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.
On July 4, America will celebrate 244 years since the continental congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
NPR marks the celebration with what has become a Morning Edition tradition: the annual reading of that document. Below is the original text of the Declaration of Independence, alongside photos of the NPR staff members who performed the reading.
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Steve Inskeep (Mike Morgan / NPR)
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Rachel Martin (Mike Morgan / NPR)
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David Greene, NPR ( / Mike Morgan)
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Noel King (Mike Morgan / NPR)
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Don Gonyea (Doby Photography / NPR)
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Lauren Frayer (Sergey Gershkovich / NPR)
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Joe Palca (Mike Morgan / NPR)
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Audie Cornish (Allison Shelley / NPR)
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Shankar Vedantam (Douglas Sonders / NPR)
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Lulu Garcia-Navarro 2017 square (Stephen Voss / NPR)
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Sylvia Poggioli (Wanyu Zhang / NPR)
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Langfitt ( / Steve Barrett)
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Cheryl Corley (Allison Shelley / NPR)
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Nina Totenberg (Allison Shelley / NPR)
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Headshot of Scott Detrow, 2018 (Stephen Voss / NPR)
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Michel Martin (Stephen Voss / NPR)
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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 (Stephen Voss / NPR)
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Ailsa Chang ( / Mike Morgan/NPR)
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Sam Sanders (Corey Seeholzer / NPR)
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Renee Montagne (Allison Shelley / NPR)
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Anthony Kuhn ( / Wang Zemin)
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Gene Demby 2013 (Kainaz Amaria / NPR)
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Ari Shapiro (Stephen Voss / NPR)
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Eyder Peralta (Kainaz Amaria / NPR)
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Susan Stamberg (Allison Shelley / NPR)
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Scott Horsley (Doby Photography / NPR)
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Hannah Allam (Shatha Alawsy / NPR)
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Emily Feng at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., March 19, 2019. ( / Allison Shelley)
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Franco Ordoñez ( / Wanyu Zhang)
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Melissa Block at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., September 27, 2018. ( / Allison Shelley)