Emily Sneff on The Declaration of Independence (Part of The Revolution Is News)

This commemorative year, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, has centered in large measure on the Declaration of Independence. But what was that document really? What did it actually do? Who wrote it, and why? What about July 2 v July 4 as the dates that should be celebrated (John Adams thought it would be the 2nd)?

Emily Sneff is the leading expert on what happened next. She spoke to us about how we should understand the Declaration of Independence as “news”-- based on her new book When the Declaration of Independence Was News, 2026). She shares how printers around the former colonies (now new states) got word of the actual text to print, how many different versions were printed right away and in how many languages (including a July 9 German broadside edition in Pennsylvania), who heard the words spoken aloud, and what they thought of it. She told us about how word of the declaration traveled abroad, and how challenging it was then as now to battle “fake news.”

She also spotlights a personal favorite, one of the JCB’s own copies of Declaration from July of 1776 with a special inscription. Watch to learn more about this essential document and its travels.