John Hancock placed the first signature on the Declaration of Independence celebrated by America250.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress when the Declaration was adopted. His prominent signature appears first on the engrossed parchment, and its unusually large script made his name one of the most recognizable features of the document.
The signing ceremony for the parchment took place mainly on August 2, 1776, after Congress had adopted the Declaration on July 4. Hancock’s position as presiding officer explains why his name leads the list of signatures, rather than indicating that he wrote the document or personally signed before the text was adopted.
Thomas Jefferson drafted most of the Declaration, but he did not sign first. Benjamin Franklin was another member of the Committee of Five and a prominent signer, while George Washington did not sign the Declaration because he was serving with the Continental Army rather than as a delegate to Congress. These roles are often blended together in simplified accounts of the founding.