". . . and to Declare them Free and Independent States . . . "

John Hancock (1737-1793)
Resolution in the hand of John Hancock,
Page 2
July 4, 1776
Manuscript Division

With these calm and deliberate words, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, informed General George Washington that the Declaration of Independence had been adopted on July 4, 1776. President Hancock enclosed a copy of printer John Dunlap's broadside of the Declaration of Independence along with the July 4 Congressional resolutions in Hancock's own hand. Hancock's letter requested that "you will have it [the Declaration] proclaimed at the Head of the Army."