The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence occurred primarily on August 2, 1776, at the Pennsylvania State House in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, later to become known as

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...

. The 56 delegates to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

represented the 13 colonies, 12 of which voted to approve the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

on July 4, 1776. The New York delegation abstained because they had not yet received instructions from Albany to vote for independence. The Declaration proclaimed the signatory colonies were now "free and independent States," no longer colonies of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

and, thus, no longer a part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. The signers’ names are grouped by state, with the exception of

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor o ...

, as President of the Continental Congress; the states are arranged geographically from south to north, with Button Gwinnett from Georgia first, and

Matthew Thornton Matthew Thornton (March 3, 1714 – June 24, 1803) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Background and early life Thornton was ...

from New Hampshire last. The final draft of the Declaration was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, although the date of its signing has long been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed on August 2, 1776, nearly a month after its adoption, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

Date of signing

Signing of Declaration of Independence by Armand-Dumaresq, c1873

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, with 12 of the 13 colonies voting in favor and New York abstaining. The date that the Declaration was signed has long been the subject of debate. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that it was signed by Congress on the day when it was adopted on July 4, 1776. That assertion is seemingly confirmed by the signed copy of the Declaration, which is dated July 4. Additional support for the July 4 date is provided by the Journals of the Continental Congress, the official public record of the Continental Congress. The proceedings for 1776 were first published in 1777, and the entry for July 4 states that the Declaration was engrossed and signed on that date (the official copy was handwritten). In 1796, signer Thomas McKean disputed that the Declaration had been signed on July 4, pointing out that some signers were not present, including several who were not even elected to Congress until after that date. "No person signed it on that day nor for many days after", he wrote. His claim gained support when the ''Secret Journals of Congress'' were published in 1821. The ''Secret Journals'' contained two previously unpublished entries about the Declaration. On July 15, New York's delegates got permission from their convention to agree to the Declaration. The ''Secret Journals'' entry for July 19 reads: The entry for August 2 states: In 1884, historian

Mellen Chamberlain Mellen Chamberlain (4 June 1821, Pembroke, New Hampshire - 25 June 1900, Chelsea, Massachusetts) was a United States lawyer, librarian and historian. He was librarian of the Boston Public Library for over a decade. Biography He graduated from ...

argued that these entries indicated that the famous signed version of the Declaration had been created following the July 19 resolution, and had not been signed by Congress until August 2. Subsequent research has confirmed that many of the signers had not been present in Congress on July 4, and that some delegates may have added their signatures even after August 2. Neither Jefferson nor Adams ever wavered from their belief that the signing ceremony took place on July 4, yet most historians have accepted the argument which David McCullough articulates in his biography of John Adams: "No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia." Syng inkstand

Legal historian Wilfred Ritz concluded in 1986 that about 34 delegates signed the Declaration on July 4, and that the others signed on or after August 2. Ritz argues that the engrossed copy of the Declaration was signed by Congress on July 4, as Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin had stated, and that it was implausible that all three men had been mistaken. He believes that McKean's testimony was questionable, and that historians had misinterpreted the July 19 resolution. According to Ritz, this resolution did not call for a new document to be created, but rather for the existing one to be given a new title, which was necessary after New York had joined the other 12 states in declaring independence. He reasons 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 were now required to do so. In an 1811 letter to Adams,

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educa ...

recounted the signing in stark fashion, describing it as a scene of "pensive and awful silence". Rush said the delegates were called up, one after another, and then filed forward somberly to subscribe what each thought was their ensuing death warrant. He related that the "gloom of the morning" was briefly interrupted when the rotund

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

of Virginia said to a diminutive

Elbridge Gerry Elbridge Gerry (; July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1 ...

of Massachusetts, at the signing table, "I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead." According to Rush, Harrison’s remark "procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the Solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.”

List of signers

Fifty-six delegates eventually signed the Declaration of Independence: President of Congress :1.

(Massachusetts Bay)

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

:2. Josiah Bartlett :3.

William Whipple William Whipple Jr. (January 25, 1731 NS Old_Style.html"_;"title="anuary_14,_1730_Old_Style">OS/nowiki>_–_November_28,_1785)_was_an_American_Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States.html" "title="Old_Style">OS.html" ;"title="Old_Style.ht ...

:4.

Massachusetts Bay :5.

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, an ...

:6.

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

:7. Robert Treat Paine :8.

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations :9. Stephen Hopkins :10. William Ellery

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

:11.

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an American statesman, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign four of the great state papers of the United States related to the founding: the Con ...

:12. Samuel Huntington :13. William Williams :14.

Oliver Wolcott Oliver Wolcott Sr. (November 20, 1726 December 1, 1797) was an American Founding Father and politician. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Connecticut, and t ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

:15.

William Floyd William Floyd (December 17, 1734 – August 4, 1821) was an American Founding Father, wealthy farmer, and political leader from New York. Floyd served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a signer of the Continental Association and ...

:16.

Philip Livingston Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great ...

:17.

Francis Lewis Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713 – December 31, 1802) was an American merchant and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as a representative of Ne ...

:18.

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Contin ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

:19. Richard Stockton :20.

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

:21.

Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinso ...

:22. John Hart :23.

Abraham Clark Abraham Clark (February 15, 1726 – September 15, 1794) was an American Founding Father, politician, and Revolutionary War figure. He was a delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence and ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

:24. Robert Morris :25.

:26.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

:27. John Morton :28.

George Clymer George Clymer (March 16, 1739January 23, 1813) was an American politician, abolitionist and Founding Father of the United States, one of only six founders who signed both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. He was among the e ...

:29. James Smith :30. George Taylor :31. James Wilson :32. George Ross

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

:33.

Caesar Rodney Caesar Rodney (October 7, 1728 – June 26, 1784) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War ...

:34.

George Read George Read may refer to: * George Reade (colonial governor) (1608–1671), politician, judge, and Acting Governor of Virginia Colony * George Read (American politician, born 1733) (1733–1798), lawyer, signer of Declaration of Independence and U ...

:35. Thomas McKean

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

:36.

Samuel Chase Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States, a signatory to the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an Associate Justice of t ...

:37.

William Paca William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

:38. Thomas Stone :39.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic si ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

:40.

George Wythe George Wythe (; December 3, 1726 – June 8, 1806) was an American academic, scholar and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence from ...

:41.

Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732June 19, 1794) was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia, best known for the June 1776 Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence f ...

:42.

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

:43.

:44. Thomas Nelson, Jr. :45.

Francis Lightfoot Lee Francis Lightfoot Lee (October 14, 1734 – January 11, 1797) was a Founding Father of the United States and a member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. As an active protester regarding issues such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Lee ...

:46.

Carter Braxton Carter Braxton (September 10, 1736October 10, 1797) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, a merchant, Planter class, planter, a Founding Father of the United States and a Virginia politician. A grandson of Robert Carter I ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

:47. William Hooper :48.

Joseph Hewes Joseph Hewes (July 9, 1730– November 10, 1779) was an American Founding Father, a signer of the Continental Association and U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes's parents wer ...

:49. John Penn

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

:50.

Edward Rutledge Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749 – January 23, 1800) was an American Founding Father and politician who signed the Continental Association and was the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th gov ...

:51.

Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Heyward Jr. (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and politician. Heyward was active politically during the Revolutionary Era. As a member of the Continental Congress representing South Carol ...

:52.

Thomas Lynch, Jr. Thomas Lynch Jr. (August 5, 1749 – December 17, 1779) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina and a Founding Father of the United States. His father was a member of the Continental ...

:53.

Arthur Middleton Arthur Middleton (June 26, 1742 – January 1, 1787) was a Founding Father of the United States as a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, representing South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress. Life Middleton was b ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

:54. Button Gwinnett :55.

Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...

:56.

George Walton George Walton (c. 1749 – February 2, 1804), a Founding Father of the United States, signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second chief executive of Georgia. Early life W ...

Signer details

Eight delegates never signed the Declaration, out of about 50 who are thought to have been present in Congress during the voting on independence in early July 1776:

John Alsop John Alsop Jr. (1724 – November 22, 1794) was an American merchant and politician from New York City. As a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, he signed the 1774 Continental Association. Early life Alsop was ...

, George Clinton,

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...

, Charles Humphreys,

Robert R. Livingston Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", afte ...

, John Rogers,

Thomas Willing Thomas Willing (December 19, 1731 – January 19, 1821) was an American merchant, politician and slave trader who served as mayor of Philadelphia and was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. He also served as the first pre ...

, and Henry Wisner. Clinton, Livingston, and Wisner were attending to duties away from Congress when the signing took place. Willing and Humphreys voted against the resolution of independence and were replaced in the Pennsylvania delegation before the August 2 signing. Rogers had voted for the resolution of independence but was no longer a delegate on August 2. Alsop favored reconciliation with Great Britain and so resigned rather than add his name to the document. Dickinson refused to sign, believing the Declaration premature, but he remained in Congress.

had voted against the resolution of independence, and Robert Morris had abstained—yet they both signed the Declaration. The most famous signature on the engrossed copy is that of

, who presumably signed first as President of Congress. Hancock's large, flamboyant signature became iconic, and ''John Hancock'' emerged in the United States as an informal synonym for "signature". Future presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were among the signatories.

(age 26) was the youngest signer and

(age 70) the oldest. JohnHancockSignature

Some delegates were away on business when the Declaration was debated, including William Hooper and

, but they were back in Congress to sign on August 2. Other delegates were present when the Declaration was debated but added their names after August 2, including

, Thomas McKean, and possibly

and

were in Virginia during July and August, but returned to Congress and signed the Declaration probably in September and October, respectively. New delegates joining the Congress were also allowed to sign. Eight men signed the Declaration who did not take seats in Congress until after July 4:

, William Williams,

, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, and

. Matthew Thornton did not take a seat in Congress until November. By the time that he signed it, there wasn't any space for his name next to the other New Hampshire delegates, so he placed his signature at the end of the document. The first published version of the Declaration was the

Dunlap broadside The physical history of the United States Declaration of Independence spans from its original drafting in 1776 into the discovery of historical documents in modern time. This includes a number of drafts, handwritten copies, and published broadsid ...

. The only names on that version were Congress President

and Secretary

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson ...

, and those names were printed rather than signatures. The public did not learn who had signed the engrossed copy until January 18, 1777, when the Congress ordered that an "authenticated copy" be sent to each of the 13 states, including the names of the signers. This copy is called the Goddard Broadside; it was the first to list all the signers except for Thomas McKean, who may not have signed the Declaration until after the Goddard Broadside was published. Congress Secretary Charles Thomson did not sign the engrossed copy of the Declaration, and his name doesn't appear on the Goddard Broadside, even though it does appear on the Dunlap broadside.

Legacy

Declaration of Independence, 24c, 1869 issue

Various legends emerged years later concerning the signing of the Declaration, when the document had become an important national symbol. In one famous story, John Hancock supposedly said that Congress, having signed the Declaration, must now "all hang together", and Benjamin Franklin replied: "Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." The earliest known version of that quotation in print appeared in a London humor magazine in 1837.

References

Citations

Sources

* Boyd, Julian P., ed. ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'', vol. 1. Princeton University Press, 1950. *Boyd, Julian P
"The Declaration of Independence: The Mystery of the Lost Original"
''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 100, number 4 (October 1976), 438–67. *Burnett, Edward Cody. ''The Continental Congress''. New York: Norton, 1941. * Friedenwald, Herbert. ''The Declaration of Independence: An Interpretation and an Analysis.'' New York: Macmillan, 1904. Accessed via th
Internet Archive
*Hazelton, John H. ''The Declaration of Independence: Its History.'' Originally published 1906. New York: Da Capo Press, 1970. . 1906 printing available o
Google Book Search
* Maier, Pauline. ''American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence.'' New York: Knopf, 1997. . * Malone, Dumas. ''The Story of the Declaration of Independence''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. A picture book with text by a leading Jefferson scholar. *Ritz, Wilfred J. "The Authentication of the Engrossed Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776". ''Law and History Review'' 4, no. 1 (Spring 1986): 179–204. *United States Continental Congress.
Secret journals of the acts and proceedings of Congress, from the first meeting thereof to the dissolution of the Confederation
', vol. 1, p. 46. Boston: Thomas B. Wait, 1820. *Warren, Charles. "Fourth of July Myths." ''The William and Mary Quarterly'', Third Series, vol. 2, no. 3 (July 1945): 238–72. * Wills, Garry. ''Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1978. . {{Portal bar, Politics, United States United States Declaration of Independence Documents of the American Revolution 1776 in the United States 1776 in the British Empire