Signing the
Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4^th 1776, but it was not signed until almost a month later. The Congress did not have the approval of all 13 colonies until July 9^th. On July 19^th Congress ordered that an official copy of the document be created.

Using a quill pen, this took some time to finish. Therefore the actual signing finally took place on August 2^nd. As president of the Congress John Hancock was the first to sign this historic document. He used large bold script and signed under the text in the center of the page.

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence included two future presidents, three vice presidents, and ten members of the United States Congress. Below are the names of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence:

[Column 1]
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

[Column 2]
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

[Column 3]
Massachusetts: John Hancock
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

[Column 4]
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

[Column 5]
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

[Column 6]
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple
Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton

A service of the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

Last updated: February 1, 2007
Page Name: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/documents/independence/signers.html