Primary Documents in American History

Declaration of Independence

Broadside. In Congress, July 4, 1776, a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, July 4, 1776. Broadside Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence, severing the colonies' ties to the British Crown.

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875

This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals.

The text of the Declaration of Independence appears in the Journals of the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

Additional references to the Declaration of Independence can be found in the Journals of the Continental Congress on the following dates in 1776:

• June 7 - Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution urging Congress to declare independence from Great Britain.
• June 11 - Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence.
• June 28 - A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence was read in Congress.
• July 1-4 - Congress debated and revised the Declaration of Independence.
• July 2 - Congress declared independence by adopting the Lee Resolution.
• July 4 - Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
• July 4 - Congress ordered that the Declaration of Independence be printed (Dunlap Broadsides).
• July 19 - Congress ordered the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.
• August 2 - The engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence was signed by most of the delegates. Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton all signed on a later date.

A printed copy of the final version of the Declaration of Independence is available in the United States Statutes at Large and Elliot's Debates.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789

This collection contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.

• In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America. In 1777, Mary Katherine Goddard printed the first official copy of the Declaration of Independence with the names of the signers attached.

George Washington Papers

The complete George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 65,000 documents.

• George Washington, July 9, 1776, General Orders. Washington announced the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Army in New York.
• Continental Congress, July 4, 1776, Printed Declaration of Independence .

Search this collection to find additional documents related to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.

James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1859

James Madison (1751-1836) is one of 23 presidents whose papers are held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items.

• James Madison, June 7, 1776. John C. Payne's copy of Thomas Jefferson notes on debates of the Continental Congress. These notes include Jefferson's copy of the Declaration of Independence as amended by Congress.

Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827

The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 27,000 documents.

• Continental Congress, June 7, 1776, Notes on Debates and Proceedings on Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation.
• Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence.
• Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, Draft Fragment of Declaration of Independence.
• Thomas Jefferson, et al, July 4, 1776, Copy of Declaration of Independence.

Search this collection to find additional papers related to the Declaration of Independence.

Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years

In honor of the Manuscript Division's centennial, its staff has selected for online display approximately ninety representative documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

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

America's Library

Meet Amazing Americans: Thomas Jefferson - The Declaration of Independence

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Declaration of Independence

This online exhibition contains Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration, with emendations by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Also includes a fragment of an early draft of the document, a letter to Roger Weightman with Jefferson's reflections on the Declaration, Jefferson's draft of the Virginia Constitution, and an excerpt from Henry Home, Lord Kames' Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion regarding the pursuit of happiness.

Creating the United States

This online exhibition offers insights into how the nation’s founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self–governing country. The exhibition includes a section on creating the Declaration of Independence.

Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents

This exhibition includes a timeline of events related to the Declaration and a detailed essay on the drafting of the documents. Also contains images of the Dunlap Broadside and a number of prints portraying the debating and signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Today in History

April 12, 1776

The Provincial Congress of North Carolina authorized its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence.

July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was enacted on July 4, 1776.

Webcasts

Publishing the Declaration of Independence

Robin Shields discusses the American Declaration of Independence, focusing on its distribution through early American newspapers. Fifteen newspapers containing the Declaration from the Library of Congress' Serial and Government Publication Division's American newspaper collection are profiled. Shields highlights the importance of newspapers for the success of the American Revolution and the influence newspaper printers had on the independence movement.

External Web Sites

America's Founding Documents: Declaration of Independence, National Archives and Records Administration

Declaration of Independence, USHistory.org

Declaration Resources Project from Harvard University

Our Documents, Declaration of Independence, National Archives and Records Administration

Selected Bibliography

Armitage, David. The Declaration of Independence: A Global History. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007. [Catalog Record]

Boyd, Julian P. The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of the Text. Rev. ed. Charlottesville: International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello in association with the Library of Congress, 1999. [Catalog Record]

Dupont, Christian Y., and Peter S. Onuf, eds. Declaring Independence: The Origin and Influence of America’s Founding Document. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Library, 2008. [Catalog Record]

Ferris, Robert G., ed. Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: United States Department. of the Interior, National Park Service, 1975. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Friedenwald, Herbert. The Declaration of Independence: An Interpretation and an Analysis. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Gerber, Scott Douglas, ed. The Declaration of Independence: Origins and Impact. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002. [Catalog Record]

Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Knopf, 1997. [Catalog Record]

Shain, Barry Alan, ed. The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context: American State Papers, Petitions, Proclamations, and Letters of the Delegates to the First National Congress. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014. [Catalog Record]

Younger Readers

Fradin, Dennis B. The Signers: The Fifty-Six Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence. New York: Walker, 2002. [Catalog Record]

Freedman, Russell. Give Me Liberty!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence. New York: Holiday House, 2000. [Catalog Record]

Gragg, Rod. The Declaration of Independence: The Story Behind America’s Founding Document and the Men Who Created It. Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 2005. [Catalog Record]

Graves, Kerry A. The Declaration of Independence: The Story Behind America's Founding Document. Philadelphia: Chelsea Clubhouse, 2004. [Catalog Record]

Raum, Elizabeth. The Declaration of Independence. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2013. [Catalog Record]

Rissman, Rebecca. The Declaration of Independence. Minneapolis: ABDO Publishing Company, 2013. [Catalog Record]