USPS on 29 May 1976, issued four souvenir sheets to commemorate INTERPHIL ‘76 (Seventh International Philatelic Exhibition) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Each sheet contained five individually perforated stamps, which were valid for postage. Since the U.S. was celebrating its 200th anniversary of Independence, four famous Revolutionary War paintings were appropriately chosen as design subjects for the sheets.
Each sheet measures 6 x 8 inch. The stamps created by the perforations in the sheet are the standard commemorative size of .84 by 1.44 inches or 21.4 by 36.5 millimeters. They are arranged in vertical and horizontal combinations on three of the sheets. All five stamps are vertical for the surrender of Cornwallis sheet. “USA” and the denomination appears in a corner of each stamp.
The sheets are being produced by a combination of offset and intaglio printing. The paintings are being reproduced by offset, and the “USA” and denomination by intaglio on a Giori press.
The first sheet, "The Declaration of Independence" which contained five 13-cent stamps, featured a reproduction by John Trumbull. The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration; Trumbull originally intended to include all 56 signers but was unable to obtain likenesses for all of them. He also depicted several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign.
The second sheet, which contained five 13-cent stamps, featured a reproduction of "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze and Eastman Johnson. The painting commemorates General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River with the Continental Army on the night of 25–26 December 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. That action was the first move in a surprise attack and victory against Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey on the morning of 26 December.
The third sheet, which contained five 13-cent stamps, featured a reproduction of "Washington Reviewing the Ragged Troops at Valley Forge" by William Trego. The March to Valley Forge, December 19, 1777 is one of the most iconic paintings of the Revolutionary War. Painted by Philadelphia artist William B. T. Trego in 1883, the scene shows the Continental Army limping into their winter encampment at Valley Forge. Washington is at the centre.
The fourth and final sheet, which contained five 13-cent stamps, featured a reproduction of John Trumbull’s painting “The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.” Picturing the moment that “ended the war,” the scene shows American and French officers, including Washington, lined up to receive the British surrender.
In total, the U.S. Bicentennial was a series of celebrations during the mid-1970s that commemorated the historic events leading to America’s independence from Great Britain. The official events began on 1 April 1975, when the American Freedom Train departed Delaware to begin a 21-month, 25,338-mile tour of the 48 contiguous states. For more than a year, a wave of patriotism swept the nation as elaborate firework displays lit up skies across the U.S., an international fleet of tall-mast sailing ships gathered in New York City and Boston, and Queen Elizabeth made a state visit. The celebration culminated on 4 Jul 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The USPS issued 113 commemorative stamps over a six-year period in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, beginning with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Emblem stamp (U.S. #1432). As a group, the Bicentennial Series chronicles one of our nation’s most important chapters, and remembers the events and patriots who made the U.S. a world model for liberty.
Source: Mystic Stamps
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