The hemp plant is a very versatile plant, which can make many, many different things. It is used in shampoos, fabrics, drugs (such as marinol, medicinal marijuana and smokable marijuana), ropes, makes an alternative to fossil fuels when making fibers out of it as well. Paper is one material that it was widely used for back in the day because they could not back then create paper out of trees like we can today. The fabrics and paper that is created out of hemp is much greater quality than is made out of cotton, etc. and lasts longer, hence why the declaration still exists. And yes, it was written on paper made from hemp, the plant whose buds are known in slang as "marijuana".

YES!Back then they realized just how useful the plant could be, and made regular use of it, unlike today, where help products are not as common.

I thought it was written on animal skin parchment, not plant based. Does anyone have a credible link?

No wonder our politicians are constantly trying to smoke it. That and the "Constitution" too.

The source is odd, http://www.electricemperor.com but it makes sense. http://www.electricemperor.com/eecdrom/HTML/EMP/02/ECH02_03.HTM Until 1883, from 75-90% of all paper in the world was made with cannabis hemp fiber including paper for books, Bibles, maps, paper money, stocks and bonds, newspaper, etc. The Gutenberg Bible (15th Century); Pantagruel and the Herb Pantagruelion, Rabelais (16th Century); King James Bible (17th Century); Thomas Paine’s pamphlets, “The Rights of Man,” “Common Sense,” “The Age of Reason” (18th Century); the works of Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” (19th Century); and just about everything else was printed on hemp paper. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence (June 28, 1776) was written on Dutch (hemp) paper, as was the second draft completed on July 2, 1776. This was the document actually agreed to on that day and announced and released on July 4, 1776. …On July 19, 1776, Congress ordered the Declaration be copied and engrossed on parchment (a prepared animal skin) and this was the document actually signed by the delegates on August 2, 1776.

i don know, all i know is that hemp is used a lot because of its extreme durability, ability to shed water, and tensile strength. we'd be better off today in this country if, instead of cutting down the forests for paper, we instead harvested really good weed, gave away the bud, and turned the stalks into paper :D weed grows faster than trees too!

yes, the finest chronic.

for suuuure... there never woulda been a revolution if the founding fathers weren't high!

I think that it was written on hemp paper, yes. http://www.american.edu/TED/hemp.htm I can't be bothered to go and search for heaps of sources, but yeah... This one says so, and 'www.american.edu' sounds credible enough for me right now : P

Parchment (animal skin). From the source: Q. Is the original Declaration of Independence written on paper? A. No, the original was engrossed on parchment which is an animal skin specially treated with lime and stretched to create a strong, long-lasting writing support. Source: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/treasure/declaration_facts.html

No, the actual Declaration wasn't written on hemp paper but many of the drafts were. And by the way the paper was not made of "marijuana", it was made of hemp. Marijuana is a term that is meant to bring drug use to mind. Hemp has not recreational potential.