what state has the least amount of signers to the declaration of independence
Unsullied past Falsehood: The Signing
Last month, we debunked John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence. Frequently assumed to draw the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Trumbull actually chose to immortalize the moment when the Committee of Five presented their draft of the Declaration to John Hancock and the Continental Congress.
So, when was the Proclamation of Independence signed? Spoiler: NOT ON JULY fourth. *
*Most likely
Here is everything we know about the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the signatures, and why those signatures matter.
What happened on July fourth?
Here is what happened in Continental Congress on July quaternary, co-ordinate to theJournals of the Continental Congress:
"Agreeable to the lodge of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into farther consideration, the announcement; and the president resumed the chair. Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee of the whole Congress have agreed to a Declaration, which he delivered in. The Declaration existence again read, was agreed to as follows: [Text of the Declaration of Independence] Ordered, That the announcement exist authenticated and printed. That the commission appointed to fix the declaration, superintend and correct the press. That copies of the declaration exist sent to the several assemblies, conventions and committees, or councils of safety, and to the several commanding officers of the continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of the ground forces."
To summarize, the Declaration of Independence was agreed to by Congress on July 4th, and ordered to be printed and distributed to each of the states. But it wasn't unanimous. New York's delegates abstained from voting in favor of independence on July 2d, based on outdated instructions. The New York Convention adopted the Announcement of Independence on July 9th, news that reached Congress in Philadelphia on July 15th. At the end of that week, on July 19th, Congress resolved as follows:
"That the Declaration passed on the 4th, be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile of 'The unanimous declaration of the 13 U.s.a.,' and that the same, when engrossed, be signed past every member of Congress."
What does "adequately engrossed on parchment" hateful?
The engrossed parchment is what nearly people think of as "the" Declaration of Independence: the document on brandish in the National Archives, alongside the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Information technology is a parchment canvas measuring 29 3/4 inches high by 24 i/four inches broad. Unlike paper, parchment was a sturdier, longer-lasting material, and was also used for the Articles of Confederation, U.s. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
To "fairly engross" means to copy in big, legible script, to create an official copy of a document. The person tasked with engrossing the Declaration of Independence was most probable Timothy Matlack. No official record exists, so historians rely on comparisons of Matlack's handwriting and his position as an assistant to Secretarial assistant of Congress Charles Thomson every bit testify. Matlack used an English language Roundhand script, and neatly wrote with a quill pen, making only two errors. He besides engrossed the 1774 Petition to the Rex and George Washington'southward Commission as Commander-in-Chief. National Treasure fans may retrieve Matlack's name from a riddle Nicholas Cage's grapheme discovered in the pipe from theCharlotte: "The legend writ, the stain affected. The fundamental in Silence undetected. Fifty-five in iron pen, Mr. Matlack cannot offend." Technically information technology should be fifty-6, but if we start quibbling with National Treasure, this weblog will exist too long... And for the record, here is what the dorsum of the engrossed parchment looks similar (no treasure map...).
When was the Annunciation of Independence signed?
Historians believe that the Proclamation of Independence was signed by the bulk of the delegates on Baronial second, 1776. Timothy Matlack engrossed the Declaration on parchment onetime betwixt July 19th and August 1st. According to theJournals of the Continental Congress, on August 2nd,
"The annunciation of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed."
49 delegates well-nigh likely signed on August 2nd, including President of Congress John Hancock. Seven delegates were absent from Continental Congress on August second, and must have signed after. Due to his exclusion from the Goddard broadside, nosotros believe Thomas McKean was the final consul to sign, sometime afterward January 1777.
Who signed?
56 delegates (including President of Congress John Hancock) representing each of the U.s. signed the Annunciation of Independence. But as we explored in No John Trumbull, non every signer was present for the debates and the vote for independence, and not everyone who voted for independence went on to sign the engrossed parchment.
Eight men who were present on July second never signed the Declaration, including virtually of the Pennsylvanians who either abstained from voting or voted against independence: John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, and Thomas Willing. The other Pennsylvanian consul who abstained -- Robert Morris -- signed on August 2nd. The New York delegation abstained from voting on July 2nd, and 4 delegates -- John Alsop, George Clinton, Robert R. Livingston, and Henry Wisner -- never signed the Declaration of Independence. Remember, Robert R. Livingston was a member of the Committee of Five, and even so not a signer.
Conversely, eight men signed who weren't evenelected to Congress until after July quaternary: Matthew Thornton (NH), William Williams (CT), Benjamin Blitz (PA), George Clymer (PA), James Smith (PA), George Taylor (PA), George Ross (PA), and Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Physician). Thornton famously requested permission to sign the Annunciation of Independence, even though he wasn't elected to the Continental Congress until September 1776.
The ane consul who voted for independence and never signed the Declaration of Independence was John Rogers of Maryland. The ane delegate who voted against independence and still signed the Declaration of Independence was George Read of Delaware.
Did everyone sign on the same day?
No. 49 men were nearly probable in Congress on August 2nd:
President John Hancock
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple
Massachusetts: John Adams, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine
Rhode Island: William Ellery, Stephen Hopkins
Connecticut: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams
New York: William Floyd, Francis Lewis, Philip Livingston
New Jersey: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon
Pennsylvania: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Morton, George Ross, Benjamin Rush, James Smith, George Taylor*, James Wilson
Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney
Maryland: Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone
Virginia: Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thomas Nelson, Jr.
North Carolina: Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, John Penn
S Carolina: Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge
Georgia: Push Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
*Taylor's proper name is never mentioned in theJournals of the Continental Congress, and so it is difficult to tell when exactly he attended Congress. He most likely arrived on July xx, and without evidence that says otherwise, nosotros assume he signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2nd. It is likewise possible that several other Pennsylvania delegates signed after August second, including George Clymer, George Ross, and James Smith. But for now, nosotros volition assume they signed with the bulk.
That leaves vii signers who, based on evidence, were absent on August 2nd. If we presume that these delegates signed before long later on their return or arrival in Philadelphia (or in McKean's instance, wherever the Continental Congress was located at that fourth dimension), here is the approximate lodge of those remaining signatures:
Richard Henry Lee (VA): Returned Baronial 27th
Elbridge Gerry (MA): Returned September second
Lewis Morris (NY): Returned September 8th or earlier
George Wythe (VA): Returned September 14th or earlier
Oliver Wolcott (CT): Returned October 1st
Matthew Thornton (NH): Arrived November fourth
Thomas McKean (DE): Returned briefly in late September, merely likely didn't sign until afterwards Jan 1777, and peradventure as late every bit 1781
So, the Declaration of Independence was signed by the majority on August 2nd, but it took several months if non years for all of the signatures to be added. This makes the Declaration of Independence a footling unlike from other documents from the Continental Congress. The Olive Co-operative Petition, for example, was signed on ane specific day. TheJournals of the Continental Congress testify that the petition was ordered to exist engrossed on July 5th, 1775, and on July 8th, "The Petition to the King being engrossed, was compared, and signed by the several members." 2 copies of the Petition were actually prepared and signed, and according to John Adams, 1 copy was sent with Richard Penn on one ship on July 9th, and the duplicate was sent in another transport on July 10th. So everyone who signed must have done so at the same fourth dimension.
The US Constitution is another interesting example. We celebrate Constitution Mean solar day on September 17, 1787, which is THE Mean solar day when delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the engrossed parchment certificate. 38 delegates were nowadays on that twenty-four hour period, and there are 39 signatures on the engrossed parchment. John Dickinson was ill, and had George Read sign his proper noun past proxy -- something that didn't happen with the Announcement of Independence, as far as we can tell. Elbridge Gerry wrote to John and Samuel Adams on July 21st, 1776, "Pray Subscribe for me the Declaration of Independence if the same is to be signed every bit proposed. I recollect We ought to have the privilege when necessarily absent of voting and signing by proxy." So, different the later Constitution, no one voted or signed by proxy for the Declaration of Independence, simply they did accept the opportunity to sign afterwards the initial day of signing.
One interesting note: for near of the states, the signatures added after August 2nd are institute at the end of their states' listing of delegates. In other documents, the Delaware delegates typically signed in this order: Rodney, McKean, Read. Only since McKean signed after August 2nd, his name is last. Matthew Thornton fifty-fifty had to sign at the stop of the first column, since there was no room left under the other New Hampshire delegates' signatures. The exception is Virginia, where the two names added after August 2nd are the kickoff two names listed for their state. It would seem every bit though Jefferson intentionally left room for his friends and colleagues Wythe and Lee to sign alee of him.
Why exercise people assume the Proclamation was signed on July 4th?
How did we every bit Americans come up to acquaintance the 4th of July with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when it was onlyapproved on that date? Well, Thomas Jefferson is partly to blame, forth with other founding fathers who (likely) misremembered the events of the summertime of 1776. Hither is Jefferson'southward business relationship, from his Notes of Proceedings in the Continental Congress:
"the debates having taken- up the greater parts of the 2d. 3d. & 4th. days of July were, in the evening of the last closed. the announcement was reported by the commee., agreed to by the business firm, and signed by every fellow member present except Mr. Dickinson."
A annotation in Jefferson's handwriting, pasted onto folio 12 of these Notes, attempts to clarify this mistake (but actually just adds to the confusion):
"the Declaration thus signed on the 4th. on paper was engrossed on parchment, & signed once again on the 2d. of Aug."
Jefferson claims that the delegates signed a paper re-create of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, andand then signed the engrossed parchment on August 2nd. If this signed paper re-create actually existed, it has been lost. Pauline Maier and other historians are skeptical of Jefferson's retentivity (run across Maier'southAmerican Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, p. 150).
There is a long historiography of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Librarian and historian Mellen Chamberlain wrote almost the signing taking place on Baronial second in hisAuthentication of the Announcement of Independence (1885). In 1906, historian John Hazelton confirmed that the 56 signers were never in the aforementioned place at the same fourth dimension and some delegates must take added their signatures after August 2nd. His The Annunciation of Independence: Its History is still regarded as an important resources on the Declaration of Independence. Some historians yet autumn on the other side, claiming the Proclamation was in fact signed on July 4th. See, for instance, Wilfred Ritz's 1986 commodity, "The Authentication of the Engrossed Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776". We argue that the testify supports the majority of the delegates signing the engrossed parchment on August 2nd, with signatures added later on that date. But if in that location is a newspaper re-create of the Declaration with signatures from July 4th somewhere out there, we'll do our best to find it!
The fact that nosotros celebrate the Usa Constitution on the day it was signed adds some other element to this confusion. Howard Chandler Christy's portrait of theScene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States hangs in the Capitol, as does Trumbull'sProclamation of Independence, so it's like shooting fish in a barrel to assume that these portraits both describe the signing of their respective documents.
Why was John Hancock'due south "John Hancock" and then big?
It really wasn't. Hancock had a large, flamboyant signature, and it takes up a similar amount of infinite on the Announcement of Independence as on other documents and letters signed by Hancock. This Slate article measures Hancock'south signature against anybody else's, and ultimately concludes that Hancock may have underestimated the number of people who would sign the document. The article also proves that, mathematically, Hancock could have gone way bigger with his signature...
What was it like in Independence Hall on August 2d?
To begin, the fable of Hancock signing his proper name big enough for King George III to read it without his glasses is just that -- legend. There is no contemporary evidence for what Hancock said as he signed, and at the very least, we know that the engrossed parchment was non sent to King George Three. But Hancock did sign forepart and middle, and it is assumed that, as President of Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence start. The next signature would have probable been Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire. Perhaps it was his signature that started the trend of signing slightly smaller than Hancock.
Besides the spectacles comment, at that place are a number of quotations from the signing for which we have no testify. Stephen Hopkins declaring "My hand trembles, but my heart does not!" Benjamin Franklin's acknowledgement that, "Nosotros must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." The rotund Benjamin Harrison commenting that, should they hang, he would have the advantage of dying quickly while skinnier delegate Elbridge Gerry would "kick in the air half an hour subsequently it is over with me."
Though there may have been 1-liners such equally these and moments of levity, according to Benjamin Rush, the mood was somber on Baronial 2nd. In a letter to John Adams in 1811, Rush recalled, "the solicitude and labors, and fears, and sorrows and sleepless nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and Subscribed the declaration of independance..." and asked Adams, "Practise you remember the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the business firm when we were called up, 1 after another, to the table of the President of Congress, to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to exist our ain death warrants?"
How are the signatures arranged?
In our March Highlight on Mary Katherine Goddard and her broadside of the Declaration of Independence, we briefly explored the significance of the signing society on the engrossed parchment. To epitomize, usa are in guild from north (New Hampshire) to south (Georgia), and from correct to left.
GA NC MD PA NY NH
SC VA DE NJ MA
RI
CT
The engrossed parchment represents a shift in practise for documents signed by the Continental Congress. In the Manufactures of Association (1774), Petition to the Male monarch (1774), and Olive Branch Petition (1775), the signatures are organized by land, in order from north to due south, just fromleft toright. In the afterward Articles of Confederation (1778-1781) and United states of america Constitution (1789), the signatures are organized by state in lodge from north to south, and fromrighttoleft.
The Declaration of Independence also differs from other documents in a more subtle just perchance more powerful manner. Unless you lot are very familiar with the Founding Fathers, it is difficult to know which signer represented which state. In other Congressional documents, the state delegations are labeled. In some, they are even labeled with the date of the signatures.
Take the Manufactures of Confederation (right). They were adopted on November fifteen, 1777, only ratification past all thirteen states didn't happen until March 1, 1781. On June 26, 1778, the Articles were ordered to be engrossed, and the next day they were ordered to be engrossedonce again after errors were establish in the first engrossed re-create. On July nine, 1778, this second engrossed copy of the Articles of Confederation was signed and ratified by delegates from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina (viii of the thirteen U.s.). North Carolina signed on July 21st, Georgia on July 24th, New Bailiwick of jersey on November 26th, and Delaware on May 5th, 1779. Maryland was the last state to ratify, signing on March 1, 1781. You can see how signatures were added over time, and dated accordingly. If merely at that place was such clear physical bear witness for the signing of the Declaration of Independence!
The other documents mentioned -- the Articles of Clan, Petition to the King, Olive Co-operative Petition, and U.s.a. Constitution -- likewise have state/colony labels. But non the Announcement of Independence. Why?
InAmerican Scripture, Pauline Maier asked an of import and oft overlooked question: "Why, however, was information technology signed at all? Simply John Browne, Parliament's clerk, signed the English language Declaration of Rights. Moreover... the members of England's seventeenth-century Parliaments did non customarily sign instruments they presented to the King, or were declarations and petitions signed by their drafters elsewhere in Europe." She goes on to explain that "the documents were written in a fashion that made delegates' signatures necessary." Take a look at the opening lines of earlier petitions:
Articles of Clan (1774): "We, his majesty'southward most loyal subjects, the delegates of the several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Due north-Carolina, and S-Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental Congress, held in the urban center of Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774, avowing our allegiance to his majesty, our affection and regard for our fellow-subjects in Neat-United kingdom and elsewhere, affected with the deepest anxiety, and well-nigh alarming apprehensions, at those grievances and distresses, with which his Majesty's American subjects are oppressed;..."
Petition to the King (1774): "Nosotros, your Majesty's true-blue subjects of the Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode-Isle and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of those Colonies who have deputed us to represent them in Full general Congress, by this our humble Petition, beg leave to lay our Grievances before the Throne."
Olive Branch Petition (1775): "We, your Majesty's faithful subjects of the Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Southward Carolina, in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of these Colonies, who have deputed the states to represent them in General Congress, entreat your Majesty's gracious attention to this our humble petition."
Conversely, the original title of the Declaration of Independence was "In Congress, July four, 1776. A Proclamation past the Representatives of the The states, in General Congress assembled." Later, the official championship became "In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Annunciation of the thirteen the states of America." Unlike earlier documents, the delegates were no longer subjects. In the Proclamation of Independence, they aren't addressing the King. They're addressing "a candid globe", talkingabout the King.
The signatures on all of these documents are important, because they tape who exactly was speaking on behalf of each colony-turned-state. But the signatures on the Announcement of Independence are mayhap even more than important because they lack those land labels. Yes, these were delegates voting on behalf of their respective states. Only take a wait at the last judgement: "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Award." Across serving every bit a delegate, these men were pledging everything in support of independence. If the Revolution had failed, the Announcement would have been a listing of those who had committed loftier treason. This is besides why the legend of Hancock writing his name large enough for KGIII to read is just a legend -- they didn't intend to ship the engrossed and signed parchment to the King (as they had with their previous petitions). They intended to keep it, to allow it form the foundation for their new marriage.
When did the public know who had signed the Announcement of Independence?
The engrossed parchment was rolled up and kept with other of import documents by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. It would have barely been seen by the eyes of the Continental Congress, much less the eyes of the public. The first printing to include the names of the signers was as well a tightly controlled document. The Goddard broadside was printed specifically to exist kept in the archives of each state. The first publicly accessible printing of the Declaration of Independence with the signers would accept been the printed edition of theJournals of the Continental Congress for 1776, published in 1777 by Robert Aitken and once more in 1778 past John Dunlap.
However, these first printings (and many, many subsequent printings) left off Thomas McKean's name. The first printing to include all 56 signers was in 1782, six years later on August 2nd, 1776.
Still have a question well-nigh the signing of the Annunciation of Independence? Ask in the comments, or submit it on our FAQs page, and we volition practice our all-time to answer it!
By Emily Sneff
Final | Unsullied by Falsehood | Next
Source: https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/signing
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