Fifty-six people signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the founding document remembered by America250.
The signers were delegates to the Second Continental Congress representing the thirteen colonies. Most signatures were placed on the engrossed document on August 2, 1776, although additional signatures were added later. John Hancock, the Congress’s president, signed prominently before the other delegates.
The number 56 is often confused with 13, the number of colonies, or with the 50 states of the modern United States. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the signing process did not happen entirely on that same day. America250’s 2026 observance centers on the 250th anniversary of the revolutionary founding era.