The First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 - Journal of the...

On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to an assemblage of citizens in Philadelphia. (Some claim it was read before a small crowd on the 4th.) An excerpt from the article:

"Election Day and the Ceremonial Public Reading
In Pennsylvania, July 8 was an election day. At stake were seats in the all-important state constitutional convention. In Philadelphia, two committees competed to get their candidates elected (Matlack was a candidate for the radical faction, the one that believed in democracy). The ceremonial reading of the Declaration on July 8 was planned as a campaign event. Committee member Christopher Marshall described a planning session:

Near eight, went to [the] committee, Philosophical Hall . . . Agreed that the Declaration of Independence be declared at the State House next Second Day [Monday, July 8]. At the same time, the King’s arms there are to be taken down by nine Associators, here appointed, who are to convey it to a pile of casks erected upon the commons, for the purpose of a bonfire, and the arms placed on top. This being Election day, I opposed the motion, only by having this put off till next day, fearing it would interrupt the Election, but the motion was carried by the majority.[21]

On July 8, a Monday morning, the rival committeemen met at Philosophical Hall and walked over to the State House in procession for the ceremony. In the State House yard, Col. John Nixon read the Declaration in front of a large crowd. The people responded with loud huzzas. In a letter to a friend, John Adams described this public reading: “The Declaration was yesterday published and proclaimed from the awfull Stage, in the State house yard, by whom do you think? by the Committee of Safety! the Committee of Inspection, and a great Crowd of People. Three cheers rended the Welkin.”[22] The ceremony was followed by general festivities including ringing bells, a parade on the commons, and burning the king’s arms. Adams also reported, “The Election for the City was carried on amidst all this Lurry.”[23] He named Matlack among the men elected for Philadelphia.

The Declaration was also read that day to crowds in Easton, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey. The next day, in New York City, George Washington “caused the Declaration to be proclaimed before all the army under my immediate command.”[24]"