<Li> <P> The imprinted seal </P> </Li> <P> The imprinted seal </P> <P> On July 4, 1776, the same day that independence from Great Britain was declared by the thirteen states, the Continental Congress named the first committee to design a Great Seal, or national emblem, for the country . Similar to other nations, the United States needed an official symbol of sovereignty to formalize and seal (or sign) international treaties and transactions . It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men before the Congress finally accepted a design (which included elements proposed by each of the three committees) in 1782 . </P> <P> The first committee consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams . While they were three of the five primary authors of the Declaration of Independence, they had little experience in heraldry and sought the help of Pierre Eugene du Simitiere, an artist living in Philadelphia who would later also design the state seals of Delaware and New Jersey and start a museum of the Revolutionary War . Each of these men proposed a design for the seal . </P>

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