Declaration Congress Copy
The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Roads to Revolution
The Collapse of British Royal Government
For such an important and groundbreaking document it comes as a surprise to many people that the Declaration of Independence was not signed by the delegates to the Continental Congress as soon as it was written. Contrary to popular belief the 56 signers did not sign as a group and neither did they sign it on July 4th 1776.
The first official signing was on August 2nd 1776, almost a month after the declaration had been adopted by Congress. The first delegates to sign the document actually signed an engrossed copy which the Congress commissioned on July 19th rather than the original handwritten document. This engrossed copy, written in large clear script on parchment, was drafted by Timothy Matlack, a Pennsylvania lawyer and scribe. Around 50 men probably signed the document on August 2nd. The boldest signature is that of John Hancock, President of the Congress. He placed his signature to the bottom of the text and to the center. The other delegates signed in geographical order from right to left. Thus the delegates from New Hampshire signed first and the delegates from Georgia, the southernmost colony signed last.
Amusingly the men who signed the document on that day must not have realized that not everyone who was to sign the document was present. As a result they did not leave ample room for absent delegates to sign. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts was forced to squeeze his name between the Massachusetts and Rhode Island groups whilst Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire was forced to add his name at the bottom of the first column on the right at the end of Connecticut's signatures. Luckily the delegates from Virginia had left enough room for George Wythe and Richard Henry Lee to add their names above the other Virginians.
Whereas Congress had ordered that the engrossed copy be signed by every member of the Continental Congress only 56 delegates placed their signatures upon it. One notable non signer was Robert L Livingston, a member of the ‘committee of five' who maintained his beliefs that the declaration was premature. In addition John Dickinson, a delegate from Pennsylvania, refused to sign the declaration as he was opposed to violence and had always preferred the notion peace and reconciliation with Great Britain rather than war.
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