when was declaration of independence signed

RELATED: Ron Paul’s Scorching Hot Farewell Address Could Have Been Written In 1776 This is awesome! Younger than you think=> Ages of Revolution: How Old Were They on July 4, 1776?: This is a list of everyone who was under 30 on July 4, 1776, and you might recognize a few of these names. #2020electionĪnd he wasn’t the only Founding Father who was a teenager or near teenager when the Declaration of Independence was signed.Īll Things Liberty compiled a list of the ages of key people during the American Revolution (a period spanning from 1765–1783) when the Declaration of Independence was signed. How old were the Founding Fathers when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776? Jefferson was a relative elder statesman at 33.Īlexander Hamilton was 21. The famous and fearless John Hancock was 39 and Thomas Jefferson was 33.īut after that? They were just kids, really. Benjamin Franklin was 70-years-old in 1776, a time when many people didn’t live to be 70. This painting depicts the moment on June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress. Let’s get the old folks out of the way first. RELATED: Ted Cruz Rips Democrats For Saying Republicans Want To Defund Police – Like Saying Dems Want To Build The Wall It Is Astounding How Young So Many Were In The Founding Generation Ages of Revolution: How Old Were They on July 4, 1776?: #liberty Thomas Jefferson was 33, James Madison 25. The signers of the Declaration of Independence included future Presidents, Vice Presidents, and members of the United States Congress.When you think young teenagers and early twenty-something men on the Fourth of July, your mind probably wanders to partying and keg stands instead of anything serious.īut it should instead remind you how shockingly young many were in America’s founding generation. One of the New Hampshire delegates, Matthew Thornton, added his signature later at the bottom of the right column. Some of the delegates were not in Philadelphia on that day, but signed the document later.

Delegates from Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, the southernmost states, ended the list with the column on the left. Using this protocol, signatures of the New Hampshire delegates began the list with the column on the right. At that time, a general practice was to sign below text on the right and by geographic location. He used large bold script and signed under the text in the center of the page. The actual signing finally took place on August 2, 1776.Īs President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock was the first to sign this historic document. The order called for handwritten ornamental script to be used on parchment paper with the title 'The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America.' Using a quill pen, this took some time to finish. On July 19, Congress ordered that an official copy of the document be created.

The Congress did not have the approval of all 13 colonies until July 9, 1776. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that it was signed by Congress on the day when it was adopted on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, but it was not signed until almost a month later. The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, with 12 of the 13 colonies voting in favor and New York abstaining.

When was declaration of independence signed