Fifty-six delegates signed the parchment copy of the United States Declaration of Independence.
The signing occurred primarily on August 2, 1776, at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, now known as Independence Hall. The delegates represented the thirteen colonies that Congress was transforming into independent states.
The document had already been adopted on July 4, so the signing did not create the decision to declare independence. Instead, delegates authenticated the engrossed parchment version after Congress ordered the text prepared in a formal hand. Some delegates who were absent on August 2 signed later.
The signers included well-known figures such as John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, but the group also included lesser-known representatives such as Button Gwinnett and Matthew Thornton. A familiar misconception is that all 56 men signed on July 4; historians generally identify August 2 as the main signing date.