News

What really happened on July 4, 1776

RADIO IQ | By Sandy Hausman

Published July 2, 2026 at 5:30 AM EDT

Artist Josef Beery prepares to ink a replica of Benjamin Franklin's 18th century printing machine.

Many people will tell you that this country’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4^th, but that is not true.
An expert on the subject told reporter Sandy Hausman that 200 copies of the original document were printed on the Fourth and Fifth – then carried by men on horseback to each of the colonies.

Josef Beery is an artist who teaches the history of the printing press at UVA. On July 4, 1776 he says, the founders signed off on Thomas Jefferson’s final draft of the Declaration of Independence and sent it to a printer in Philadelphia, but the actual signing would occur some weeks later.

“It wasn’t signed until August when they had a really nice copy of the declaration. They took a piece of parchment – leather – and they had a calligrapher with really great handwriting, and then everybody came and signed it.”

In the meantime, he explains, men on horseback carried 200 copies to taverns, town squares and printers in each of the 13 colonies.

“On July 10^th, George Washington received it in New York City, and when he had it read to his troops, people tore down the statue of King George III and they melted it down into bullets to be used in the Battle of Long Island.”

UVA owns two of an estimated 25 copies of the original Declaration of Independence that are still around. One is on display on the ground floor of the Special Collections Library.

Beery treasures what he calls an incendiary document:

“It is a document that inspired people to do things which would cause a lot of trouble. It would lead to a lot of people being killed. It would lead to the destruction of governments, but most of all, it expressed the fundamental truths that we all agree upon that make us Americans – the essential rights that we think are important, and the aspirations that we had as a country. It’s America saying, ‘We won’t be pushed around!’"

And while many Americans might cite the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Beery finds a certain resonance today in a different part of the document.

“My favorite part of the declaration is this line here: A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is not fit to be the ruler of a free people.”

On the afternoon of July 4^th, at UVA’s Special Collections library, Beery will demonstrate the printing technology of 1776 and allow visitors to make copies of their own. The free program – called Revolutionary Printing – will also feature workshops in sewing samplers, making hats and beadwork. They’ll enjoy music of the revolution, can tour several exhibits and see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence printed 250 years ago.