Editor's note on July 8, 2022: This story quotes the U.S. Declaration of Independence — a document that contains offensive language about Native Americans, including a racial slur.
Twenty-two years ago, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence.
It was 234 years ago this Sunday that church bells rang out over Philadelphia, as the Continental Congress adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Below is the original text of the Declaration, alongside photos of the NPR staff members and contributors who performed the reading.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Renee Montagne
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Juan Williams
/ AP
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— Jean Cochran
Doby Photography / NPR
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5 of 29
— Julie McCarthy
/ Wen Wang
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— Don Gonyea
Doby Photography / NPR
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7 of 29
— Deborah Amos
/ Steve Barrett
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— Carl Kasell
Doby Photography / NPR
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9 of 29
— Mary Louise Kelly
Doby Photography / NPR
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10 of 29
— Brian Naylor
Doby Photography / NPR
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11 of 29
— Sylvia Poggioli
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
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12 of 29
— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
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13 of 29
— Cheryl Corley
Steve Barrett / NPR
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14 of 29
— Nina Totenberg
Steve Barrett / NPR
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— Eric Westervelt
/ NPR
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16 of 29
— Elizabeth Blair
Doby Photography / NPR
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17 of 29
— Robert Smith
Steve Barrett / NPR
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— Mara Liasson
Doby / NPR
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19 of 29
— Linda Wertheimer
/ Steve Barrett
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20 of 29
— Tom Goldman
/ Steve Barrett
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— Jackie Northam
/ skphotomedia
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— Michele Keleman
Doby / NPR
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— Ari Shapiro
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Larry Abramson
Larry / NPR
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— Susan Stamberg
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Scott Horsley
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Cokie Roberts
Steve Fenn / ABC, Inc.
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28 of 29
— Renee Montagne
Doby Photography / NPR
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29 of 29
— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR