Historedia
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Congress reportedly orders authentic copies of the Declaration sent to the states

When
January 20, 1777
Where
Continental Congress, seat not confirmed for this resolution
Part of
Continental Congress Resolution on Declaration of Independence Copies

A legacy record states that on January 20, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that an authentic copy of the Declaration of Independence, with signers' names, be sent to each of the United States.

According to the legacy record, the Continental Congress approved a resolution that an authentic copy, with the names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, be sent to each of the United States. The supplied passages confirm the Congress's adoption of the Lee Resolution for independence on July 2, 1776, and its approval of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which proclaimed the former colonies independent sovereign states, but they do not mention the January 1777 distribution resolution itself. The resolution's date and wording therefore remain unverified against the supplied evidence.

Sources

  1. Continental Congress Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-12

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.