1776 Copy of the Declaration of Independence Discovered in British Archives. Historians Say There Are Others

A new copy of the Declaration of Independence was recently discovered at the British National Archives. One of eleven surviving copies printed in Exeter, New Hampshire several weeks after July 4, 1776, it is the only copy from this collection to be found outside the U.S.

“[I]t helps show how widely distributed the Declaration was — through local printers, carried by ship captains, and eventually held by the British government,” Michael Auslin, Stanford historian and author of National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America, told National Review. “Through these various communications networks, not just Americans, but foreigners were able to learn quickly about the Continental Congress’s decision to separate from Great Britain.”