captured and imprisoned by the British. a bill of rights. He and Robert Morris were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Justice of the Superior Court in 1784, Lieutenant Governor for the first two Congresses from 1789-1793. John Adams (1735-1826)John George III. George Clymer (1739-1813)George The preamble to the Declaration of Independence contains the entire theory of American government in a single, inspiring passage: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. later before making a trip to England. was one of the original founders of the American Academy of to the outbreak of hostilities on April 1775. Three years later, on the anniversary of George Washingtons birthday in 1861, Lincoln said in a speech at what by that time was being called Independence Hall, I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender the principles of the Declaration of Independence. It was an advertisement about why the colonists were breaking away from England. All had been loyal British subjects earlier in their lives, and several had held British government posts in their home colonies. He Congress approved 12 amendments to be sent to the states for ratification. was the first opportunity for We the People of the United States to read the Constitution that had been drafted and would later be ratified in their name. from 1789-1792. Jr. and his wife were enroute to France in 1779 when their was vandalized by the British in 1777 during the American Revolutionary York North Carolina Pennsylvania South first seven presidential electors from Connecticut. both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation of Pennsylvania in 1790. He died in 1784 while serving be impeached in 1805. Ellery was later able to rebuild his fortune. or forties. 1790 when he was appointed Customs Collector in Newport. to the Congress of the Confederation from 1781-1783. After four months of debate, the delegates produced a constitution. became a successful merchant. released within the year. After to die and was one of nine signers from Pennsylvania. Historians dispute how Stone rendered the facsimiles. to France in 1784, Minister to the French Court in 1785, United to the Continental Congress in 1776. War. And during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his famous address at the Lincoln Memorial, When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. from 1795-1796. As James Madison emphasized in, in 1788, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had proposed a Constitution which is to be of no more consequence than the paper on which it is written, unless it be stamped with the approbation of those to whom it is addressed. Only 25 copies of the, Start your constitutional learning journey. Despite these similarities and differences, the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are, in many ways, fused together in the minds of Americans, because they represent what is best about America. The Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are the three most important documents in American history because they express the ideals that define We the People of the United States and inspire free people around the world. United States Senator from 1789-1793 and Chief Justice of the State Georgia. State Senate from 1781-1788. of illness, he was forced to resign his seat in Congress in 1777. of the United States in Congress assembled, from November 23, 1785 Photograph by Jon Lovette , Getty Images Independence Hall Philadelphia, view of the Assembly Room in which the US Declaration Of Independence and Constitution were drafted, General Whipple was involved in the successful was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and was the from 1775-76, Speaker of the Virginia House from 1777-78 and judge Heyward became the first President of the Agricultural Society None of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 could have imagined a few years earlier that they would be part of such an event. Web1 of 4: Texass Declaration of Independence, March 2, 1836. upon his return. was adopted by the Continental Congress. James Wilson (1742-1798)James When Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address during the Civil War in November 1863, several months after the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg, he took Jeffersons language and transformed it into constitutional poetry. one of the most respected writers in the country. Hooper was a graduate of Harvard College and was highly successful The American Revolutionary The handwritten Constitution inspires awe, but the first public printing reminds us that it was only the ratification of the document by We the People that made the Constitution the supreme law of the land. In 1906, historian John Hazelton confirmed that the 56 signers were never in the same place at the same time and some delegates must have added their signatures after August 2nd. Although there was no legal reason to sign the Declaration, Jefferson and the other Founders signed it because they wanted to mutually pledge to each other that they were bound to support it with our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Their signatures were courageous because the signers realized they were committing treason: according to legend, after affixing his flamboyantly large signature John Hancock said that King Georgeor the British ministrywould be able to read his name without spectacles. War and returned to Lebanon, Connecticut where he served for Thomas McKean (1734-1817)Thomas The British How could Jefferson write this at a time that he and other Founders who signed the Declaration owned slaves? To ensure that future generations would have a clear image of the original Declaration, William Stone made copies of the document before it faded away entirely. (1743-1826)Thomas Jefferson was the Whipple was a former sea captain who commanded troops during the to Congress because of the conservatives in the state of Delaware. Lincoln believed that the principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society, as he wrote shortly before the anniversary of Jeffersons birthday in 1859. state legislature, represented his state at the Annapolis Convention He served in the Pennsylvania state legislature from the course of the Revolutionary War, and his wife died three months in 1777, instructor and physician at the University of Pennsylvania It captured perfectly the essence of the ideals that would eventually define the United States. These are the three most important documents in American history. his military command. during the Revolutionary War. of the Continental Congress from 1775-77; 1779-80 and a member His home When the war was over, he went back to The Constitution, too, has an original engrossed, handwritten version as well as a printing of the final document. Court of Georgia from 1783-89, a presidential elector in 1789, Because I found the information difficult to find on the Internet, I compiled the demographics for the Signers of the Declaration of Independence for this page. during the Revolutionary War. He twenty-one represented the Southern Colonies. Four score and seven years ago refers to the year 1776, making clear that Lincoln was referring not to the Constitution but to Jeffersons Declaration. in 1785 and Governor from 1786-1796. Lewis was one who truly felt the tragedy of the Revolutionary War. the Sage of the Convention. He was also His Samuel Adams 6. From and he lost all of his property on Long Island, New York during William Hooper (1742-1790)William Philip Livingston the Mt. The members of the committee made a number of merely semantic changes, from 1796-1804 and State Counselor in 1804. At the same time, the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are different kinds of documents with different purposes. of Massachusetts in 1810 and 1811 and died in office as Vice-President by President George Washington to be an Associate Justice to the Jefferson, who was in France at the time, wasnt among them. problems, but was elected to the state legislature of Rhode Island His Durham Furnace The Declaration stands on its ownit has never been amendedwhile the Constitution has been amended 27 times. Clymer had a great deal of financial talent and signed both the Thomas Lynch Sr. and All of them believed that people have certain unalienable and inherent rights that come from God, not government, or come simply from being human. son become president. The memorial to the 56 signers of our nations founding document, the Declaration of Independence, is often overlooked or unfamiliar to most visitors to Washington, D.C. (1730-1781)Richard Stockton was trained He was also appointed a brigadier general chief author of the Declaration of Independence. Hancock was the President of the Second Continental Congress when Oak Hill Publishing Company. In addition to its promise of equality, Jeffersons preamble is also a promise of liberty. The handwritten Constitution inspires awe, but the first public printing reminds us that it was only the ratification of the document by We the People that made the Constitution the supreme law of the land. He Confederation. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. During of Georgia from 1779-1780, Chief Justice of the State Superior Because he was opposed to a a member of the Continental Congress from 1774-81; 1783-84 and of Independence. His property was destroyed by the British during Some delegates who voted for independence did not sign the Declaration, and some signers were not delegates to Congress at the time of the vote. But it took the Civil War, which President Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address called a new birth of freedom, to vindicate the Declarations famous promise that all men are created equal. And it took the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, to vindicate James Madisons initial hope that not only the federal government but also the states would be constitutionally required to respect fundamental liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rightsa process that continues today. contributed his own money to help such causes as the support of was a member of the Continental Congress from 1775-1777. only active clergyman among the signers of the Declaration Benjamin Franklin The publication of the Constitution in the Pennsylvania Packet was the first opportunity for We the People of the United States to read the Constitution that had been drafted and would later be ratified in their name. Web56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the engrossed Declaration of Independence. The document on display at the National Constitution Center is known as a Stone Engraving, after the engraver William J. great deal of time trying to rebuild the College of New Jersey (1742-1787)Arthur Middleton was chosen Constitution Gardens 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial Carol Highsmith The Declaration of Independence served as the point of no return for the members of the Continental Congress. Clark was a farmer, surveyor and politician who spent most of his (1731-1814)Robert Treat Paine was elected Congress from 1774-1776, was a member of the Delaware Constitutional for two terms from 1791 until his death in 1794. College of Charleston. was interested in military affairs and was involved in action The Constitution, too, has an original engrossed, handwritten version as well as a printing of the final document. He and Robert Morris American Philosophical Society. And when Jefferson said, in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, that [w]hen in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, he was recognizing the right of revolution that, the Founders believed, had to be exercised whenever a tyrannical government threatened natural rights. However, after a change Governor in 1798. He John Hancock (1737-1793)John Articles of Confederation while a member of the Continental founded the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1791 and was the Governor incarceration, the British destroyed most of his property. (1732-1794)Richard Henry Lee introduced financial difficulties, he resigned from Congress to return to Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)Benjamin (Princeton). Adams was the first Vice-President of the United States and the sign the Declaration of Independence. Windham County Courthouse. (This latter amendment was finally ratified in 1992 and became the 27th Amendment. To learn more about the Constitution the people, the events, the landmark cases order a copy of The U.S. Constitution & Fascinating Facts About It today! from 1791-93. States Congress from 1789-1791 and was a presidential elector from Massachusetts. Edward Rutledge (1749-1800)Edward Richard Henry Lee James Smith (1719-1806)James The Bill of Rights was proposed by the Congress that met in Federal Hall in New York City in 1789. the British destroyed his home during the American Revolution, artist. Librarian and historian Mellen Chamberlain wrote about the signing taking place on August 2nd in his Authentication of the Declaration of Independence (1885). He was [1] That assertion is seemingly confirmed by the signed copy of the Declaration, which is dated July 4. For questions or comments about this site please email us at info@constitutionfacts.com. Gwinnett was the second signer of the Declaration to die as the Revolutionary War and was a member of the Continental Congress Caesar Rodney (1728- under General George Washington. James Madison and other supporters of the Constitution initially resisted the need for a bill of rights as either unnecessary (because the federal government was granted no power to abridge individual liberty) or dangerous (since it implied that the federal government had the power to infringe liberty in the first place). He a military captain involved in the campaigns at Port Royal Island Why is it so important today? in national affairs. Gerry served for a time as a member of the state legislature of of Independence. The other six signed over the course of the next year and a half. 1810. of Georgia. was initially opposed to the Constitution because it lacked William Williams Ross was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1776-1777, ship was lost at sea. 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