‘Tis the season to receive packages.
The doorbell rang.
Curiously I peeked outside the window where I saw the USPS truck pull away.
I went downstairs, opened the door and found a cylinder tube leaning against the door.
Hmmmmmm, who could possibly have sent this?????
Colonial Williamsburg???? btw love the address! =)
Thinking back to my mental list and checking it twice…no recollection of a recent Colonial Williamsburg order existed.
All the gifts I’ve ordered sat gift wrapped and under the tree.
Looking more closely at the mailing label I saw this…
How in the world do I type the sound for: “deep intake of breath”…???
Stunned, speechless, I was flabbergasted!
Colonial Williamsburg sent us a Surprise Package
Colonial Williamsburg is my favorite place in the whole wide world!!!!!
I want to visit there again, even live and work there!
I was sooooooo excited!
Calling the kids I told them we got a gift from Colonial Williamsburg!
Bubbly with anticipation they opened the tube where they found a lovely letter from the Education Outreach Department.
Stone Version of the Declaration of Independence
Reaching further into the tube, we pulled out a poster size copy of the Stone version of the Declaration of Independence with activities!
I couldn’t remember what the Stone version was. The kids knew about it though. 😉
They kept teasing me because I’m the one who taught them! I did!?
Well, my brain is currently stuck in the Manifest Destiny.
I started reading the accompanying activity booklet.
Lafayette received a copy of the Stone Version of the Declaration of Independence
Oh, that’s right, even Lafayette got a rare copy of this document! We laughed! I remember most anything that involves Lafayette!
The activities look great! I can’t wait to do them!
History of the Stone version of the Declaration of Independence
The following is quoted from the Constitutional Facts webiste:
In 1820, in response to a wave of patriotism following the War of 1812 and in advance of the nation’s 50th birthday, John Quincy Adams commissioned Washington DC engraver William Stone to produce a facsimile of the original engrossed Declaration’s text and the 56 signatures of the members of the Continental Congress.
Stone required three years to complete his task and the results were a remarkably accurate engraved copper plate.
It is now widely accepted that Stone utilized carefully placed mirrors and his exemplary engraving skills in a painstakingly tedious process to create his printing plate.
With the discovery of the Anastatic Declaration it is proven Stone was a master engraver as they are nearly identical.
Stone completed the engraving of the copper plate in 1823 and sold it to the State Department.
A congressional resolution passed on May 26, 1824 with an order placed for 200 copies, on vellum.
These copies were to be distributed to official repositories, significant office holders and the surviving signers of the Declaration, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Charles Carroll.
Two copies were given to the Marquis d’Lafayette when he visited America in 1824.
At 24 x 30 inches, the Stone facsimile is very close to the original engrossed Declaration in size.
At the top is a line that reads “Engraved by W.I. STONE for the Department of State by order of J.Q. Adams Secy of State July 4, 1823.”
After the 1823 printing this imprint line was burnished off of the copperplate and a new imprint was added to the bottom left, below the first column of signatures. “W. J. STONE WASHN.”
Later printings from the Stone copperplate are the same size but printed on paper, not parchment or vellum, and have the imprint bottom left.
Even with this alteration, collectors still prize later Stone copies on vellum.
Stone’s copperplate is currently in the National Archives in Washington DC.
I Love Studying the Declaration of Independence
Devoting an entire week to studying this document last June, we also incorporated a recitation of it for our 18th century Becoming History presentation.
On Independence Day we took turns reading portions of it.
At Colonial Williamsburg we watched the interpreters recite it during Revolutionary City.
Again, we are studying the American Declaration of Independence, as my kids are researching and writing a comparison of American Independence and Texas Independence in an IEW Super Essay.
Even Texas has a Declaration of Independence from Mexico written at Washington-on-the-Brazos!
My wheels are already turning on how to incorporate these great activities.
The elementary activities next summer in preparation Independence Day, and then when we study the American Revolution again at the Rhetoric level, the secondary activities will be incredible…like doing a debate!
We previously mailed Student Samples to Colonial Williamsburg
The last page of the lesson plans for the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips invites the teacher to mail in some samples of their students’ work.
So I mailed them a thank you letter as well as pictures of my kids in costume and transcripts of their presentations for their Yorktown EFT project.
While my son portrayed the Marquis de Lafayette…
My daughter portrayed one of the “baggage” at Yorktown, who wrote a letter home of the experience.
Thank you to the Education Outreach Department for this surprise gift!
We enjoy learning with the Electronic Field Trips which add sparkle to our daily work.
Huzzah to all of you for your great work in producing the EFTs!
