The Declaration of Independence in Rhode Island

The Rhode Island General Assembly voted to repeal Rhode Island’s allegiance to King George III of Great Britain on May 4, 1776. Rhode Island was the first and only one of the thirteen colonies to do so. This vote preceded the Declaration of Independence by two months. But this is not the topic of this article. The Declaration of Independence is.

We just passed the 250th anniversaries of the Declaration of Independence, both in Philadelphia and in Rhode Island. As will be seen, Rhode Island came in second place to either Massachusetts or Connecticut based on three key metrics. Rats! But at least it was not third or fourth places!

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thomas Jefferson made the first draft of the Declaration of Independence on this portable desk that he invented. It is now held by the Smithsonian Institute’s American History Museum (Smithsonian)

This famous painting by John Trumbull shows Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and the rest of the Committee of Five presenting the draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776 (Yale University Art Gallery)

The Dunlap Broadside created by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap on July 4, 1776. It was the first printing of the Declaration of Independence (National Archives)

Close up of John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence painting. In the middle is William Ellery. On the left is Stephen Hopkins, but that is now a matter of debate (Yale University Art Gallery)

June 7, 1776: At a session of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution for the thirteen colonies (then called the “United Colonies”) to renounce their allegiance to Great Britain and declare their independence. This resolution set matters in motion.

June 11: Congress recessed and appointed a Committee of Five (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman) to draft a statement to make the case for independence.

June 12: The next day, Jefferson began to write the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Members of the drafting committee, particularly Adams and Franklin, make some revisions to Jefferson’s draft.

June 28: The Drafting Committee presented the draft Declaration of Independence to Congress. This is the famous scene memorialized in the famous painting by the Connecticut painter John Trumbull. Many people believe that this painting shows when Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, but that is not accurate.

July 2: Congress adopts Lee’s resolution for the colonies to be independent from Britain. The New York delegation abstained from the vote because its legislature was on the run from the British army and had not granted authority to its delegates to vote for Lee’s resolution. Thus, the vote was not (yet) unanimous.

John Adams wrote shortly after this vote that July 2 would be celebrated as the birth of the United States for as long as the country existed. He was wrong on that score; July 4 was the date.

July 4: Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. In addition, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap produced the first broadside of the Declaration of Independence.

What is a broadside? It is typically a single sheet of paper that was printed by typesetting the letters and applying ink to the metal letters. The broadside typically dealt with government matters, such as details of a draft for soldiers to be enlisted in militia. A broadside was intended to be circulated widely. They could be posted in public places or handed around among friends. Not a lot have survived because of this. A reenactor recently informed me that more newsprint was consumed by colonial broadsides than by colonial newspapers. I have not confirmed that fact, but it could well be true.

The “Dunlap Broadside” was one of the famous broadsides of the Declaration of Independence. Here are some interesting facts about it. The only date on it is July 4, 1776, which may help to explain why that date was chosen to be celebrated. The only names on it were John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thomson, Congress’s Secretary.

July 5: Congress sent to each of the thirteen new “states,” committees of correspondence, and commanders of Continental army troops copies of the Dunlap Broadside. Perhaps 200 were printed; only 26 survive today. Surviving broadsides are owned: 21 by American institutions; 2 by British institutions; and 3 private owners. At least one was sent to Rhode Island, but it did not survive.

July 19: The New York Convention finally approved Congress’s July 2 action, making it unanimous. Congress thus voted to “engross” the Declaration of Independence and have the delegates sign it. Engrossing is the process of preparing an official document in a large, clear handwriting. Timothy Matlock of Pennsylvania, the assistant to Charles Thomson, the Secretary to Congress, handwrote it. This was only determined in 20th century. He did a wonderful job, as the writing is almost art work.

This engrossed version is the one that is highlighted at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It is highlighted and displayed along with the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, for various reasons, including mishandling, the original handwritten version is very faded and it is hard or impossible to read many letters and signatures.

August 2: Most of Congress’s delegates sign the engrossed declaration this day. No one signed July 4. Some sign later in August.

Here are some interesting facts about the signing: Some who signed did not vote on July 2 or 4. Some who voted yes on July 2 and 4 did not sign. George Read of Delaware voted against the Declaration on July 2 but signed it.

Rhode Island only had two delegates: Stephen Hopkins and William Ellery. They both signed on August 2. Some colonies had six or even eight delegates. Rhode Island had just two, probably because it was small and the Assembly did not want to pay for the costs of more. A commentator noted that because Rhode Island had only two, an even number, the delegates would sometimes disagree, and their votes canceled each other out. As a result, Rhode Island in effect in such occasions was not represented with a vote in Congress (votes were typically by state).

Rhode Island’s Stephen Hopkins, a signer, was the second oldest signer—his friend Benjamin Franklin was the oldest one. Hopkins had been governor of Rhode Island multiple times and held other high offices. He was the colony’s most important politician in colonial times. At the time he signed, he had palsy in his right hand. When he signed, using his left had to steady his right, he reportedly said that my right hand shakes, but my heart does not. His signature was definitely the shakiest of the signers. I located at the Rhode Island State Archives a June 7, 1776 letter signed by Hopkins and the signature was also shaky.

William Ellery of Newport was the second signer. Samuel Ward of Westerly was originally the second delegate from Rhode Island to the Second Continental Congress, but he died of smallpox in Philadelphia in March. On May 4, the Rhode Island General Assembly voted for William Ellery to take his place. Ellery arrived in Philadelphia on or before May 16. He subsequently provided valuable service on committees overseeing the Continental Navy and maritime affairs.

Ellery has two signing stories associated with him. Here is the most famous one: William Ellery was a rather small man, about five foot, five inches tall, and slight of build. At the signing, it has been reported that Benjamin Harrison, a rather large Virginia planter, said to Ellery, “I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Ellery, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body, I shall die quickly, but from your lightness of body, you will dance for some time before you are dead.” This story is most often told about Benjamin Harrison and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. But Gerry did not sign the Declaration on August 2, so if it ever happened, Ellery has the better claim.

The other story seems more credible; it has Ellery recalling, “I was determined to see how they all looked as they signed what might be their death warrant. I placed myself beside the Secretary Charles Thomson and eyed each closely as he affixed each name to the document. Undaunted resolution was displayed in every countenance.”

Of course, John Hancock of Massachusetts and the President of Congress, signed first in large handwriting. He reportedly said that he wanted King George III (or “John Bull” in other versions of the story) to be able to read his signature. I have seen other signatures by Hancock and they are also oversized.

In connection with another history article I was writing, I came across Hancock’s writing teacher in Boston. His name was Abiah Holbrook and he treated wring as calligraphy, and art form. Hancock took writing lessons from Holbrook when Hancock was a boy.

Rhode Island

The July 13, 1776 edition of the Providence Gazette printed the full text of the Declaration of Independence, the second one in New England (Library of Congress)

Solomon Southwick’s second broadside, probably created in late July or early August 1776 (Rhode Island State Archives)

July 12: Solomon Southwick, a Newport printer, probably received a Dunlap Broadside on July 12. In the July 11 edition of the Newport Mercury newspaper that he published and printed, Southwick made no mention of the Declaration of Independence.

On July 12, Southwick began to make broadsides, using the Dunlap Broadside as the model. Seven of his broadsides are known to exist. One version is held by the Rhode Island Historical Society.

Shockingly, rather than dating the broadside as July 12 or 13, Southwick misdated the broadside as June 13, 1776! This gave rise to a false conspiracy theory that the Declaration had really been completed in Philadelphia before that date.

The Southwick Broadside was the second one printed in New England. The first broadside printed in New England was done by Samuel and Thomas Green of New Haven, Connecticut, on July 11. The horseback riders carrying the Dunlap Broadside would have arrived in Connecticut before Rhode Isand, of course.

Southwick probably printed his broadside using the James Franklin printing press that Benjamin Franklin’s brother had brought from London in the 1730s when he was in Newport. The press dated from about 1727. It is still held by the Newport Historical Society and is displayed in its museum.

July 13: The Providence Gazette published the full text of the Declaration of Independence. It was the second newspaper in New England to publish the text of the Declaration of Independence. The printer was John Carter; he must have obtained a copy of the Dunlap Broadside on July 12 as well. He described his location in his newspapers as “At Shakespeare’s Head, in Meeting Street, near the State-House.” If you had an advertisement to run in his newspaper, you needed to know that.

The Connecticut Gazette, published in New London, Connecticut, was the first newspaper in New England to publish the full text of the Declaration, on July 11. Here are the others:

Connecticut Courant, July 15 (Hartford, Connecticut)

Norwich Packet, July 15 (Norwich, Connecticut)

American Gazette, July 16 (Salem, Massachusetts)

New Hampshire Gazette, July 16 (Exeter, New Hampshire)

Massachusetts Spy, July 17 (Worcester, Massachusetts)

Connecticut Journal, July 17 (New Haven, Connecticut)

New England Chronicle, July 18 (Boston, Massachusetts)

• Continental Journal, July 18 (Boston, Massachusetts)

July 18: Southwick published the full text of the Declaration of Independence in the July 18 edition of the Newport Mercury. As was the case with many newspapers, he published once a week. He had the misfortune of publishing an edition on July 11, one day before the Dunlap Broadside arrived in Newport. Still, he called his July 18 edition “Extraordinary,” even though it came out a week after July 11.

July 19: The General Assembly met at the Colony House in Newport, which still stands. The Assembly in the morning approved Congress’s resolution declaring the thirteen colonies to be free and independent states. Members committed themselves to supporting Congress’s resolution “with our lives and fortunes.” The Assembly also directed the Declaration to be read at the state’s town meetings on August 27.

The Assembly further directed there to be a public reading of the Declaration in Newport to be held at 12 noon at the “State” House on July 20. The Assembly also directed a public reading of the Declaration in Providence to be held at the “State” House on July 25. The delay for the Providence celebration was probably because it took time for the governor, the Assembly delegates, and other dignitaries to travel from Newport to Providence (after recovering from Newport’s celebration!).

July 20: In Newport, Major John Handy read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the now “State” House. According to the Newport Mercury, “The Declaration was received with great joy and applause.” After the reading, a musket salute by regiments on the Parade in front of the State House fired volleys, as did artillery at Fort Liberty on Goat Island and elsewhere in Newport.

Also on July 20, the General Assembly voted to change the name of Rhode Island from a colony to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

July 25: At 12 noon, at the State House in Providence, the General Assembly’s resolution adopting Congress’s vote for the thirteen colonies to be free and form a new country was read, as well as the Declaration of Independence. The Providence Gazette wrote, “The Declaration received with every mark of applause.” The governor and members of the General Assembly attended the readings. A thirteen gun salute was done by a Providence artillery company, as well as the Continental Navy’s Columbus warship in the Providence River.

At 2 pm, a celebratory dinner was held at Hacker’s Hall, where thirteen toasts were made. Another dinner was held at a tavern, and thirteen more toasts were made.

The Providence Gazette ended its coverage as follows: “Towards evening the King of Great Britain’s coat of arms was taken from a late public office, as was also a sign from the Crown Coffee House, and burnt.” This was probably planned theater. It was reminiscent to what happened earlier after the first reading of the Declaration in New York City: part of the crowd marched down to Lower Manhattan at Battery Park and brought down an equestrian statue of King George III that had been placed on a pedestal there in 1770. The large statue was later melted down in Connecticut to make some 42, 000 musket balls.

The first public reading of the Declaration was probably in Boston, from the balcony of Boston’s State House on July 18. The Declaration was read “amid the acclamations of thousands who assembled on the occasion.” There is also a story of the Declaration being read at Worcester, Massachusetts, on July 14, but there is little evidence of that and it is likely not accurate.

So we see a pattern here. First, the Boston Tea Party gets more attention than the Gaspee Affair. Then Rhode Island is second when it came to printing the first broadside in New England, publishing the Declaration full text in a newspaper, and doing a public reading of the Declaration. Actually, these three seconds are pretty cool.

Late July or Early August 1776: The General Assembly then contracted with Solomon Southwick to make a Rhode Island broadside of the Declaration. The intent was to distribute a copy to each of Rhode Island’s 28 towns.

At least three copies of this broadside survive. Two are held by the Rhode Island Historical Society and one by the Rhode Island State Archives. The latter was delivered to West Greenwich.

When was the “Southwick II Broadside” printed? It was definitely after July 19 and 20, as at the bottom of this version is printed the results of the votes by the General Assembly on those dates dealing with the Declaration. And it was before the August 27 town meeting dates. So it was likely printed in late July or early August 1776.

The Warwick Town Meeting records contain the following for August 27, 1776: “The declaration of independence [was] read in open town meeting agreeable to act of government [i.e., the General Assembly’s resolution of July 19] (three cheers given).”

Baltimore, Maryland:

The Goddard Broadside printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore. Note the double columns and that she put her name down at the bottom (though on this version that is crossed out). She at one time had earlier published and printed the Providence Gazette. (Rhode Island State Archives)

January 18, 1777: Congress voted for a new broadside to be printed to include the names of the signers. Including the names of the signers increased the risk to them of British retaliation. If Britain captured one, he could be hanged. As it turned out, one signer (Richard Stockton of New Jersey) was captured and held in rough conditions in a jail for a month and the wife of a New York signer was also jailed and as a result she caught an illness and later died of it. Several signers had their houses and other buildings burned by the British.

Congress contracted to print this broadside a remarkable woman, Mary Katherine Goddard in Baltimore. (Congress was in Baltimore because it thought the British Army was about to invade Philadelphia.) Goddard, originally from Connecticut, had previously printed the Providence Gazette for several years. Goddard put her name on her broadside, an act of courage, because printers could suffer from British retaliation as well. (When the British took over Newport in December 1776, Solomon Southwick’s printing press was located and destroyed.)

January 31, 1777: John Hancock, President of Congress, sends copies of the Goddard Broadside, as it is called today, to the new states as their official copies. Rhode Island’s General Assembly entered it in the state’s record on March 4, 1777.

The Goddard Broadside, as mentioned, contains the printed names of all the signers. Each copy was also hand signed by John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Goddard had two columns in her broadside, making it easier to read and more pleasing to the eye.

Only nine survive—the Rhode Island State Archives has one of them. Thus, this edition is probably the most valuable item Rhode Island holds related to the American Revolution.

The Goddard Broadside held by the Rhode Island State Archives has Mary Katherine Goddard’s name crossed out! Perhaps a grumpy, sexist man did this many years ago out of spite.

The Goddard Broadside held by the Rhode Island State Archives was recently restored. It now looks terrific. In the lead up to July 4, 2026, this edition was specially brought to various sites in the state by the Rhode Island State Archives and temporarily displayed for public viewing. I saw it at the former Washington County Court House in Kingston.

Washington, DC

Rhode Island’s story of the Declaration of Independence does not quite end there. In 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams (before he became President) commissioned William J. Stone to engrave 200 facsimiles of the engrossed version, which was already fading. Each state was sent several facsimiles of the Stone Broadside. Rhode Island received four copies on June 30, 1823. The Rhode Island State Archives still has one.

The Stone Broadside received by Rhode Island in 1823 (Rhode Island State Archives)

Why Have a Declaration of Independence?

So why did Congress create a Declaration of Independence? For two main reasons. First, to explain and justify to Patriots why they were fighting against the British. The reason: It was to create a new country based on the people ruling, not a king or aristocrats. That was a good reason.

Second, to satisfy France, Spain, and other large countries to encourage them to provide support to the new United States. Without a declaration, France was worried that the thirteen colonies would rejoin Great Britain. French and Spanish support was crucial in the United States securing its independence

Impressively, more than 100 countries worldwide have issued declarations of independence since July 4, 1776. They include Haiti, Liberia, and Argentina.

The Declaration of Independence was also an aspirational document. It contained, as Professor Gordon Wood of Brown University used to day, the five most important words in U.S. history: “all men are created equal.” Of course, when Jefferson wrote those words, they did not apply to the men and other people he enslaved.

Thomas Jefferson’s phrase was intended first to apply only to white men who owned property. Within 25 years, it began to be applied to all white men, even those who did not own property. That was also a revolutionary development in world history.

After the bloody Civil War ending in 1865, it was finally applied to Black men and all men regardless of race. In the 1920s it was applied to women. It has been applied to many other groups, such as the disabled, labor union members, immigrants, and gay people. We as a nation are still working on the reach of those five crucial words.

Notes:

In preparing this article, I read the following:

Michael Auslin, National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America (Simon & Schuster, 2026).

Robert P. Watson, Declaration: The Story of American Independence (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026).

Ted Widmer, The Living Declaration: A Biography of America’s Founding Text (Library of America, 2026). With a Foreword by Gordon S. Wood.

Declaration Database, Declaration Resources Project (August 2018, updated to June 2023, Harvard University, at https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/database/.

Sherman Lohnes, “Isaiah Thomas and the Declaration of Independence,” March 12, 2026, The Journal of the American Revolution, https://allthingsliberty.com/2026/03/isaiah-thomas-and-the-declaration-of-independence/

John W. Sanderson, “Stephen Hopkins” and “William Ellery” in Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait, 1848), 195-205 and 206-21. Robet T. Conrad, editor. Originally published in 1827. [I thank John Parillo for bringing this book to my attention.]

Various captions by the Rhode Islnd State Archives at the Rhode Island State Archives and on a traveling exhibit on the Declaration of Independence by the Rhode Island State Archives in June and July 2026.