The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

Years of handling, copying, and light exposure have caused heavy deterioration of the original Declaration of Independence

Handwritten in gallnut ink and signed in August 1776, the Declaration endured rough handling, repeated copy attempts, and decades of exposure to air and light—leaving it heavily faded and even marked by a mysterious handprint that appeared in the early 20th century.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

See the Declaration—known as the Matlack Declaration—displayed at the National Archives

The iconic handwritten Declaration displayed at the National Archives was penned by Thomas Matlack, the Continental Congress’s assistant secretary. He was chosen for his exceptional handwriting to prepare the formal copy signed by the delegates.

See the documents that shaped the Declaration before it was written

This Library of Congress collection comprises early arguments for Colonial rights, protests against British authority, draft constitutions, and multiple working drafts of the Declaration of Independence. It traces the ideas and language that preceded the final document adopted in 1776.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and see their original signatures

This online exhibit from the Daughters of the American Revolution presents a visual slideshow of all 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, pairing portraits and biographies with photographs of their handwritten signatures.

What the Declaration actually says and how to see it

This official page from the National Archives breaks down the Declaration of Independence in plain English, explaining its purpose, key ideas, and grievances against King George III. It also shows how the document was created and where it’s displayed today.

What "National Treasure" got right—and wrong—about the Declaration

The 2004 film "National Treasure" imagines a secret map hidden on the Declaration of Independence. This article breaks down which plot points reflect real history—and where Hollywood took liberties with the document, its preservation, and the people it portrays.

See how the Declaration evolved from draft to final text

John Adams urged Congress to choose Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration because of his literary skill and low-profile reputation. Read Jefferson’s initial draft, which included passages later removed, including a forceful denunciation of slavery.

The Declaration of Independence became a global blueprint for freedom

This documentary traces how the Declaration's language of liberty resonated through more than 100 independence movements worldwide, demonstrating how a single revolutionary text helped redefine notions of self-rule, rights, and legitimacy across centuries.

Ben Franklin’s edit helped define the Declaration’s philosophy

When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration, he wrote that its truths were “sacred and undeniable.” Benjamin Franklin urged replacing that phrase with “self-evident,” grounding the document in reason rather than religious authority and sharpening its Enlightenment logic.

America’s founding documents were once housed in other government buildings

Today, the Constitution and Declaration are displayed at the National Archives. Still, for more than a century, they were kept by other federal institutions—including the State Department and the Library of Congress—before gaining a permanent home in the 1930s.

See how the National Archives protects America's founding documents

This "60 Minutes" segment takes viewers behind the scenes at the National Archives, showcasing how experts use conservation science, security, and technology to preserve cornerstone records—such as the original Declaration of Independence—for future generations.

See 10 of the artifacts on display at the Smithsonian's America at 250 exhibition

From Thomas Jefferson's portable writing desk to a first-generation iPod, the National Museum of American History is showcasing 250 objects across all three floors to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

North Carolina's original copy of the Bill of Rights was stolen during the Civil War and recovered 138 years later

A Union soldier looted the document from the state archives in 1865 and sold it for $5. It remained in private hands for more than a century before an undercover FBI agent posing as a buyer seized it in 2003 at a Philadelphia office building.

Why helium helped preserve the US' founding documents, but was later replaced

In 1951, the Charters of Freedom were stored in glass and metal cases filled with helium, which would not chemically react with the documents. After microscopic cracks were identified in the glass through which helium could leak out of and—experts feared—pollutants could infiltrate, new encasements made of aluminum, titanium, and argon replaced the old system in 2003.

Surprises you may not know about the US Constitution

This article offers intriguing and lesser known insights into the creation and content of the US Constitution. Examples include that Rhode Island disliked the Constitution so much that it almost started a civil war and that Ben Franklin was so ill he needed to be carried into the Constitutional Convention in a sedan chair.

Few actual Stamp Act stamps survived, as colonists destroyed nearly all of them in protest

The elaborate stamp bore royal symbols and the word "America" and was printed in Britain and shipped to the colonies to be sold by government officials. Protests erupted in nearly every colony before it could take effect, often violently targeting stamp collectors.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

The oldest restaurants in the US

This list features several establishments that have been around since before the Declaration of Independence, including the White Horse Tavern, in Newport, Rhode Island, and New York's Fraunces Tavern, where George Washington dismissed his troops at the end of the Revolutionary War.

Dolley Madison rescued George Washington's portrait before the White House burned

As British troops approached in August 1814, first lady Dolley Madison ordered Gilbert Stuart's full-length portrait of George Washington removed from the White House, which remains displayed in the building today. She also secured key state papers and valuables before fleeing.

America's most misunderstood dollar

The $2 bill isn't rare; it's just hiding. First printed in 1862, stopped in 1966, and revived in 1976, there are still 1.6 billion in circulation. People just don't spend them.

More than 1,100 letters between Abigail and John Adams have survived

Their correspondence is a rich collection of American history. The letters provide a personal glimpse into the Revolution, the early republic, and the dynamics of one of America's most significant marriages.

Visualize every time Congress has mentioned the word 'democracy' since 1880, and why

This Pudding interactive analyzes every mention of "democracy" in the Congressional Record over 145 years, charting how the word shifted from a partisan label to a concept, and tracking when lawmakers warned the system itself was under threat.

Printers changed the song's name to 'The Star-Spangled Banner'

The week after Key wrote it, “Defence of Fort M’Henry” was published in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper. Soon, it would be printed in papers across the US. Eventually, its name was changed to a more recognizable one: “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The typo that scandalized a continent

One printing mistake in the 17th century proved so unfortunate it cost two men their careers and scandalized religious folks for centuries. Read the story here.

The Civil War turned the Continental Divide into an American symbol of identity

Historians argue that the boundary only became a celebrated American symbol in the 1860s, when Civil War-era leaders promoted a west-east geographic divide to replace the devastating north-south political divide, and that the term's use spiked after the transcontinental railroad crossed it in 1868.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

'Beowulf' was almost lost in a fire

In 1731, the poem's lone manuscript was stored in Ashburnham House, in Westminster, England. The building caught fire, and the document was damaged, but not entirely destroyed. It then had to be repaired and reordered, with help from Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelín.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.