Declaration of Independence Desk
date: label: Date made
content: 1775-1776
name: label: associated person
content: Jefferson, Thomas
label: maker
content: Randolph, Benjamin
notes: label: Description
content: In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on this portable desk of his own design. It features a hinged writing board and a locking drawer for papers, pens, and inkwell.
label: Description
content: By the summer of 1776 members of the Second Continental Congress prepared to declare their independence from Great Britain. They assigned the task of drafting the declaration to Thomas Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia. Jefferson would later write that rather than aiming for originality, "it was intended to be an expression of the American mind." On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress amended and adopted the declaration. Its words not only established the guiding principles for the new nation, it has served to inspire future generations in America and around the world.
label: Description
content: The desk continued to be Jefferson's companion throughout his life as a revolutionary patriot, American diplomat, and president of the United States. While the drafts of the Declaration of Independence were among the first documents Jefferson penned on this desk, the note he attached under the writing board in 1825 was among the last: "Politics as well as Religion has its superstitions. These, gaining strength with time, may, one day, give imaginary value to this relic, for its great association with the birth of the Great Charter of our Independence."
label: Description
content: On November 14, 1825, Thomas Jefferson wrote to his granddaughter Eleanora Randolph Coolidge to inform her that he was sending his "writing box" as a wedding present. Jefferson's original gift of an inlaid desk had been lost at sea and his portable writing desk was intended as a replacement. The desk remained in the Coolidge family until April 1880, when the family donated it to the U.S. government.
label: Description
content: In his letter, Jefferson wrote: "Mr. Coolidge must do me the favor of accepting this [gift]. Its imaginary value will increase with years, and if he lives to my age, or another half-century, he may see it carried in the procession of our nation's birthday, as the relics of the Saints are in those of the Church."
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
label: used in
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Independence Hall
topic: label: used
content: Declaration of Independence
label: general subject association
content: National Symbols
label: related event
content: Declaration of Independence, Signing of
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Nation of Nations, A
label: Related Publication
content: Bedini, Silvio A.. Declaration of Independence Desk
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer Department of State
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.031819
label: catalog number
content: 31819
label: accession number
content: 67435
objectType: label: Object Name
content: writing box
label: Object Type
content: portable desks
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (inkwell material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood, mahogany (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric, baize (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 3/4 in x 14 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in; 24.765 cm x 37.465 cm x 8.255 cm
label: Measurements
content: unfolded: 19 3/4 in; x 50.165 cm