The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place mainly on 2 August 1776 at Pennsylvania State House, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress represent 13 former colonists who have declared themselves "the United States," and they endorse the Declaration of Independence approved by Congress on July 4, 1776. The Declaration states that the former Thirteen Colonies later fought with The United Kingdom is now a sovereign, independent state and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. The signatories' names are grouped by the state, with the exception of President of Continental Congressman John Hancock; the state is arranged geographically from north to south.
The final draft of the Declaration has been approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, although the date of its signing has long been debated. Most historians conclude that it was signed on August 2, 1776, almost a month after its adoption, and not on July 4 as it is commonly believed.
Video Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence
Date of signing
The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, with 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor and New York abstained. The date on which the Declaration was signed has long been a matter of debate. Within a decade after that event, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that the Declaration was signed by Congress on the day it was adopted on July 4, 1776. The statement appears to be confirmed by a copy of the signed Declaration, dated July 4. Additional support for July 4 is provided by the Journals of Congress , the official official record of the Continental Congress. The process for 1776 was first published in 1777, and the entry for July 4 stated that the Declaration was engrossed and signed on that date (an official copy was handwritten).
In 1796, signatory Thomas McKean denied that the Declaration had been signed on July 4, indicating that some of the signers did not exist, including some who were not even elected to Congress until after that date. "[Someone] signed it on that day or a few days after," he wrote later. His claim was supported when the Secret Journal of Congress was published in 1821. The Secret Journal contains two previously unpublished entries about the Declaration.
On July 15, New York delegates heard that they got permission from their convention to approve the declaration. The Secret Journal entry for July 19 reads:
Resolved That the Declaration passed on the 4th will be sufficiently stamped on the parchment with the title and stile "Unanimous statement of thirteen states of the United States" & amp; that the same thing when fun is signed by every member of Congress.
Entry for 2 August states:
Declaration of Independence that is engrossed & amp; than on the table signed by the Member.
In 1884, historian Mellen Chamberlain argued that these entries indicate that a well-known version of the Declaration signed was created after the July 19 resolution, and has not been signed by Congress until 2 August. Subsequent research has confirmed that many signatories are not present at Congress on July 4, and that some delegates may have added their signatures even after 2 August. Both Jefferson and Adams never hesitated from their belief that the signing ceremony took place on July 4, but most historians have accepted the argument that David McCullough articulates in John Adams's biography: "There is no such scene, with all the delegates present, ever happened in Philadelphia. "
Legal historian Wilfred Ritz concluded in 1986 that about 34 delegates signed the Declaration on July 4, and others signed on or after 2 August. Ritz argues that the copies of the filled Declaration were signed by Congress on July 4, as Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin have stated, and it does not make sense that the three men were wrong. The Ritz believes that McKean's testimony is questionable, and historians have misinterpreted the 19 July resolution. According to the Ritz, this resolution does not require new documents to be made, but for existing ones to be given a new title, which is necessary after New York has joined the other 12 states in declaring independence. The Ritz reasoned that the phrase "signed by every member of Congress" in the July 19 resolution meant that delegates who had not signed the Declaration on the 4th are now required to do so.
Maps Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence
Signer list
Fifty-six delegates finally signed the Declaration of Independence:
Signer details
Eight delegates never signed the Declaration, of some 50 people allegedly present at the Congress during the independence vote in early July 1776: John Alsop, George Clinton, John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, Robert R. Livingston, John Rogers, Thomas Willing and Henry Wisner. Clinton, Livingston, and Wisner were attending a task away from Congress when the signing took place. Willing and Humphreys voted against the independence resolution and was replaced in the Pennsylvania delegation before the Aug. 2 signing. Rogers has elected a resolution of independence but is no longer a delegate on 2 August. Alsop liked reconciliation with Great Britain and resigned rather than adding his name to the document. Dickinson refused to sign, believing the Declaration was premature, but he remained in Congress. George Read had voted against the resolution of independence, and Robert Morris abstained - but they both signed the Declaration.
The most famous signature on a great copy is John Hancock's, who is likely to enter first as President of Congress. Hancock's big, flamboyant icons became icons, and John Hancock appeared in the United States as an informal synonym for "signature". Future presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are among the signatories. Edward Rutledge (age 26) is the youngest signature and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) is the oldest.
Some delegates went on business when the Declaration was debated, including William Hooper and Samuel Chase, but they returned to Congress to sign on 2 August. Other delegates were present when the Declaration was debated but added their name after 2 August, including Lewis Morris, Oliver Wolcott, Thomas McKean, and perhaps Elbridge Gerry. Richard Henry Lee and George Wythe were in Virginia during July and August, but returned to Congress and signed the Declaration that may be respectively in September and October.
New delegates joining Congress are also allowed to sign. Eight men signed the Declaration that did not take seats in Congress until after July 4: Matthew Thornton, William Williams, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Matthew Thornton did not sit in Congress until November. By the time he signed it, there was no room for his name next to another New Hampshire delegation, so he placed his signature at the end of the document.
The first version published from the Declaration was the Dunlap flyer. The only names in the version were President of Congressman John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson, and the names were printed rather than signatures. The public did not know who signed the copy that had been covered until January 18, 1777, when Congress ordered that "certified copies" be sent to each of the 13 states, including the names of the signatories. This copy is called Goddard Broadside; it was the first to list all signatories except for Thomas McKean, who probably did not sign the Declaration until after Goddard Broadside was published. Congress Secretary Charles Thomson did not sign a copy of the exciting Declaration, and his name did not appear on Goddard Broadside, even though it appeared on the Dunlap flyers.
Stories and legends
Various legends emerged several years later on the signing of the Declaration, when the document became an important national symbol. In one famous story, John Hancock is said to have said that Congress, after signing the Declaration, must now "all unite", and Benjamin Franklin replied: "Yes, we must indeed gather together, or most definitely we will all depend separately." The quote did not appear in print until more than 50 years after Franklin's death.
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