Safeguarding the Declaration of Independence
The United States of America
John Wallis
"...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
From the British point of view, the Declaration of Independence was an inflammatory document that sought to justify rebellion against His Majesty's loyal government, and its signers were notorious ringleaders of the rebellion. Destroying the Declaration and capturing the signers would have been powerful propaganda coups for the British. Although endangered by military setbacks and repeated relocations, the engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration, which carried the signatures of delegates, survived the war.
Approaching British forces in late 1776 prompted records of the Continental Congress, including the Declaration, to be hurriedly transferred overland by wagon. They were shuffled to Baltimore and York, and back to Philadelphia. After 1783 the government moved successively to Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New York City, where George Washington was inaugurated as president in 1789. The Declaration was then placed in custody of the secretary of state and the government was again based in Philadelphia through the 1790's.
By direction of President John Adams, official records were moved to the new federal capital in the District of Columbia in 1800. To reach its new home, the Declaration traveled down the Delaware River, southward along the Atlantic seaboard into the Chesapeake Bay, and finally up the Potomac to the District of Columbia. It remained there until another British invasion in 1814 led to the Declarations's temporary removal to Leesburg, Virginia before returning again to Washington, D.C.
- 1776
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Read More - Dec. 1776 - March 1777
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Baltimore, Maryland
Read More - March - September 1777
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Read More - September 1777 - June 1778
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York, Pennsylvania
Read More - July 1778 - June 1783
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Read More - June - November 1783
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Princeton, New Jersey
Read More - November 1783 - October 1784
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Annapolis, Maryland
Read More - November - December 1784
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Trenton, New Jersey
Read More - 1785 - 1790
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New York City, New York
Read More - 1790 - 1799
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Read More - 1800 - August 1814
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Washington, D.C.
Read More - August - September 1814
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Leesburg, Virginia
Read More - September 1814 - Present
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Washington, D.C.
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