For the modern American, the Declaration of Independence is a static, sacred object. It resides behind bulletproof glass and a titanium frame at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., a silent sentinel of the nation’s founding. Yet, as historian Emily Sneff reveals in her groundbreaking new book, When the Declaration of Independence Was News, there […]

In the collective American imagination, the Declaration of Independence is a static, sacred object—a sheet of yellowed parchment housed safely behind bulletproof glass and titanium frames at the National Archives. It is viewed as the "birth certificate" of a nation, an immutable decree that instantly transformed thirteen colonies into a sovereign power. However, as historian […]