. Used by permission of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for the correctness and completeness of the images and texts as they appear in this online collection.

University Press of Virginia External

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July. 4 July, 1776. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.090/.

APA citation style:

(1776) Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July. 4 July. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.090/.

MLA citation style:

Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July. 4 July, 1776. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mcc.090/>.