1 10 4 https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/f0c458e657e5b638c8b8b4ee2d647833.JPG afbcbe4388d84a87c1dab719c47b7f2f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Williamsburg, July 27. Thursday the 25th instant the Declaration of Independence of the United Colonies was proclaimed here…" Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Virginia Gazette Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 27,1776 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 25-42 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Williamsburg, Va. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available John Dixon and William Hunter Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=36">AAS Catalog Record</a> Description An account of the resource Public readings of the newly minted Declaration of Independence took place in taverns, <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/30">churches</a>, <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/40">town greens</a>, or anywhere else people could gather. This July 27, 1776, issue of the Virginia Gazette records a public reading of the Declaration that took place in Williamsburg two days earlier. It was “received with universal applause, under a discharge of cannon, firing of small arms, illuminations in the evening, &c. &c.” The news from Williamsburg also notes that, a week earlier, Virginia’s provincial council had ordered that the two printers in Williamsburg publish the text of the Declaration in their respective newspapers, which this Virginia Gazette, published by John Dixon (d. 1791) and William Hunter, did in its issue of July 20. The other Virginia Gazette, printed by Alexander Purdie (1743-79), included both the council’s directive and the text of the Declaration in its issue of July 26. To further ensure the spread of the Declaration, the council also ordered that the “sheriff of each county in this Commonwealth proclaim the same at the door of his courthouse, the first court day after he shall have received the same.”  Declaration of Independence Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/0978eec9aa1d74ec6d229655ee1a3690.JPG 7a47c7a4711954d110420179b62403a2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Worcester, July 24…On Monday last a number of patriotic gentlemen of this town…assembled on the green near the liberty pole…" Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Massachusetts Spy, or, American Oracle of Liberty Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 24, 1776 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 44 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Worcester, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=152">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/cropped/152_0003.JPG">View image of full page</a> Description An account of the resource Public readings of the newly minted Declaration of Independence took place in taverns, <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/30">churches</a>, town greens, or anywhere else people could gather. In New England, the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence is believed to have taken place in Worcester, Massachusetts. Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831)—a Bostonian printer who had <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/show/19">resettled in Worcester at the beginning of the war</a>—is said to have intercepted a post rider bound for Boston carrying a copy of the Declaration and subsequently read it to a large crowd from the roof of the portico of the Worcester Meeting House (later known as Old South Church). Several days later, on July 22, a bigger and more formal celebration took place, coverage of which appeared in the July 24, 1776, issue of Thomas’s newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy. The article describes how “a number of patriotic gentlemen of this town, animated by a love of their country, and to shew their approbation of the measure lately taken by the Grand Council of America, assembled on the green near the liberty pole,” where they displayed the colors of the thirteen colonies, rang bells, beat drums, and read the Declaration of Independence to “a large and respectable body (among whom were the Select-men and Committee of Correspondence) assembled on the occasion, who testified their approbation by repeated huzzas, firing of musquetry and cannon, bonfires, and other demonstrations of joy.” They followed these demonstrations by removing the king’s arms from the courthouse and burning them, after which a “select company of the Sons of Freedom” went to a tavern that had been known as the King’s Arms and tore down the sign proclaiming it as such. According to this article, the tavern keeper—a woman named Mary Stearns—“cheerfully complied” with their wishes. The crowd then celebrated by drinking in her tavern to <a href="http://pastispresent.org/2016/good-sources/raise-a-glass-to-freedom-independence-and-perpetual-itching/">twenty-four separate toasts</a>, among which were toasts for “Sore Eyes to all Tories, and a Chesnut [sic] Burr for an Eye Stone” and “Perpetual itching without the benefit of scratching to the Enemies of America.”     Declaration of Independence Isaiah Thomas Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/088f5c5f20a15e7d122e41347b00db99.JPG 6a827fb26c1416f673f15b96f18bcaff Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource First printing of the Declaration of Independence in a newspaper Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 6, 1776 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 26 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Philadelphia, Pa. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Printed by Benjamin Towne Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=156">AAS Catalog Record</a> Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Pennsylvania Evening Post Description An account of the resource The Continental Congress charged five men with the responsibility to commit to paper the American colonies’ Declaration of Independence from Britain: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), John Adams (1735-1826), Robert Livingston (1746-1813), and Roger Sherman (1721-93). Most scholars today now view the authorship of this document to be highly collaborative both among these five individuals (who made forty-seven alterations to Jefferson’s original draft) and among the members of Congress, who made another thirty-nine alterations after voting for independence on July 2, 1776. After the Declaration was approved on July 4, it was immediately set in type as a broadside and printed overnight by John Dunlap, the official printer to Congress. Copies of the printed version were immediately distributed to all of the colonies, where in some instances they were <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/30">reprinted by local printers</a> so that by July 18, twenty-four newspapers had republished the text of the Declaration. The Pennsylvania Evening Post, printed by Benjamin Towne (d. 1793), was the first newspaper to include the text in its pages.  Click the image below to browse the full issue.  <iframe src="https://fliphtml5.com/embed/dist/html/embed-cover.html#!/?w=0&bc=#000&p=1&l=http://online.fliphtml5.com/xohe/uwuj/&t=http://online.fliphtml5.com/xohe/uwuj/files/shot.jpg" frameborder="0" width="276" height="350"></iframe> Benjamin Franklin Declaration of Independence John Adams Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/efd9e1952e6e20cb781be803059596d1.jpg df8f7cb6092a714348b8a705f6445d26 https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/a35b54bec250f0082297c6292f3b9dd2.jpg 54f29e2dac2fda97f7f6d53cb6923bf5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Broadside Title A name given to the resource In Congress, July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1776 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 52 x 40 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Salem, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available E. Russell, by order of authority. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=329723">AAS Catalog Record</a> Description An account of the resource Although it is now the calligraphic version of the Declaration—commissioned by Congress and signed by all the members after it had been accepted by the colonies—that is most familiar today, it was actually through the printed version that the colonies first learned about and agreed to support the Declaration of Independence. To help disseminate the news, the first printed versions of the Declaration were <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/40">read aloud to gathered crowds</a>, instantly and exponentially expanding their reach. They also acted as copy for printers throughout the colonies, who immediately started creating their own broadsides and reprinting the text of the <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/39">Declaration in newspapers</a>. The important ways in which printed and oral dissemination of the Declaration were intertwined in these early days is illustrated in this broadside edition of the Declaration, printed in Salem, Massachusetts, byEzekiel Russell (1743-96) less than two weeks after the Declaration’s approval. Although very similar to other early broadside versions of the Declaration, it has an added paragraph at the bottom beneath the “signatures” of John Hancock (1737-93) and the secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thompson (1729-1824). This section states that the Revolutionary Council of the State of Massachusetts ordered this broadside printed and a copy sent “to the Ministers of each Parish, of every Denomination, within this State,” so that they could read the Declaration to each of their respective congregations. After doing so, they were to deliver their copies to the “Clerks of their several Towns or Districts,” who were “required to record the same in their respective Town, or District Books, there to remain as a perpetual Memorial thereof.” With the vast majority of citizens attending church services, the governing body of Massachusetts—now given additional authority with the approval of the Declaration—knew that this would be the best way to reach as many people as possible. Although in most cases we have no way of knowing if these orders were followed, in this instance a small scrap of paper accompanying the broadside contains a handwritten note that reads, “The original copy of the Declaration of Independence, sent by the Council at Boston to the Town of Charlton July 17, 1776 and there read by the minister, Rev. Caleb Curtis, as directed. (See the order below the Declaration.) E. I. Comins.” The Reverend Caleb Curtis was the town’s first minister, and he was a staunch Whig and active in local politics, serving as a member of Charlton’s Committee of Correspondence. He also preached before the Charlton militia, providing a blessing to them as they headed off to fight the regulars at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Given this background it follows that Curtis would have been eager to read the Declaration of Independence before his congregation at the first opportunity. Broadside Committee of Correspondence Declaration of Independence John Hancock