Could we exist without the advanced technology of today? Could the Declaration of independence be published without the advances made possible by the American Spirit of our Founding Fathers? Would we be guaranteed life, liberty and ownership? Would we even have social media or the devices we access it on?

That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Section I of the Virginia Declaration of Rights

James Humphreys Jr. was a Tory who had taken an oath of allegiance to the King of England. His paper, The Pennsylvania Ledger, sported the King’s Arms in the masthead. He promised political impartiality in his byline. Benjamin Towne, the printer of The Pennsylvania Evening Post, badgered Humphreys for his political beliefs and drove him out of town to get a share of the congressional printings.

To appease his readers, Humphreys dropped the King’s Arms from his masthead on June 22nd. He published the Declaration of Independence on July 13 on page two. On the front page, he printed a large ad for the second edition of Thomas Paine's seminal work Common Sense. Humphreys was a distributor for this work and used his newspaper to generate business for his book sales.

The Connecticut Courant, the oldest continuously printed newspaper in America, was established by Samuel Green, the descendant of a famous printing family in Connecticut. When Samuel died, his partner Ebenezer Watson took over the paper. After the British captured New York, The Connecticut Courant became the largest newspaper in the Northeast.

Ebenezer Watson was famous for his humanity and loyalty to independence. He discarded the King's Arms as the masthead and substituted the Arms of Connecticut. On July 15, 1776, he printed the Declaration of Independence on page two, following another report of speeches in the Parliament showing growing support for the American cause.

Watson died of smallpox in 1777. His wife, Hannah, took over the press. She was the first female printer in Connecticut and successfully ran the printing house through great adversity, including a disastrous fire that destroyed the Courant's paper mill. She petitioned the Connecticut Legislature for a loan to restore the mill. Within a day, the legislature approved a state-run lottery to support the rebuilding of the mill. The Courant didn't miss an issue.

Printing the Declaration after the pro-American speeches in Parliament shows another way printers subtly shaped support for independence, and its subsequent history confirms the importance of women printers in the Revolutionary era.

John Rogers began The American Gazette on June 22, 1776, but it only lasted a few weeks. This was enough time to include the Declaration of Independence in his July 16th issue. The Declaration is on the first page and the last page of the four pages of the paper. Inside was the Lord Richmond speech.

Thomas and Samuel Green were sons of the Samuel Green who established a printing dynasty in New England. These brothers published The Connecticut Journal between 1767 and 1809. They published the Declaration of Independence on July 17th.

Edward Powars and Nathaniel Willis purchased The New England Chronicle from Samuel Hall on June 13, 1776. They ran the Declaration on the front page. Inoculation for smallpox was important in 1776. The ad in The New England Chronicle illuminates one of the major dangers that threatened to undermine the American struggle for independence.

Isaiah Thomas founded The Essex Journal on December 4, 1773. Thomas was a prolific printer, editor, writer, and author of the definitive History of Printing in America. He also founded the American Antiquarian Society, the most important repository of eighteenth-century American newspapers in the world. Thomas sold his rights to the newspaper to Ezra Lunt in 1774 who then sold to John Mycall.

That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

The material the Gazette printed in the weeks surrounding the appearance of the Declaration of Independence supports Jefferson's contention that the Declaration was not an original work but "an expression of the American mind."

Benjamin Edes was a great patriot and printer in Boston. When the British took Boston, he escaped by night in a boat with a press and a few type fonts. He opened a printing house in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he continued publishing his paper The Boston Gazette. The quality of printing suffered greatly due to the deprivations of war. Printing presses, type, ink and paper were all imported from England. Edes had to work with worn type, poor quality ink, and a severe shortage of paper. The available paper was barely fit for printing.

To address the paper shortage, Edes advertised for rags from which paper was made. On the last column of page one, along with the Declaration of Independence, Edes advertised "Cash given for clean Cotton and Linen RAGS, at the Printing Office in Watertown." The Declaration appears here amid evidence of what the war for independence cost printers and their profession.

Alexander Purdie was born, and learned the printing trade, in Scotland. He printed the Declaration of Independence in his Virginia Gazette on the front page on July 26, 1776. At the top of column one he printed this notice:

"In COUNCIL, July 20, 1776, Ordered THAT the printers publish in their respective Gazettes the DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE made by the Honourable of the Continental Congress, and that the sheriff of each county of this commonwealth proclaim the same at the door of his courthouse the first court day after he shall have received the same." This notice is primary evidence of Congress's intent to use newspapers to print and disburse a government document.

Purdie's patriotism is apparent in the newspaper masthead, where the Arms of Virginia include the famous phrase "Don't Tread on Me" and below the masthead is the subtitle "High Heaven to Gracious Ends directs the Storm!"

On page two following the Declaration is the following report: "Williamsburg, July 26. Yesterday afternoon, agreeable to an order of the Hon. Privy Council, the Declaration of Independence was solemnly proclaimed at the Capitol, the Courthouse, and the Palace amidst the acclamations of the people, accompanied by firing cannons and musketry, the several regiments of continental troops having been paraded on that solemnity." This is an eyewitness report of the celebrations surrounding the publication of the Declaration of Independence, a celebration that has continued uninterrupted for 241 years.

Ebenezer Watson was famous for his humanity and loyalty to independence. He discarded the King's Arms as the masthead and substituted the Arms of Connecticut. On July 15, 1776, he printed the Declaration of Independence on page two, following another report of speeches in the Parliament showing growing support for the American cause.

Watson died of smallpox in 1777. His wife, Hannah, took over the press. She was the first female printer in Connecticut and successfully ran the printing house through great adversity, including a disastrous fire that destroyed the Courant's paper mill. She petitioned the Connecticut Legislature for a loan to restore the mill. Within a day, the legislature approved a state-run lottery to support the rebuilding of the mill. The Courant didn't miss an issue.

Congress wrote the Declaration of Independence to be read by as wide an audience as possible. To this end, thirty newspapers in America printed it. The Library of Congress owns fifteen original copies of these printings.

The promises to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have yet to be achieved in much of the world, yet without these promises, we would not have come as far as we have today.

Keeping the Declaration of Independence fresh and alive in our hearts and minds will continue the spread of liberty. I hope that my sharing of the importance of studying the first printings of the Declaration of Independence in newspapers will educate and inspire you as much as it has inspired me.

God Bless you and God Save our America. Our country, our Constitution, our culture, our civilization and our children need you now more than ever. Don’t ever forget what these brave printers did for us.