John Dunlap (1747 – 27 November 1812) was an early American printer who emigrated from Ireland and who printed the first copies of the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...

and was one of the most successful Irish/American printers of his era. He served in the Continental Army under

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Biography

Dunlap was born in Strabane,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1747. When he was ten years old, he went to work as an apprentice to his uncle, William Dunlap, a printer and bookseller in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. In 1766, William Dunlap left the business in the care of his nephew. John eventually bought the business, and at first made a living by printing sermons and probably broadsides and handbills too. In November 1771, Dunlap, with David C. Claypool began the publication of the '' Pennsylvania Packet, or General Advertiser'', a weekly newspaper. From 1791 to 1793 Dunlap was the sole publisher, but in the following year Claypoole again became a partner until December, 1795, when Dunlap finally withdrew. In 1773 he married Elizabeth Hayes Ellison. Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1887, Vol. II, p. 258 During the

, Dunlap became an officer in the

First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decora ...

, and saw action with

at the battles of Trenton and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

. He continued in the First City Troop after the war, rising to the rank of major, and leading Pennsylvania's cavalry militia to help suppress the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

in 1794. Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. V, pp. 514-515 In 1776, Dunlap secured a lucrative printing contract for the Continental Congress. In July 1776, fighting between the American colonists and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces had been going on for over a year. On 2 July, the Second Continental Congress voted on the

Lee Resolution The Lee Resolution (also known as "The Resolution for Independence") was the formal assertion passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776 which resolved that the Thirteen Colonies in America (at the time referred to as United Colo ...

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

. Two days later, they approved the final wording of a public declaration regarding their decision, which we today call the Declaration of Independence. President of Congress

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...

signed the fair copy with Secretary of Congress

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson ...

attesting it. That evening Hancock ordered Dunlap to print broadside copies of the declaration. Dunlap printed perhaps 200 broadsides, since known as the Dunlap broadsides, which were the first published versions of the Declaration. Dunlap also printed items for Pennsylvania's revolutionary government. In 1777 he took over the printing of the '' Journals of the Continental Congress'' from Robert Aitken, but lost the contract in 1779 after printing in his newspaper a letter from

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

that leaked news of the secret French aid to the Americans. In 1784, Dunlap's paper became a daily with a new title: the ''North American and United States Gazette.'' It was not the first daily in the United States—'' The Pennsylvania Evening Post'' was the first in 1783—but it became the first successful daily. Within the same year that Dunlap began printing his daily, he was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. Continuing to serve the changing needs of the government, Dunlap and his partner David Claypoole printed the Constitution of the United States 19 September 1787 for use by the Constitutional Convention, and later published it for the first time in ''The Pennsylvania Packet''. Dunlap's major financial success came from real estate speculation. During the American Revolution, he bought property confiscated from

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

who refused to take Pennsylvania's new

loyalty oath A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...

. After the war, he bought land in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. By 1795, when he was forty-eight, he was able to retire with a sizable estate. Retirement did not agree with him, however; according to his friend, Dr.

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educa ...

, Dunlap became a drunkard in his final years. He died in Philadelphia.

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