10 things to know about the Declaration of Independence
The familiar version of the Declaration of Independence with all the signatures is the parchment that was signed on Aug. 2. The battered, faded document is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The 56 signers were doctors, lawyers, merchants, ministers and planters, but all were wealthy white men. The oldest was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who was 70, while the youngest was Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, who was 26. There were 41 slaveholders. Six signers would go on to sign the Constitution. John Adams and Jefferson would serve as president, and Benjamin Harrison of Virginia had a son and great-grandson who became president. All the delegates risked their lives and fortunes by signing. Five were imprisoned by the British during the war. Four of those were captured in combat and treated as prisoners of war, but Richard Stockton of New Jersey was imprisoned because he
Americans celebrate July 4 as Independence Day, the birth of the United States, with picnics, parades, fireworks and concerts. Most people think of it as the day in 1776 the Founding Fathers solemnly signed the Declaration of Independence. But the real story is a little more complicated. By the time the second Continental Congress met in the spring of 1775, the colonies and Great Britain were already at war. Before they voted on breaking from Britain, the delegates decided to draw up a document to explain their reasons. Most of the writing was done by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. One line has resonated throughout history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” signed the declaration and his home was occupied by the British. After weeks of harsh treatment and starvation rations, Stockton was released after promising to stay out of the war. Longtime political rivals Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the declaration. That left Charles Carroll of Maryland as the last surviving signer. Carroll died in 1832 at age 95. The earliest printed version of the Declaration of Independence was signed only by Continental Congress president John Hancock and secretary Charles Thomson. About 200 copies of this document were printed on the night of July 4 by John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer. The next day, these were sent to newspapers, local officials and Continental troop commanders across the colonies. Only 26 of these “Dunlap broadsides” survive today, most of them in museums. libraries or universities, A few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the official declaration, along with the Constitution, was packed in a special container, padlocked, sealed with lead, placed in another box and surrounded by 150 pounds of gear. On Dec. 26 and 27, 1941, guarded by the Secret Service, it traveled by train to Louisville, Kentucky, where armored cavalry troops escorted it to Fort Knox. It was returned to Washington in 1944. “National Treasure” fans, take note: there is something written on the back of the declaration in the Archives. But it is not a secret map. Instead, there are a few handwritten words that say, “Original Declaration of Independence/ dated 4th July 1776.”