Fifty-six delegates signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the founding document commemorated by America250.
The signers were delegates to the Second Continental Congress, representing the thirteen American colonies. Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776, announcing that the colonies regarded themselves as independent states rather than subjects of Great Britain.
The familiar parchment document was not signed by everyone on July 4. Congress ordered the engrossed, or carefully handwritten, copy on July 19, and most delegates signed it on August 2, 1776. Additional signatures were added later, bringing the total to 56.
A common mix-up is confusing the number of signers with the number of colonies. The Declaration names thirteen united states, but its signature list contains 56 delegates. The best-known signature is John Hancock’s, while the signers included figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Samuel Adams.