Hear the Declaration of Independence in Morristown on July 4th

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Independence Day is upon us, and Morristown National Historical Park is gearing up for its annual public reading of the Declaration of Independence to celebrate.

This year, the park’s Fourth of July festivities include historical re-enactments, period-correct tents displaying what Continental Army soldiers would have carried, and more.

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Visitors can join in singing period military songs, explore the park’s Junior Ranger programs, and learn about the daily lives of Revolutionary War soldiers.

All activities are free and take place at Washington’s headquarters (30 Washington Pl., Morristown NJ 07960) on the 4th of July.

The celebration begins at 12 o’clock with a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

“Participants will be encouraged to cheer along with park rangers and recreationists as they denounce tyranny and praise freedom,” organizers said.

As the park noted, early American independence celebrations included various forms of celebration, such as the firing of muskets or cannons, as well as toasts and salutes. Word of the Declaration of Independence was spread from town to town through newspapers or broadsides, as well as through public readings such as the one held in Morristown each year.

“It was the desire of Congress that public readings of the Declaration be conducted ‘in such a manner that the people may be universally informed thereof,’” the park noted. “General Washington read the Declaration of Independence to his troops in 1776. Although there is no evidence of any celebration in Morristown, the army was in Morristown for the first anniversary of Independence during a brief visit in July 1777.”

The Washington Headquarters Museum will also be open to visitors.

Visitors are asked to bring their own seating and are reminded to dress appropriately for the weather and bring drinking water.

Morristown National Historical Park commemorates where General George Washington’s Continental Army stayed during a brutal winter in the second winter camp at Morristown between 1779 and 1780.

Washington used the Ford Mansion, which is currently under construction, as his headquarters that winter. The house was built in the early 1770s for Jacob Ford, Jr., who became a colonel in the Morris County militia. Ford had died of pneumonia two winters before.

Washington, his wife Martha, five aides-de-camp, 18 servants, and a number of others also remained in the house, while Ford’s widow, Theodosia, and their five children moved into other rooms of the house.

As a note: The Jockey Hollow Visitor Center and Wick House will be closed on the 4th of July, as will the Ford Mansion during construction.