Officially, the Congress declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, , when it approved a resolution in a unanimous vote. After voting on independence on July 2, the group needed to draft a document explaining the move to the public. Thomas Jefferson was the main author. Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it was sent to a printer named John Dunlap. Today, 26 copies remain. Lewis was born in Wales and educated in Scotland and England, then worked as a merchant in London before emigrating to New York to set up his own business in He subsequently entered into international trade, making several trans-Atlantic voyages and surviving two shipwrecks off the coast of Ireland.
Though he grew wealthy, he turned his attentions to radical causes and, along with fellow signer Philip Livingston, contracted to supply arms and ammunition to the rebellious colonists.
He was a strong supporter of independence in the Continental Congress, and continued to serve in that body after being elected to the New York State Senate in Livingston was also one of the founders of King's College, which became Columbia University. One of the two youngest signers, along with Edward Rutledge — both were 26 — Lynch attended Cambridge University in England and studied law in London.
Back home, he was elected to the Continental Congress, but fell ill shortly after signing the Declaration. Late in , he and his wife sailed for the West Indies, but the ship disappeared and neither was ever heard from again.
The Pennsylvania-born McKean held an astonishing number of positions in both that state and Delaware over the course of his career, including member of the Delaware Assembly, Delaware delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, collector of Customs and commissioner of revenue for New Castle County Delaware , delegate to the Continental Congress, president of Delaware, and both chief justice and later governor of the new state of Pennsylvania.
Born in Charleston but educated at Cambridge University in England, Middleton traveled around Europe for three years before returning to South Carolina, where he was elected to the provincial House of Commons. He was active in the defense of Charleston against the British, but was captured and spent a year imprisoned.
After the war, he served in the state legislature and was one of the original trustees of Charleston College. Morris was born on his family's farm estate, Morrisania, in what is now the Bronx, and studied at Yale. While a delegate to the Continental Congress, he also served as a brigadier general in the New York Militia. He went on to become a member of the New York legislature after independence. When the federal government was considering possible sites for a permanent national capital, he proposed that they consider Morrisania — citing as one of its advantages that its location meant it could "be amply protected by the hardy sons of New England on the one side, and the inhabitants of the populous City of New York on the other.
Born in England but arriving in America at the age of 10, Morris became a wealthy importer and businessman in Philadelphia. Financially acute, he was a major force in securing financing for the Revolutionary War, and after independence he created a national bank that became the Bank of North America. This was credited with bringing economic stability to the new nation and establishing its financial credibility abroad. Washington tried to appoint him as the first secretary of the treasury, but he declined and suggested Alexander Hamilton for the post instead.
A Pennsylvania native, Morton held a number of civic offices there, including justice of the peace, high sheriff, and associate judge of the supreme court. He became chairman of the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation — which served as the first constitution of the newly formed republic until it was supplanted by the present-day Constitution in Educated in England, Nelson was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and a co-founder of the Virginia Militia, becoming its first commander and continuing his military career after being elected to the Continental Congress.
When Thomas Jefferson declined to run for reelection as governor of Virginia in , Nelson replaced him, still retaining his leadership of the Militia. The son of a wealthy planter, Paca earned a master's degree from Philadelphia College at the age of 18 and a license to practice law at He became friendly with another Maryland signer, Samuel Chase, and the two became among the leading anti-British voices in the region.
He was elected as governor of the state of Maryland after independence, and George Washington appointed him as chief justice of the state's U. District Court. Boston-born and educated at Harvard College, Paine worked as a teacher before shipping out on a series of trading and whaling voyages that took him as far afield as Greenland and Spain.
Back on dry land, he became a lawyer, and for a time was a friendly rival to another lawyer, John Adams. Paine was known in the Continental Congress as the "Objection Maker," because he frequently objected to the proposals of other members. A native of Virginia, where he was licensed to practice law at the age of 22, Penn moved to North Carolina in , setting up a practice and becoming politically active.
Besides serving in the Continental Congress, he sat on the Board of War, which oversaw military affairs during the Revolutionary War. Born in colonial Maryland, Read studied law in Philadelphia, passing the bar at the age of 20, and later moved to Delaware. He became president of Delaware's Constitutional Convention in After Delaware became the first state in the fledgling Union, he was elected state senator twice and then appointed chief justice of the State of Delaware, a position he held until his death.
Born on the family farm in the Delaware Colony, Rodney was never formally educated. Nonetheless, he had a distinguished career that included participation in the Colonial Assembly and the Stamp Act Congress, as well as the Continental Congress.
He later served as president of the state of Delaware and a member of the state assembly. Born in Delaware, Ross passed the bar in Philadelphia at the age of 20, subsequently becoming attorney general for the Pennsylvania community of Carlisle.
He was elected to the Continental Congress three times, and in , shortly before his death, was appointed as a judge for the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty, which heard cases involving maritime law. Pennsylvanian Rush was a physician and educator, who studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland, and spent several years around Europe studying languages, medicine, and science. Back in America, he was appointed surgeon general to an arm of the Continental Army.
In his final years, he served dual roles as treasurer of the U. Mint and professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania. When he died at the age of 68, he was considered the most celebrated physician in the country. Educated at Oxford University and a member of the English bar, Rutledge was one of the two youngest signers, along with Thomas Lynch Jr.
He left the Continental Congress to serve in the Charleston Battalion of Artillery, helping to defend the city against the British. After the war, he was resolute in pursuing the prosecution of British loyalists, and became governor of South Carolina in A farmer and some sources say shoemaker who became a surveyor and then a lawyer, Sherman entered politics as a member of the Connecticut General Assembly.
In , he served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and later became a forceful advocate for the ratification of the U. According to James Madison, he delivered separate speeches at the Constitutional Convention, and Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams are all said to have held him in high regard.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Smith moved to Pennsylvania with his family as a pre-teen. He later apprenticed at the law offices of his older brother, passed the Pennsylvania Bar, and set up a business in which he alternated practicing law with surveying. He was elected to the Continental Congress twice, but the second time he declined the position, citing his advanced age of Said to have been one of the most successful lawyers in the colonies, Stockton became a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court two years before signing the Declaration of Independence.
During the Revolutionary War, he was captured and jailed for several years under abusive conditions by the British — during which time the British ransacked his estate and burned his extensive library.
Stone worked in Thomas Jefferson's law office before starting his own practice, and was also a prosperous landowner. Little is known about his tenure in the Continental Congress, as he gave few speeches there, and no papers relating to his life have been discovered.
Grieving after the death of his wife in , he planned to sail for England, but he died himself in Alexandria while awaiting the arrival of his ship. Born in what is now Northern Ireland, Taylor came to America when he was in his early 20s, becoming an ironmaster — the man in charge of a forge. Though not known for being particularly active politically, he held several elected positions, including a stint in the Continental Congress.
In , he was appointed to take the place of a Pennsylvanian delegate who refused to support the break with Britain. He missed the vote, but arrived in time to sign the Declaration of Independence. News of the Declaration of Independence arrived in London eight days later, on August But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
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