Fifty-six delegates signed the engrossed Declaration of Independence.
The signers were delegates to the Second Continental Congress representing the thirteen colonies that declared independence. Their names appear on the famous parchment now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
The number 56 does not mean that all delegates signed during one ceremony on July 4. Congress approved the Declaration’s wording on July 4, while the engrossed parchment was ordered later and signed primarily on August 2, 1776. Some delegates signed afterward, and a few who voted for independence did not sign the final parchment.
John Hancock’s large signature is especially famous, but he was not one of 56 separate colonies or states. The number refers to individual delegates who ultimately signed the engrossed document.