Born on April 13, 1743, near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. Everybody knows that the Fourth of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the historic document by means of which the 13 American colonies severed their political When was Declaration of Independence signed? Explore dates, who wrote it, where and when it was signed, its role in American independence. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress represented the 13 colonies, 12 of which voted to approve the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The New York delegation abstained because they had not yet received instructions from Albany to vote for independence. Everybody knows that the Fourth of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the historic document by means of which the 13 American colonies severed their political John Hancock (1737-1793) • State: Massachusetts Hancock, a Massachusetts native who studied business at Harvard College, was the first man to sign the Declaration of Independence. Information obtained from: American Council of Learned Societies. American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume 1607-1896. Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company, 1963. In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to Who Were the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence? There were 56 signers to the Declaration of Independence. The youngest was Edward Rutledge from South Carolina at 26 years old. The Brief but detail-rich biographies of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the engrossed Declaration of Independence. Most of the signers voted in favor of independence on July 2nd. Some delegates who voted for independence did not sign the Declaration, and some signers were not delegates to Congress at the time of the vote. The Declaration of Independence The Want, Will, and Hopes of the People Declaration text | Rough Draft | Congress's Draft | Compare | Dunlap Broadside | Image | Scan Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume 1607-1896. Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company, 1963. PDF files require the free Adobe Reader. More information on Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our Accessibility page. This page was last reviewed on July 10, 2024. Contact us with questions or comments. More information Learn what the document says, its meaning, and how it was created on our main Declaration of Independence page. You can even add your name to the Declaration of Independence on our Join the Signers page! About the Signers of the Declaration of Independence Connecticut • Delaware • Georgia • Maryland • Massachusetts • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New York • North Carolina • Pennsylvania • South Carolina • Rhode Island • Virginia All of the colonies were represented in Philadelphia to consider the delicate case for independence and to change the course of the war. In all On August 2, 1776, members of the Second Continental Congress, including John Hancock, the President of the Congress, began signing the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. The signers’ names are grouped by state, with the exception of John Hancock, as President of the Continental Congress; the states are arranged geographically from south to north, with Button Gwinnett from Georgia first, and Matthew Thornton from New Hampshire last. Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The youngest was William Rutledge of South Carolina, who was only 26. The oldest was Benjamin Franklin, then aged 70. He commented that, "We must hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." The signers of the Declaration of Independence are characterized here, and we have also listed each person below in alphabetical order, followed by their age at the time the Declaration was signed. Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
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