The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 2 and adopted on July 4, 1776. Copies of the Declaration were distributed the following day. The Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first newspaper to print the Declaration on July 6, 1776. The Declaration’s first public reading was on July 8 in Philadelphia’s Independence Square, amid cheering crowds and ringing bells. When the Declaration of Independence was distributed throughout the colonies in the summer of 1776, it would be read aloud on village greens and on the steps of churches.
Here is a nice story that may or may not be true: In August 1776 when a copy of the Declaration of Independence reached the small settlement of Waxhaw, South Carolina, a nine-year-old boy who took turns as a “public reader” stood up in front of everyone and read the entire Declaration in a loud, clear voice. This boy’s name was Andrew Jackson, and many years later he would become the seventh President of the United States.
If you and your family didn’t already read the Declaration of Independence as part of your Independence Day celebration, be sure to read it aloud today! Download a FREE copy of the Declaration of Independence or view it online here.