DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ADOPTED BY 2ND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On July 4, 1776, "the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" was adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting here in Philadelphia.
Largely the work of Thomas Jefferson of Virginia representing the Committee of Five, the document is a statement declaring the causes which impelled the original thirteen British colonies in America to declare their independence from the mother country.
Much of the document includes a list of grievances against King George III "all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
The Declaration of Independence was first signed only by John Hancock, president of the 2nd Continental Congress & Charles Thomson, Secretary.
Other signers, although not all, added their signatures on August 2, 1776. The order of signing was by state delegation geographically from North to South beginning with New Hampshire and ending with Georgia.
Except for the names of Hancock and Thomson, the other signers names were not made public until early 1777.
Following is a list of the number of delegates representing each State:
Pennsylvania 9, Massachusetts 7, Virginia 7, New Jersey 5, Connecticut 4, New York 4, Maryland 4, South Carolina 4, New Hampshire 3, Delaware 3, North Carolina 3, Georgia 3, Rhode Island 2
The signatures are just below the last sentence of the document...
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor."
Of the 56 signers, 24 were lawyers or jurists, 11 were merchants, and 9 were plantation owners/farmers. According to Ann Landers, no signer was killed outright by the British for signing the Declaration.
17 held commissions in the Continental Army and although some were captured during the war, none were tortured. Many lost property and possessions but most were able to reestablish themselves financially after the Revolutionary War.
SOURCES
"Declaration of Independence: A Transcription," National Archives, www.archives.gov/
"Declaration Signers," by Michael W. Smith, July 4, 2015, www.michaelwsmith.com/
"History revised: True Story of the Declaration Signers," by Ann Landers, Chicago Tribune, July 4, 2001, www.chicagotribune.com/
"On this day, the Declaration of Independence is officially signed," by Scott Bomboy, Interactive Constitution, August 2, 2021, www.constitutioncenter.org/
