Fifty-six delegates’ signatures appear on the engrossed Declaration of Independence.
The engrossed copy is the formal parchment version of the Declaration, prepared after Congress approved the text. It is the large handwritten document displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and is the version most people picture when discussing the signers.
Although popular tradition often places the signing on July 4, most historians conclude that the principal signing took place on August 2, 1776. Some delegates signed later, and the exact timing was complicated by attendance, elections and travel.
The 56 signers represented the thirteen colonies. Their names are arranged by colony, with John Hancock set apart because he was president of the Continental Congress. The group included well-known figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Samuel Adams.
The number of signers is not the same as the number of colonies or the number of delegates present for every vote. Those are separate figures, which makes 56 a particularly useful fact for distinguishing the document’s membership from its political context.