The Declaration of Independence, 1852 compilation by the newspaper 'Brother Jonathan'.
The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson with early amendments by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. Congress made a number of changes before it adopted the Declaration on 4 July 1776 in Philadelphia.
This is a copy of an 1852 4 July commemorative issue produced by the New York newspaper 'Brother Jonathan'.
The newspaper reproduced Jefferson's early hand-written draft, but then added the signatures of members of Congress to give the effect of the copy which was famously signed by them.
[NLS reference: 7.74]
This item featured in our display about American independence, which ran from 4 July to 16 September 2012.