439 When the Declaration of Independence Was News

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

History, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, but it had absolutely no plan for telling the world about it. Congress sent just one copy of the Declaration to France. It was lost at sea. Printers ran the text however they liked. And the first formal acknowledgment of American independence came not from a European court, but from a Native American chief responding to a verbal translation of the Declaration in the middle of a treaty negotiation. Historian and Declaration expert Emily Sneff joins us to explore what the Declaration of Independence looked like when it was just news — urgent, imperfect, and far beyond anyone's control. Emily’s Website | Book |Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/439 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction00:04:07 The Declaration as a Congressional Product00:06:28 Jefferson's humble signature00:11:10 Congress Has No Plans for Circulation00:16:22 News of the Declaration Breaks00:24:36 Pubilc Readings of the Declaration00:27:27 Ministers Spread News of the Declaration00:32:57 German-American Translation of the Declaration00:42:04 French Translation Failures00:46:42 Verbal Translations of the Declaration00:51:52 No Official Copy Sent to King George III00:58:43 The Declaration of Independence as News01:02:17 Time Warp01:07:48 Upcoming 250th Exhibitions01:11:24 ConclusionRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 018: Our Declaration🎧 Episode 119: The Heart of the Declaration🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft🎧 Episode 388: John Hancock🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence🎧 Episode 431: Thomas Paine's Common Sense at 250SUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:39.4	episode comes from the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first historical society founded in the
0:44.8	United States in 1791. So the one response that we actually have from one of the chiefs that was
0:52.7	present is from Ambrose Bayer, who was Willowsequy,
0:56.5	and he responds, we like it well. Now, that's his response that he gives to a bunch of other
1:02.2	things that happen during the treaty proceedings. So it might just be the translator or the secretary
1:08.1	kind of interpreting his words for him. But that act of verbally
1:13.3	responding to the Declaration of Independence, that is the first formal acknowledgement of the
1:19.0	independent United States by a foreign power. So it's incredibly important and it's incredibly
1:24.3	important that it comes out of the mouth of a Native American, a neighbor,
1:29.1	and not someone on the other side of the Atlantic in one of the courts of Europe.
1:41.3	Hello and welcome to episode 439 of Ben Franklin's World, the podcast dedicated to helping you
1:49.2	learn more about how the people and events of our early American past have shaped the present
1:54.2	day world we live in. And I'm your host, Liz Covert. The second Continental Congress voted to
2:00.6	declare independence on July 2, 1776.
2:04.3	It wrote one of the most iconic documents in history to ensure the world knew why the United
	...

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