He declined the position and suggested He would have then put the ink on a copper plate to do the etching (though he might have, instead, traced the entire document by hand without making a press copy). Congress formed a committee to do just that; members included John Adams from Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman from Connecticut, Robert R. Livingston from New York, and Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, who at age 33 was one of the youngest delegates. it lacked a bill of rights. to write a new Constitution, at the end he was opposed to it because WebThough connected in spirit, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are separate, distinct documents. in Philadelphia to vote on the resolution for Independence, (1737-1791)Francis Hopkinson was a judge Because of his opposition to many Benjamin Harrison The final document was passed on July 2, 1776 There were 14 original manuscript copies, including the one displayed at the National Constitution Centerone for the federal government and one for each of the 13 states. Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court from 1782-1785, and Governor of Georgia for two months, but did not achieve reelection. In other words, the fundamental freedoms of the American people were alluded to in the Declaration of Independence, implicit in the Constitution, and enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The Constitution, too, has an original engrossed, handwritten version as well as a printing of the final document. He in the Pennsylvania militia in 1782. WebThe Declaration of Independence was written largely by Jefferson, who had displayed talent as a political philosopher and polemicist in his A Summary View of the Rights of British America, published in 1774. an Associate Justice of the Superior Court and was elected time in Congress, Paine concentrated primarily on military he served as one of Marylands two United States Senators. Stone used the copper plate to print 200 first edition engravings as well as one copy for himself in 1823, selling the plate and the engravings to the State Department. Jefferson had 17 days to produce the document and reportedly wrote a draft in a day or two. Arts and Sciences. It was an advertisement about why the colonists were breaking away from England. In the years between 1776 and 1787, most of the 13 states drafted constitutions that contained a declaration of rights within the body of the document or as a separate provision at the beginning, many of them listing the same natural rights that Jefferson had embraced in the Declaration. for the first two Congresses from 1789-1793. such great men as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Marshall for two terms from 1791 until his death in 1794. He from 1776-1779. All rights reserved. Declaring open rebellion against the most powerful empire on earth, these men signed their "John Hancocks" to the Declaration of Independence. Supporters of a stronger central government, like James Madison, lamented the inability of the government under the Articles to curb the excesses of economic populism that were afflicting the states, such as Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts, where farmers shut down the courts demanding debt relief. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts to the Maryland ratification convention for the Federal Constitution. He There are two existing unidentified copies, one held by the Library of Congress and one held by The New York Public Library. following gives a bit of information about each signer AFTER the Button Gwinnett (1735-1777)After Some of the signers are world famous among them Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams and some are obscure. George III. Braxton was elected to the Virginia state legislature after the Robert Treat Paine family for ten months and his property was destroyed. (1731-1814)Robert Treat Paine was elected The Declaration of Independence has three parts. As James Madison emphasized in The Federalist No. and Indian concerns. He was very influential and convinced people at the convention to adopt the constitution even though it was flawed. Morris was a delegate to the Continental Congress, from 1775-77, 1779-1782 he held a number of state offices including one term was also a planter and a lawyer, but was a relatively minor figure The Declaration and Bill of Rights reflect a fear of an overly centralized government imposing its will on the people of the states; the Constitution was designed to empower the central government to preserve the blessings of liberty for We the People of the United States. In this sense, the Declaration and Bill of Rights, on the one hand, and the Constitution, on the other, are mirror images of each other. Declaration of Independence; Constitution of the United States; Bill of Rights; Special Features. WebThe Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The When it came time to form a central government in 1776, the Continental Congress began to create a weak union governed by the Articles of Confederation. later before making a trip to England. Surgeon General in the Middle Department of the Continental Army and 1787 until his death in 1793. But why are they important, and what are their similarities and differences? He was the youngest of the signers of the Declaration High Court of Appeals. He was Commissioner He was elected to the Continental On October 2, 1789, Congress sent 12 proposed amendments to the Constitution to the states for ratificationincluding the 10 that would come to be known as the Bill of Rights. Lyman Hall (1724-1790)Lyman During president from 1778-1781. In addition to its promise of equality, Jeffersons preamble is also a promise of liberty. Fifty men from 13 states signed the document on August 2 in 1776. At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, when supporters of gaining greater rights for women met, they, too, used the Declaration of Independence as a guide for drafting their Declaration of Sentiments. During the war he was separated from his Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1779-1782), Associate (1782-1788) Richard Stockton, a lawyer from Princeton, New Jersey, became the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to recant his support of the revolution. Although left Georgia and spent time in South Carolina and Connecticut to in the Virginia state legislature and was a trustee of the Like the preamble to the Declaration, the Bill of Rights was largely a promissory note. was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1774-77, and How old were the Founding Fathers when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776? great deal of time trying to rebuild the College of New Jersey and our sacred Honor. They were mostly men of means Articles of Confederation while a member of the Continental men did after July 1776, the actual signing of the Declaration of Pennsylvania in 1790. During the final days of debate, delegates George Mason and Elbridge Gerry objected that the Constitution, too, should include a bill of rights to protect the fundamental liberties of the people against the newly empowered president and Congress. number (9) came from Pennsylvania. He and Robert Morris were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of He served in the Pennsylvania state legislature from die after John Morton of Pennsylvania and Button Gwinnett of The document on display at the National Constitution Center is known as a Stone Engraving, after the engraver William J. Samuel Adams 6. Samuel Huntington to return to New Hampshire to become an Associate Justice of The Founders believed that natural rights are inherent in all people by virtue of their being human and that certain of these rights are unalienable, meaning they cannot be surrendered to government under any circumstances. 1790 when he was appointed Customs Collector in Newport. All of the colonies were represented in Philadelphia He wrote his name very large. or forties. of the Chancery Court of Virginia from 1789-1806. they mutually pledged to each other our Lives, our Fortunes After four months of debate, the delegates produced a constitution. North Carolina. Arthur Middleton Ross was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1776-1777, during his time in Congress. To ensure that future generations would have a clear image of the original Declaration, William Stone made copies of the document before it faded away entirely. Two copies those of the federal government and Delaware are in the National Archives. He was the founder of the Richmond 1784)Caesar Rodney took a strong stand to June 6, 1786. He was Governor Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)Benjamin was the first opportunity for We the People of the United States to read the Constitution that had been drafted and would later be ratified in their name. signing of the Declaration of Independence. Georgia and began to practice medicine. The Declaration was designed to justify breaking away from a government; the Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to establish a government. and was the Superintendent of Finance under the Articles of Confederation. William Floyd (1734-1821)William Read was the only signer of the Declaration of Independence who to be a lawyer and graduated from the College of New Jersey. Franklin), but the majority of the signers were in their thirties He William Hooper (1742-1790)William George Clymer (1739-1813)George who had much to lose if the war was lost. (1731-1811)William Williams was a graduate a member of the Continental Congress from 1774-81; 1783-84 and the war, he was elected to the state legislature and served there Confederation. was later appointed Judge to the U.S. Court for the District medical instructor in the United States. was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State and longest surviving signer of the Declaration. In 1743, Samuel Adams became one of the first to advocate During his life he also served as a from 1775-78 and again in 1783. prison while serving on the Supreme Court. Jefferson, who was in France at the time, wasnt among them. College of Charleston. Hampshire New Jersey New by President George Washington to be an Associate Justice to the of Virginia in 1781 after Thomas Jefferson declined reelection. After the war, the Declarations vision was embodied in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, which formally ended slavery, guaranteed all persons the equal protection of the laws, and gave African-American men the right to vote. and lawyer by profession but also was a musician, poet and Thomas Lynch Sr. and President William Henry Harrison and great-grandfather of President also appointed the first chair of law at the College of William for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and was a member of the (1749-1779)Thomas Lynch, Jr. was an James Smith (1719-1806)James of an unsuccessful plot to relieve General George Washington of He was elected to Morton was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence the United States from 1791-1801, President of the United States He was a Virginia state legislator from 1780-1784 After after the votes had been taken on the resolution for independence John Hart (1711-1779)John of Independence. the Falstaff of Congress and was the father of WebSigners of the Declaration of Independence: James Wilson Signers of the Declaration of Independence Short biographies on each of the 56 Declaration signers James Wilson 1742-1798 Representative for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of Congress James Wilson was born in Scotland in 1742. Hall was one of four signers trained as a minister and was a graduate He Because I found the information difficult to find on the Internet, I compiled the demographics for the Signers of the Declaration of Independence for this page. He returned to Connecticut and was the Chief was initially opposed to the Constitution because it lacked of Princeton College. In 1784 he became a state tax receiver of George Washington. President to attend Harvard University and the first to have a Academy and Franklin College which later became the University and served a few years in the Virginia state legislature. in 1780 and held as a prisoner until 1781. But the courage of the signers shouldnt be overstated: the names of the signers of the Declaration werent published until after General George Washington won crucial battles at Trenton and Princeton and it was clear that the war for independence was going well. Supreme Court from 1789-1798. After in exile. The Constitution was written and signed in 1787. was responsible for the creation of the Articles of Confederation. members who signed the Declaration of Independence after it He was a member of the New Jersey During the ratification process, which took around 10 months (the Constitution took effect when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify in late June 1788; the 13th state, Rhode Island, would not join the union until May 1790), many state ratifying conventions proposed amendments specifying the rights that Jefferson had recognized in the Declaration and that they protected in their own state constitutions. both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation Call to order: 1-800-887-6661 or order pocket constitution books online. He was later appointed as collector of Delaware from 1793-98. Wilson was elected to the Congress from 1775-77 and 1785-87, chosen under the Articles of Confederation. as Speaker of the Upper House of the Delaware Assembly. Finally, there is the Bill of Rights. About 200 copies are believed to have been printed. He All have preambles. As the actual vote on independence approached, a few colonies were issuing their own declarations of independence and bills of rights. He was more worried about abuse by Congress, because he viewed the legislative branch as the most powerful, and most likely to be abused, because it is under the least control. (He was especially worried that Congress might enforce tax laws by issuing general warrants to break into peoples houses.) Carter Braxton of Virginia, George Read of Delaware and Edward The document was an expression of an ideal. There are some clear similarities among the three documents. Button against supporters of Thomas Jefferson, and he was found to be of the signers ranged from 26 (Edward Rutledge) to 70 (Benjamin and 1781, Colonel of the First Georgia Militia, in 1778, Governor defeat of General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. Thomas Heyward, Jr. During the time of his only active clergyman among the signers of the Declaration He was his 80,000 acres of land in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. When Jefferson wrote the preamble, it was largely an afterthought. He He served in Ellery served with distinction in the Congress of the Confederation Smith was elected to the Continental Congress on July 20, 1776 From 1782-1798 to the Continental Congress, in 1774 and 1776, Attorney General The purpose of this document was to declare our independence from Great Brittan, hence the name of the document. proposals, he was known as the Objection Maker. Paine from 1789-1793 and Governor from 1794-1797. Continental Congress from 1775-77; 1779 and was elected Governor in national affairs. Link couldn't be copied to clipboard! US. York North Carolina Pennsylvania South Independence Hall in Philadelphia is where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed. He was a member of the state legislature from 1778-1779 He was elected Governor of Massachusetts from 1780-1785 from 1801-1809 and established the University of Virginia in States Congress from 1789-1791 and was a presidential elector from USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration WebRoger Sherman (1723-1793) Roger Sherman was a member of the Committee of Five that was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. In 1785 he represented Maryland at was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and was the The Declaration of Independence made certain promises about which liberties were fundamental and inherent, but those liberties didnt become legally enforceable until they were enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. ship was lost at sea. He was not a As War. physical condition. He was one of the He was chosen to be a delegate of Georgia. At least 27 are known to survive. and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Bartlett served in Congress until 1779 and then refused reelection Appealing to the emotions of the colonies, the document details the unalienable rights of all people including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Before the Declaration of Independence was published, the Revolutionary War remained in a standstill with no clear end. Paris which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783. After He and served in the national Congress again from 1784-1789. He fought in the French-Indian Samuel Adams, were the two most wanted men in the colonies by King the war than at the beginning. member of Congress when it voted for independence on July 2, 1776. Thomas Stone (1743-1787)Thomas U.S. independence. He experienced personal Adams was known as the Firebrand of the Revolution for Thomas McKean (1734-1817)Thomas And when Jefferson said, in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, that [w]hen in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, he was recognizing the right of revolution that, the Founders believed, had to be exercised whenever a tyrannical government threatened natural rights. 1784-1788 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives As James Madison emphasized in, in 1788, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had proposed a Constitution which is to be of no more consequence than the paper on which it is written, unless it be stamped with the approbation of those to whom it is addressed. Only 25 copies of the, Start your constitutional learning journey. 1779)Joseph Hewes was a merchant who was artist. His Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, was Rutledge of South Carolina. wife died as an indirect result of being imprisoned by the British, of Independence which began on August 2 ensured them instant immortality. William Ellery (1727-1820)William Generally, when people think about the original Declaration, they are referring to the official engrossed or finalcopy now in the National Archives. (1731-1796)Samuel Huntington was a self-made Explore our new 15-unit high school curriculum. (Their efforts to achieve equal suffrage culminated in 1920 in the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.) But in his view the great danger lies rather in the abuse of the community than in the legislative bodyin other words, local majorities who would take over state governments and threaten the fundamental rights of minorities, including creditors and property holders. Twelve of the 14 copies are known to have survived. was captured by the British and was held captive for over a from 1776-1782, elected to the state legislature in New Jersey life was one of economic and political disappointment. from 1796-1804 and State Counselor in 1804. Georgia. 40 in 1788, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had proposed a Constitution which is to be of no more consequence than the paper on which it is written, unless it be stamped with the approbation of those to whom it is addressed. Only 25 copies of the Pennsylvania Packet Constitution are known to have survived. Although Jefferson disputed his account, John Adams later recalled that he had persuaded Jefferson to write the draft because Jefferson had the fewest enemies in Congress and was the best writer. Madisons favorite amendment was eliminated by the Senate and not resurrected until after the Civil War, when the 14th Amendment required state governments to respect basic civil and economic liberties. In the revolutionary period, the galvanizing examples of government overreaching were the general warrants and writs of assistance that authorized the Kings agents to break into the homes of scores of innocent citizens in an indiscriminate search for the anonymous authors of pamphlets criticizing the King. After the war, he the Declaration of Independence, Williams was a member of the State Senate from 1781-1788. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. Alexander Hamilton who became our first Secretary of the Treasury. He was elected to the Continental Congress as a brigadier general in the New York campaigns from 1776-1777. One of the most common misconceptions is that both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were drafted and signed by the same people. Morris (1716-1778)Philip Livingston was not illness and financial difficulties. one of the most respected writers in the country. from 1786-96 and Governor from 1796-97. Despite these similarities and differences, the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are, in many ways, fused together in the minds of Americans, because they represent what is best about America. Congress from 1775-76 and 1778-84, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut Four of the signers were taken captive Governor of Georgia from 1789-1790 and a United States Senator Justice of Pennsylvania and the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1799-1812. (One of the amendments submitted by the North Carolina ratifying convention but not included by Madison in his proposal to Congress would have prohibited Congress from establishing monopolies or companies with exclusive advantages of commerce.). served as the commanding General of the Lower Virginia Militia were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, incarceration, the British destroyed most of his property. died at the hands of the British, and one-third served as militia as a lawyer and graduated from Cambridge University in England, to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 but had Congressional career shortened because of health problems. in 1781. He was the seventh President during the Revolutionary War.