In the wake of July 4th, we look at the history that marks the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the catalysts that catapulted the United States of America into a new era. With contemporary media shining a light on those previously underappreciated cardinal figures, such as Hamilton, we instead delve into the lesser told stories of the physical records that changed history, and the role of centralised data and records-keeping.

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During the run-up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, several significant documents and papers are known to have gone missing contemporaneously and even more documents have since been lost. 

The vast majority of missing material in question can easily be explained away by the nature of the period- marked by rapid developments, intense political manoeuvres and the constant threat of military retaliation. The need for secrecy meant several papers carrying sensitive information were deliberately destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, and those that were not intentionally eradicated frequently did not survive due to losses in their delivery systems, the chaos of battle, and the distinct lack of centralised record-keeping. Those that were recovered oftentimes lay at the mercy of the subsequent preservation methods utilised and the bounty placed on their heads by modern-day collectors wishing to remove them from public circulation. 

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There is however, one document that should have, all things considered, been preserved until present day- the original copy of the Declaration of Independence. 

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The 29 ¾ inches x 24 ¼ inch parchment on display in the National Archives, alongside the United States Constitution, and Bill of Rights is what most people think of as the Declaration of Independence, however this is the engrossed version and not the original draft. 

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Just as the National Archives Document is not the original Declaration, so too is there a discrepancy in the known date of signing, and the date celebrated as Independence Day. The Declaration of Independence was agreed to by Congress on July 4th but it was yet to be printed or distributed to each of the states and even when it was issued, there wasn't a unanimous decision. The New York Convention adopted the Declaration on July 9th having previously abstained from voting in favour of the decision based on some outdated instructions, and the news that they had accepted only reached Congress in Philadelphia on July 15th. By the end of the week, July 19th, Congress resolved that: 

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"That the Declaration passed on the 4th, be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile of 'The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America,' and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress."

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To "fairly engross" is to copy an agreement into a large, easily legible script- creating an official copy of a document, and it is this “engrossed” copy that remains on display sealed in a gold-plated titanium frame with bulletproof glass. This document was signed by all on the 2nd of August, and not on the 4th of July - a fact attested to by historian Mellen Chamberlain in his Authentication of the Declaration of Independence (1885). Although there is a long and complicated historiography regarding the date in question for the signing, with historians falling on both sides, the most convincing evidence comes from Thomas Jeffreson himself. Writing his Notes of Proceedings in the Continental Congress, he says; 

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"the debates having taken- up the greater parts of the 2d. 3d. & 4th. days of July were, in the evening of the last closed. the declaration was reported by the commee., agreed to by the house, and signed by every member present except Mr. Dickinson." 

In a handwritten note beside the above, Jefferson later clarified:

"the Declaration thus signed on the 4th. on paper was engrossed on parchment, & signed again on the 2d. of Aug."

Both in his original writing and in his subsequent note, Jefferson asserted that the delegates signed a paper copy of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th and then signed the engrossed parchment (a much sturdier and longer-lasting material) on August 2nd. There is significant debate as to the validity of this claim, with some choosing to believe the absence of the original copy owes to him misremembering its existence. In returning to the text to reiterate his statement in an amendment, however, he doubles down on the paper copy having been drafted- and so leaves us with the unfortunate knowledge that the original has been lost to time.

A centralised records-keeping platform in times of old would have prevented this loss, as well as the loss of Congressional Correspondence and Papers, the Secret Committee Papers established by the Continental Congress, the State Convention Records from local votes, and the remainder of the Dunlap Broadsides. 

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The necessity for a centralised records-keeping platform in present day mirrors a largely similar requirement- although now of course digitised rather than transposed copies of parchment and vellum. The need for comprehensive logs tallying months of communication is not only a modern requirement for future historians reporting on today’s issues- but for the daily championing of financial morality and ethics in trading and trade transparency. The loss of the original copy of the Declaration of Independence may seem like an issue long since past, but the reflection of these gaps in the historical record on our modern day financial systems and their archaic data processes may yet show us stronger ties between 2024 and the depths of 1776. 

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