Fifty-six delegates signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the document at the center of the America250 anniversary.
The signers represented the 13 colonies that became the original United States. Most delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, in the Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall, although some signed later because they were absent or had not yet joined Congress.
John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, signed prominently and separately from the state-by-state grouping. The signatures were a political act of enormous risk because declaring independence could be treated as treason against the British Crown.
The number 56 refers to the people whose names appear on the parchment, not to the number of delegates present on July 4. Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, but the signing process continued afterward.