The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence occurred primarily on August 2, 1776 at the Pennsylvania State House, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress represented the 13 former colonies which had declared themselves the "United States of America," and they endorsed the Declaration of Independence which the Congress had approved on July 4, 1776. The Declaration proclaimed that the former Thirteen Colonies then at war with Great Britain were now a sovereign, independent nation and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. The signers’ names are grouped by state, with the exception of President of the Continental Congress John Hancock; the states are arranged geographically from north to south.
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.
This book presents biographies of fifty-eight individuals, all engaged in the accomplishment of a single object, the independence of the United State. The author has labored to be concise without being obscure, to inform the understanding without burdening the memory. He has introduced many apothegms, intending to improve the mind and mend the heart. The causes that led to the revolution, it's interesting progress, its happy termination and the formation of our federal government, are all amply delineated.
Table of Content:
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
John Hancock
Benjamin Franklin
Roger Sherman
Edward Rutledge
Thomas M'Kean
Philip Livingston
George Wythe
Abraham Clark
Francis Lewis
Richard Stockton
Samuel Adams
Dr. Benjamin Rush
Oliver Wolcott
George Read
Thomas Heyward
Robert Morris
John Witherspoon
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Matthew Thornton
William Floyd
William Whipple
Francis Hopkinson, Esq.
Josiah Bartlett
Arthur Middleton
James Wilson
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton
William Williams
Samuel Huntington
George Walton
George Clymer
Carter Braxton
John Morton
Richard Henry Lee
Stephen Hopkins
Robert Treat Paine
George Taylor
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Thomas Stone
Lewis Morris
John Hart
Button Gwinnett
William Ellery
Lyman Hall
John Penn
Elbridge Gerry
William Paca
George Ross
B. Harrison
C. Rodney
S. Chase
W. Hooper
T. Nelson
J. Smith
J. Hewes
J. Adams
George Washington
Patrick Henry
Washington's Farewell Address
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North America
Articles of Confederation