This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Declaration of Independence travel and survival through history
The article traces the parchment’s long, guarded journey across the U.S. and its evolving custody. It notes its nonoriginal status, travels by wagon and ship, and shifts in the drafting and signing process led by Jefferson and Adams, with Dunlap’s broadside and Matlack’s engrossing. It ends with its move to the National Archives in Washington and the founding era’s tense politics.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington, D.C
New York
Louisville
National Archives
Washington
Richard Henry Lee
Virginia
Continental Congress
Pennsylvania State House
Independence Hall
Philadelphia
Lee
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Indiana
University of Virginia
American Philosophical Society
Historical Societies of
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Her Majesty's Public Record Office
London
Congress