The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Institute For Teachers and Students For Historians The Collection Search:

The Collection: Slideshow

Alexander Hamilton and the Creation of the United States

See other online exhibitions

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, South Carolina printing,
c. August 1776
(Gilder Lehrman Collection)

  • Enlarge Image

When the Revolution broke out, Hamilton immediately became a soldier on the American side. On July 9, 1776, when the Declaration was read aloud to the American troops stationed in New York, Hamilton was among them. Other copies of the Declaration were sent out to the thirteen states for reprinting and dissemination. This copy is the sole survivor of a Charleston, South Carolina printing from August 1776. By publishing his name, the patriotic printer, Peter Timothy, literally put his life on the line.


Collection Image
The Collection