The engrossed Declaration of Independence bears the names of 56 delegates.
Those delegates represented the thirteen colonies in the Second Continental Congress. Their names are arranged by colony or state, with John Hancock’s prominent signature placed separately as president of Congress. The other names are grouped geographically from the southern colonies toward the northern ones.
The document was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the timing of the signatures is more complicated than popular paintings suggest. Most historians conclude that the principal signing ceremony took place on August 2, with additional delegates signing later. Some delegates who voted for independence were absent from Philadelphia on that day.
The famous painting by John Trumbull is also not a literal record of the signing ceremony. It shows the Committee of Five presenting a draft to Congress and includes more people than could fit the precise historical scene. The 56 signatures remain the document’s best-known human record.