Fifty-six delegates’ signatures appear on the Declaration of Independence linked to America250.
The signatures are on the engrossed parchment copy, the formal handwritten version now preserved at the National Archives. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, signed prominently, followed by delegates representing the thirteen states.
The number of signatures does not mean that all 56 delegates signed on July 4, 1776. Historians generally conclude that most delegates signed on August 2, with some signing later. The Declaration had already been adopted on July 4, so adoption and signing were separate stages.
The 56 signers included well-known figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Samuel Adams. The number is often confused with the 13 colonies or with the 55 delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787.