This is was in response to my assertion that in the 18th century English nouns were routinely capitalized, inlcuding the Declaration of Independence. The self-appointed censor-general who tracks my posts with admirable passion even provided a link to show me that I was wrong, hence the "easily checked and refuted" comment.
But if the particular individual bothered to preach what she preaches she would have learned that the document that handwritten draft that was approved on July 4th, 1776 (which was signed only by the John Hancock (president of the Congress) and Charles Thompson (Secretary), and was immediately sent to a printer a few blocks away for immediate distribution. The printed copies made by John Dunlap, a printer, on July 4th, 1776, are known as the Dunlap broadsides (hi-res link) pictured below in reduces resolution.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Yale_Dunlap_Broadside.jpg/478px-Yale_Dunlap_Broadside.jpg")
The original handwritten Declaration John Dunlap used is lost, so the only copy of the Delcaration that is actually a July 4th copy is the Dunlap printed version. One thing that is immediately clear from looking at the hi-resolution image is that it apparently capitalizes nouns, such as Course, Events, etc.
The so-called Goddard broadsides were officially printed in January 1777, showing signatures of all participants in the drafting and approving, while maintaining idential capitalization of the July 4th, 1776 Dunlap version.
The handwritten copy we usually associate with the "original" Declaration of Independence is a commissioned copy ordered by the Philadelphia Congress on July 19, 1776 in order for all participants to sign it. It's cursive text shows somewhat lesser tendency to capitalize every noun compared to the official July 4th printed versions but a high resolution copy leaves no doubt that such capitalization is still present (see hi-res here), as evidenced by words such as Form, Men, Trade, etc.
Some other copies,such as the Boston broadsides follow the handwritten custom. And, for what it's worth, this little article on English Capitalization – Rules and Regulations says of the 18th century capitalizations
Soon many writers capitalized every noun they found important. Consequently, in some books all or most nouns were being capitalized
So, I stand by my original statement. And so much for my censor-general telling me "You've got to learn to stop making statements which can be easily checked and refuted, expecting to carry the day by sheer bombast" with which you so wholehearteldy agreed but without ever realizing that his own advice might perchance bite both of you.