The famous engrossed parchment of the Declaration of Independence was mainly signed on August 2, 1776.
Congress adopted the declaration’s wording on July 4, but the carefully handwritten parchment copy was prepared afterward. Most historians conclude that the principal signing took place nearly a month later at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.
The distinction matters because the document’s heading gives the date July 4, and later memories helped create the popular image of every delegate signing together that day. Some delegates signed after August 2, and the exact timing of every signature is not certain.
The parchment is called the engrossed copy because it was written out in a formal, finished hand. It is the version displayed at the National Archives and is different from the first printed Dunlap broadside.