AMERICA’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE

July 4th wasn’t the day Continental Congress members decided to declare independence; they did that on July 2, 1776. It wasn’t the day they signed the document either. So what happened on July 4th? The Continental Congress approved the final wording.

Rewrites

The Continental Congress authorized a five-man committee to draft a declaration of independence from England. That committee consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston.

Jefferson was regarded as the most eloquent of the five, so he did most of the work. The committee — and then the Congress — made a total of 86 changes to his first draft.

Jefferson worked on his first draft between June 11 and June 28, 1776.

Creating the parchment declaration

On July 19, once all 13 colonies had signified their approval of the Declaration of Independence, Congress ordered that it be “fairly engrossed on parchment.” Timothy Matlack, an assistant to the Secretary of the Congress, was most likely the penman.

Signing the declaration

On Aug. 2, the journal of the Continental Congress records that “The declaration of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed.” John Hancock, president of the Congress, signed first. The delegates then signed by state from north to south. Some signed after Aug. 2. A few refused. George Washington was away with his troops. Ultimately, 56 delegates signed the Declaration.

Preservation:

The Declaration hung on a wall exposed to sunlight for 35 years, from 1841 to 1876 in the U.S. Patent Office.

The document arrived at the National Archives in 1952 after being preserved in helium-filled glass cases at the Library of Congress. On average about 6,000 people see it a day.

The 26 copies of the Dunlap broadside known to exist are dispersed among American and British institutions and private owners.

The Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain on July 2, not July 4. It took two days to have the official document prepared. 56 men signed the Declaration, two members of Congress never signed. Eight of the signers were born in either England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales.

The only man to actually sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776: The president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock. Most of the rest signed on Aug. 2. Word getting out After a public reading of the Declaration of Independence at Bowling Green on July 9, 1776, New Yorkers pulled down the statue of King George III. Parts of the statue were reportedly melted down and used for bullets.

The document is 24 1/4 inches horizontal and 29 3/4 inches vertical. The three parts of the Declaration of Independence.

Sources: National Archives, U.S. Census Bureau, Library of Congress

Courtesy of the Museum of Boston Fine Arts Collection Timothy Matlack A Philadelphia brewer is believed to have hand-lettered the parchment Declaration.