Beschreibung:

A rare, contemporary broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence [John Rodgers, c.14-16 July 1776] DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE – In Congress, July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness … We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, John Hancock President. Attest, Charles Thompson [sic], Secretary. [Salem, Massachusetts: printed by John Rogers at the Printing-Office of Ezekiel Russell, 14-16 July 1776]. One of only six recorded copies of the first broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence printed in Massachusetts. The Copley copy. The Declaration, Thomas Jefferson later wrote, was intended ''to be an expression of the American mind,'' reflecting ''the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion'' (letter to Henry Lee, 8 May 1825). The Continental Congress, after authorizing the writing of the Declaration and approving the text submitted by Thomas Jefferson and his committee, took steps to ensure the rapid dissemination of the historic document. When the approved text was adopted on 4 July 1776, Congress directed that copies ''be sent to the several Assemblies, Conventions & Committees or Councils of Safety and that it be proclaimed in each of the United States.'' Philadelphia printer John Dunlap, working on the night of 4 July, set in type a bold broadside of the Declaration, and beginning on 5 & 6 July, John Hancock President of Congress dispatched copies to the state assemblies and to Generals George Washington and Artemas Ward. The quick dissemination of the historic text of the Declaration may be vividly traced in newspapers and broadside editions from its birthplace in Philadelphia throughout the thirteen self-proclaimed states, as rapidly as express riders and the post could carry it. Philadelphians saw this critical document published first on 6 July in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. Those in Baltimore were able to read the critical document as early as