See the Declaration of Independence!

When the Declaration of Independence was ratified in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, messengers sent by the Continental Congress swiftly distributed copies of the revolutionary document to all thirteen original colonies. The General Assembly received Rhode IslandÕs copy on July 18, 1776.

Legislators promptly approved the Declaration of Independence and directed then Secretary of State Henry Ward to have copies printed for each of the colonyÕs twenty-eight communities. Solomon Southwick, an editor of The Newport Mercury, was charged with carrying out this task. He did so using a press once owned by Benjamin Franklin, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Only eight of these original Rhode Island town copies of the Declaration of Independence are known to have survived. Rhode Islanders will be able to examine one of these original Declarations personally at the Providence Place Mall from September 1 through September 15, 2002. The document will be part of the Rhode Island Treasures Exhibit next year, and eventually will permanently reside at the Heritage Harbor Museum.

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