Some of the earliest printed versions of the Declaration of Independence carried more authority than others. For instance, soon after the Declaration arrived in Boston, it was sent 14 miles north to Salem. There, Ezekiel Russell published the broadside on display here as an official state copy “by order of authority” of the revolutionary government of Massachusetts. The official Massachusetts printing also included the text of an order from the revolutionary government’s Executive Council stating that copies were to be distributed across the state, read aloud, and filed away in town archives.
In January 1777, the Continental Congress itself reissued the Declaration in Baltimore, ordering copies to be sent to the governments of each state. This, Congress’s second official printing, was produced by Mary Katherine Goddard, the first woman to print the Declaration of Independence. Goddard’s broadside included the names of all of the signers for the first time in print. In order to emphasize the official status of the Goddard broadside, all copies were certified by John Hancock, as president of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, as secretary. Both Hancock and Thomson signed each copy by hand.
What makes a piece of paper official? In 1776, what would a reader need to see in order to trust that the Declaration of Independence was real?
Across multiple versions, how do the different formats, titles, signatures, and endorsements convey the authority of a document to break apart political bonds within the British Empire and create an entirely new nation? What do you need to see to believe?