But if the Declaration of Independence signed by delegates of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4th, then why was it printed in Boston on July 18th – almost two full weeks later? That’s because Bostonians did not hear the stirring words of the Declaration until it was read from the balcony of the Old State House on July 18. And for those who were not part of that large crowd, it was also published in Boston on the same date. Three Boston newspaper publishers--John Gill, Edward E. Powars, and Nathaniel Willis--came together to print the Declaration as a broadside and in newspapers. Similar to modern-day posters, the broadside was a large piece of paper with printing just on one side that was posted and shared throughout the city. To ensure that the news of the Declaration spread even farther, its text was printed in Gill’s Continental Journal and Powars and Willis’ The New-England Chronicle, the copy of which we have in our Special Collections holdings. These are the only two newspapers in Boston that published the Declaration of Independence, though it appeared throughout Massachusetts in newspapers in Newburyport, Watertown, Worcester, and Salem.
In a previous blog post, we wrote more in-depth about this item. Click here to read more about how the Declaration text traveled from Philadelphia to Boston, an interesting fact about all of the “f”s that make their way into colonial printing, and a note on the items’ condition.
This July, celebrate America’s birthday by visiting us for the rare opportunity to see a 1776 version of the Declaration of Independence in person!
Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian
