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

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The 56 delegates to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

represented the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

, 12 of the colonies voted to approve the

Declaration of Independence A declaration 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 the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

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 Thirteen Colonies were now "free and independent States", no longer colonies of the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

and, thus, no longer a part of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

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

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...

, as

President of the Continental Congress The president of the United States in Congress Assembled, known unofficially as the president of the Continental Congress and later as president of the Congress of the Confederation, was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the con ...

; the states are arranged geographically from south to north, with Button Gwinnett from Georgia first, and Matthew Thornton 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

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 by Timothy Matlack). 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 9, New York's delegates got permission from their convention to agree to the Declaration. This news reached the Continental Congress on July 15. The ''Secret Journals'' entry for July 19 reads: The entry for August 2 states: In 1884, historian Mellen Chamberlain 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 David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United S ...

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 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 of Virginia said to a diminutive Elbridge Gerry 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 signatories

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 borders 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 :4. Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...

:5. Samuel Adams :6.

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

:7. Robert Treat Paine :8. Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island and Providence Plantations :9. Stephen Hopkins :10.

William Ellery William Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820) was a Founding Father of the United States, one of the 56 signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a signer of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Rho ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

:11.

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

:12. Samuel Huntington :13. William Williams :14. Oliver Wolcott New York :15. William Floyd :16. Philip Livingston :17. Francis Lewis :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 Conti ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

:19. Richard Stockton :20. John Witherspoon :21. Francis Hopkinson :22. John Hart :23.

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

:24. Robert Morris :25. Benjamin Rush :26.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

:27. John Morton :28. George Clymer :29. James Smith :30. George Taylor :31. James Wilson :32. George Ross

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

:33. Caesar Rodney :34. George Read :35. Thomas McKean

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

:36.

Samuel Chase Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryla ...

:37. William Paca :38. Thomas Stone :39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

:40. George Wythe :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 fr ...

:42.

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

:43. Benjamin Harrison :44. Thomas Nelson, Jr. :45. Francis Lightfoot Lee :46. Carter Braxton

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

:47. William Hooper :48. Joseph Hewes :49. John Penn

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

:50. Edward Rutledge :51. Thomas Heyward, Jr. :52. Thomas Lynch, Jr. :53. Arthur Middleton

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

:54. Button Gwinnett :55. Lyman Hall :56. George Walton

Signer details

Nine 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, George Clinton,

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13, O.S. November 2">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. November 21732Various sources indicate a birth date of November 8, 12 or 13, but his most recent biographer ...

, Charles Humphreys, Robert R. Livingston, John Rogers, Thomas Willing, and Henry Wisner. Thomas Lynch, a member of the Continental Congress 1774–1776, was unable to sign the Declaration of Independence because of illness. Clinton, Livingston, and Wisner voted for independence, but were attending to duties away from Congress when the signing took place. Rogers, who had also voted for the resolution of independence, was no longer a delegate on August 2. Willing and Humphreys voted against the resolution of independence and were replaced in the Pennsylvania delegation before the August 2 signing. 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. George Read had voted against the resolution of independence, and Robert Morris had abstained—yet they both signed the Declaration. The most famous signature on Timothy Matlack's 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. Edward Rutledge (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

, Oliver Wolcott, Thomas McKean, and possibly Elbridge Gerry.

and George Wythe 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: Matthew Thornton, William Williams, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 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 only names on that version were Congress President

and Secretary

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States and secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson prepared the Journals of the ...

, 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

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