Object/Work
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Catalog Level: item
Type:
manuscript
engrossed
copy
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Controlled list
Authority
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Classification
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Terms:
manuscripts
American
works
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Controlled list
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Titles or Names
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Text: Declaration of Independence
Preference:
preferred
Type:
repository
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Free text
Controlled list
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Creation
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Creator Description: scribe: probably
Timothy Matlack (American politician, engrosser, 1730-1829);
author: Thomas Jefferson (American, 1743-1826); edited
by Benjamin Franklin (American statesman, 1706-1790),
John Adams (American statesman, 1735-1826), and others
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Qualifier: probably
Identity: Matlack, Timothy
Role: scribe
Identity: Jefferson, Thomas
Role: author
Identity: Franklin, Benjamin
Role: editor
Identity: Adams, John
Role: editor
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Authority
Authority
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Creation Date:
dated 4 July 1776; created before 2 August 1776
Earliest:
04-07-1776 Latest:
02-08-1776
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Free text
Controlled format
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Measurements
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Dimensions Description: 75.56 x 62.23
cm (29 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches)
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Free text
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Value: 75.56 Unit: cm
Type: length
Value: 62.23 Unit: cm
Type: width
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Controlled list and controlled
format
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Materials and Techniques
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Description: ink on parchment
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Free text
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Material Names:
ink
Role: medium
parchment
Role: support
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Authority
and controlled list |
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Inscriptions/Marks
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Transcription or Description: text
reads: In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. / The unanimous
Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
/ 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...
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Subject Matter
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Indexing terms:
textual
work
independence
social
contract
Continental
Congress
colonies
England
United
States
separation
dissolution
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Authority
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Related Works
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Relationship Type: based on
Related Object/Work Label/Identification: Jefferson's
Original Rough Draft; June 1776; Jefferson Papers,
Library of Congress (Washington, DC, United States)
Relationship Type: copied
Related Object/Work Label/Identification:
Washington's Copy of the Dunlap Broadside;
John Dunlap; 4 July 1776; Washington Papers, Library
of Congress (Washington, DC, United States)
Citation: Goff, John Dunlap Broadside:
The First Printing of the Declaration of Independence
(1976)
Relationship Type: copied
Related Object/Work Label/Identification: Stone
plate copy; William J. Stone, for John Quincy Adams;
1820; National Archives (Washington, DC, United States)
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System generated
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Descriptive Note
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Text: It is believed that Timothy Matlack
made the engrossed copy, which was approved by . Jefferson
had written the draft. He relied heavily on his own
work on the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's
Virginia Declaration of Rights (from 12 June 1776),
and various state and local documents calling for
independence. John Hancock, the President of the Congress,
was the first to sign the engrossed copy. He used
a bold signature centered below the text, in accordance
with prevailing custom. The other delegates began
to sign at the right below the text, their signatures
arranged according to the geographic location of the
states.
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Citation: National Archives and Record
Administration online
Page: accessed 5 July 2005
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Authority
Free text
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Current Location
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Repository Name/Geographic Location:
National Archives and Record Administration (Washington,
DC, United States)
Repository Number:
unavailable
Gallery/Shelf: Rotunda for the Charters
of Freedom
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Authority
Free text
Free text
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Revised 28 August 2006
