Declaration's Genesis, July 4th's Birth
Exploring the Declaration of Independence: Details on Its Creation, 56 Signers, and America's First July 4th Celebrations
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The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 — but that date tells only part of the story. The document went through 86 revisions, took weeks to fully sign, and spent nearly 175 years without a permanent safe home, according to Daily News.
Today, the original parchment sits in a climate-controlled vault at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It is kept at exactly 67 degrees Fahrenheit inside argon-filled cases. Getting it there took centuries of close calls, sloppy handling, and one very daring rescue from a British invasion.
Jefferson Wrote It, But Congress Rewrote Most of It
In June 1776, Congress appointed a "Committee of Five" to draft the declaration. The members were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson did most of the writing. He worked from his rented rooms in Philadelphia over about two weeks, according to Press Enterprise.
Congress then made 86 changes to Jefferson's first draft. One major cut was a 168-word passage condemning the slave trade. Delegates from South Carolina and Georgia pushed to remove it. The final document had roughly 1,337 words. Of the 56 men who eventually signed it, 8 were born in England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales, Daily Breeze reported.
July 4 Was the Approval Date — Not the Signing Day
Many people assume all 56 delegates signed the Declaration on July 4. They did not. On July 4, Congress only approved the final wording. The actual signing ceremony happened on August 2, 1776, when most delegates put their names on the parchment, according to SB Sun.
The first man to sign was John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress. His signature was famously large. The parchment itself was written by Timothy Matlack, a professional penman chosen for his precise "copperplate" handwriting. The first organized July Fourth celebration did not happen until 1777, in Philadelphia and Boston, OC Register noted.
A Clerk Saved the Document From British Flames in 1814
During the War of 1812, British troops marched on Washington. A State Department clerk named Stephen Pleasonton acted fast. He packed the Declaration into a linen bag and hauled it to a gristmill in Virginia — just before the British burned government buildings. He got no official order to do it. He acted on his own.
That rescue was one of many close calls. For much of the 1800s, the document sat on public display at the Patent Office with no climate control. Direct sunlight faded the ink badly. The document was not moved to the National Archives until 1952, arriving in a formal military procession.
A $5 Million Vault Finally Gave the Parchment a Safe Home
In 2003, the National Archives completed a major conservation project called "Charters of Freedom." Workers re-encased the Declaration in new high-tech containers filled with argon gas. The total cost was about $5 million. The vault can be lowered into a reinforced concrete shelter in seconds if needed.
Still, the damage from centuries of poor care cannot be undone. The ink is permanently faded. What visitors see today is a much dimmer version of the 1776 original. Preserving what remains now requires constant monitoring of temperature, light, and humidity — a level of care the document did not receive for most of its existence.
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