The First
Impression.

1. The first printing, July 4–5, 1776Library of Congress / National Archives

   The surviving printed broadside and the dispatch of copies on July 5. Historical print-run and survivor counts are intentionally omitted.

2. Jefferson's original Rough draughtLibrary of Congress, Jefferson Papers

   Draft, alterations by Adams and Franklin, and congressional revisions. The approved text preceded the later engrossed parchment.

3. Franklin, printer and writerLibrary of Congress

   Primary printed examples of Poor Richard's Almanack and Franklin's printing work.

4. Washington's copy of the DeclarationLibrary of Congress, George Washington Papers

   Hancock sent the printed Declaration to Washington on July 6; Washington had it read to the troops in New York on July 9.

5. The Federalist in historic newspapersLibrary of Congress

   Essays by Hamilton, Madison and Jay under Publius, supporting ratification in 1787–1788; the guide indexes original newspaper printings.

6. Printing the Declaration of IndependenceLibrary of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections

   The approved wording was sent to Dunlap's shop; the first printing belongs to the evening of July 4 and early July 5.

7. Declaring Independence: drafting the documentsLibrary of Congress

   The vote for independence on July 2, adoption on July 4, and the later engrossed copy ordered July 19 and signed beginning August 2.

The promise of equality in the Declaration coexisted with slavery and exclusion. These sources let us read both the words and their historical setting. This campaign celebrates public access to documents, without presenting the founders as a single voice or an uncomplicated ideal.

The opening study and five historical chapter scenes are dramatized contemporary reconstructions. Rooms, gestures, incidental people and actions are imagined; they are not archival footage or recorded events. The narration is a modern account, not the founders’ voices or quotations. The Austin press footage records the actual shop. Music is a contemporary cinematic score.

Film transcript. Before it was a relic, it was news. And news needed a printer. Benjamin Franklin knew the power of print long before he helped shape the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson drafted the words. His colleagues and Congress revised them. On the night of July fourth, seventeen seventy-six, John Dunlap’s shop set the Declaration in type. Copies traveled. On July ninth, Washington had the Declaration read to his troops in New York. A decade later, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay used print to argue for the Constitution as Publius. Different hands. Different roles. One enduring idea: public words must reach the public. We carry that conviction onto our press in Austin. Read the words. Keep the source. Make your own first impression.