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.
Thirty years ago, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: familiar NPR voices reading the Declaration of Independence.
Below is the draft of the Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Congress 242 years ago in Philadelphia. It is read by NPR staff members in the accompanying audio.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Rachel Martin
Stephen Voss / NPR
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— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
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— Noel King
Sandy Honig / NPR
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— Don Gonyea
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Deborah Amos
/ Steve Barrett
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— Joe Palca
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Audie Cornish 2010
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Shankar Vedantam
Gary Knight / VII
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— Lulu Garcia-Navarro 2017 square
Stephen Voss / NPR
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— Sylvia Poggioli
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
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— Langfitt
/ Steve Barrett
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— Cheryl Corley
Steve Barrett / NPR
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— Nina Totenberg
Steve Barrett / NPR
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— Headshot of Scott Detrow, 2018
Stephen Voss / NPR
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— Tell Me More is an NPR news-talk program, hosted by award-winning journalist Michel Martin.
/ Stephen Voss
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— Ayesha Rascoe at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley)
Allison Shelley / NPR
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— Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
/ Jacques Coughlin
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— Mary Louise Kelly 2010
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Ailsa Chang
/ Mike Morgan/NPR
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— Linda Wertheimer
/ Steve Barrett
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— Debbie Elliot 2010
Christy Haynes / NPR
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— Anthony Kuhn
Wang Zemin / Wang Zemin
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— Gene Demby 2013
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
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— Ari Shapiro
Doby Photography / NPR
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— Eyder Peralta
Kainaz Amaria / 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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— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
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— Rachel Martin 2016
Stephen Voss / NPR
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— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR