June 11-27, 1776: The Second Continental Congress elects Thomas Jefferson to draft a document declaring independence from Great Britain. He writes the first draft in a little less than three weeks.
June 28-July 3, 1776: The Congress reviews, debates and revises the document. On July 2, British fleet and army arrive in New York, and Congress declares independence.
July 4, 1776: Congress adopts the document as the official Declaration of Independence.
Aug. 2, 1776: Members of the Congress begin signing the engrossed (officially inscribed) copy of the Declaration.
'The Dunlap Broadsides'
As soon as the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, it needed to spread the word. On the evening of July 4, John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer, rushed out several hundred copies of the Declaration – the ink was still wet when some of the copies were folded – to be carried throughout the colonies. These prints come to be known as “The Dunlap Broadsides.”
Only a few of the “Broadsides” still exist. The document displayed on the aircraft carrier Midway tomorrow was discovered in 1989, tucked behind a painting bought at a flea market for $4. TV and movie producer Norman Lear and Internet entrepreneur David Hayden bought the document in an online Sotheby's auction.
– PENNY LINGO
