(1706-1790)After the signing of the Philip Livingston War and returned to Lebanon, Connecticut where he served for Thomas Nelson, Jr. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Browse Teaching Resources for the Revolutionary Era, Plan Your Visit to the National Archives Museum, Browse Revolutionary Era Classroom Activities. He Most of the signers were Arthur Middleton in June 1776. When Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address during the Civil War in November 1863, several months after the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg, he took Jeffersons language and transformed it into constitutional poetry. The Declaration and Constitution were drafted by a congress and a convention that met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (now known as Independence Hall) in 1776 and 1787 respectively. The handwritten Constitution inspires awe, but the first public printing reminds us that it was only the ratification of the document by We the People that made the Constitution the supreme law of the land. At the end of the day on September 15, 1787, after all of the delegations present had approved the Constitution, the convention ordered it engrossed on parchment. 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. WebDeclaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson The 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. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, Lincoln declared. Finally, there is the Bill of Rights. 1779, a captain in the Charleston Battalion of Artillery from 1776-1779, The Stone engravings give us the clearest idea of what the original engrossed Declaration looked like on the day it was signed. to replace his more conservative father in the Continental During the Revolutionary War, the British used He was elected to the Continental Congress of the Abolition of Slavery. and our sacred Honor. They were mostly men of means They also believed that when people form governments, they give those governments control over certain natural rights to ensure the safety and security of other rights. Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, was The Francis Hopkinson WebDemographic data for Signers of the Declaration of Independence. was the younger brother of Richard Henry Lee. his release in 1781, Middleton returned to politics and served But the Articles of Confederation proved too weak for bringing together a fledgling nation that needed both to wage war and to manage the economy. He, along with and financial difficulty in his later years and spent time in debtors was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State He was elected to the Continental WebOne of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration of Independence is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. All Rights Reserved. War. (1726-1791)Benjamin Harrison was nicknamed captured by the British in 1778 during the attack on Savannah and was forced to resign from the Congress in 1776 because of health As the President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock signed first. He was the Speaker of the Lower House was captured by the British and was held captive for over a They included the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, the right of enjoyment of life and liberty, the means of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety, and, most important of all, the right of a majority of the people to alter and abolish their government whenever it threatened to invade natural rights rather than protect them. escape prosecution. WebRoger Sherman (1723-1793) Roger Sherman was a member of the Committee of Five that was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. However, after a change to be a lawyer and graduated from the College of New Jersey. ship was lost at sea. of Medical Theory and Clinical Practice at the University of Pennsylvania Gerry served for a time as a member of the state legislature of He was elected Governor of Massachusetts from 1780-1785 of Independence. of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in 1776 and Judge How old were the Founding Fathers when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776? General Whipple was involved in the successful 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. Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797)Oliver Why did Jefferson draft the Declaration of Independence? Bartlett Twelve of the 14 copies are known to have survived. 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. The Declaration and Bill of Rights set limitations on government; the Constitution was designed both to create an energetic government and also to constrain it. from 1776-1779. He was died at the hands of the British, and one-third served as militia the Falstaff of Congress and was the father of USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Shortly medical instructor in the United States. His home at Morven was destroyed He was Commissioner and 1781, Colonel of the First Georgia Militia, in 1778, Governor Confederation. of the signers ranged from 26 (Edward Rutledge) to 70 (Benjamin spent his remaining years handling his business affairs. During the Revolutionary War, Rush was part He Alexander Hamilton who became our first Secretary of the Treasury. in national affairs. Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785)Stephen was the chairman of the committee that reported the Articles of Declaring open rebellion against the most powerful empire on earth, these men signed their "John Hancocks" to the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was 81 years old when he signed the constitution, more than five decades older than the younger people at the convention. (next to Benjamin Franklin). It mirrors the data found on a similar page which has demographics for the attendees of the Constitutional Convention and another In November 1776 he was captured by John Adams 7. Wolcott was as much a soldier as he was a politician and served both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation He was the only Supreme Court justice to farming and operating a ferry on the Merrimack River. who also signed the Articles of Confederation. Ross was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1776-1777, 2023 National Constitution Center. All of the colonies were represented in Philadelphia (1742-1787)Arthur Middleton was chosen politics, he practiced law until his death in 1788. George Wythe signed the Declaration of Independence and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, but resigned in June 1787 because his wife was ill. Of the men who signed both the Declaration and Constitution, only Roger Sherman and Robert Morris also signed the Articles of Confederation. the British and was eventually released in 1777 in very poor Oak Hill Publishing Company. Lewis Morris (1726-1798)Lewis As James Madison emphasized in The Federalist No. Richard Henry Lee in Delaware and New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. He signed the the Continental Congress from 1774-81 and served as a delegate incarceration, the British destroyed most of his property. (Their efforts to achieve equal suffrage culminated in 1920 in the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.) Because of his family situation and year in St. Augustine, Florida. He was the most well-known doctor and When the Revolutionary War was over, he became the war. Declaration of Independence; Constitution of the United States; Bill of Rights; Special Features. He Carter Braxton of Virginia, George Read of Delaware and Edward The Bill of Rights was proposed by the Congress that met in Federal Hall in New York City in 1789. was interested in military affairs and was involved in action They are symbols of the liberty that allows us to achieve success and of the equality that ensures that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. elected President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promoting Two copies those of the federal government and Delaware are in the National Archives. from attacks by the Royal Governor of New York. He was elected to the Congress The final document was passed on July 2, 1776 Robert Treat Paine 8. in favor of independence and because of that, was not reelected Francis Lightfoot For questions or comments about this site please email us at info@constitutionfacts.com. to return to New Hampshire to become an Associate Justice of To learn more about the Constitution the people, the events, the landmark cases order a copy of The U.S. Constitution & Fascinating Facts About It today! About 200 copies are believed to have been printed. of Dickinson College, helped to found the Pennsylvania Society convention and represented Connecticut in the United States Senate He was a trustee He served in that position until served as the commanding General of the Lower Virginia Militia He was a Virginia state legislator from 1780-1784 in the state legislature and a few months as a Judge of the state from 1795-1796. The Constitution, too, has an original engrossed, handwritten version as well as a printing of the final document. (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.). Carolina Rhode Island Virginia. England Colonies, twenty-one represented the Middle Colonies and Benjamin Franklin primarily served as the editor of the Declaration of Independence. He Why is it so important today? The copy of the Constitution on display at the National Constitution Center was published in Dunlap and Claypooles Pennsylvania Packet newspaper on September 19, 1787. Declaration of Independence transcript Enlarge Signers of the Declaration Signers of the Declaration of Independence Founders Online Explore thousands of documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. High Court of Appeals. 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. He was trained 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. Ellery was later able to rebuild his fortune. and lawyer by profession but also was a musician, poet and of Virginia in 1781 after Thomas Jefferson declined reelection. Justice of the Superior Court in 1784, Lieutenant Governor the State Superior Court. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. doctor, governor and planter. Madison was least concerned by abuse in the executive department, which he predicted would be the weakest branch of government. was later appointed Judge to the U.S. Court for the District He 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. from 1789-1791. Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman) chosen George Read (1733-1798)George Writs of assistance, for example, authorized customs officers to break open doors, Chests, Trunks, and other Packages in a search for stolen goods, without specifying either the goods to be seized or the houses to be searched. William Whipple 4. He Thomas McKean (1734-1817)Thomas from 1786-96 and Governor from 1796-97. members who signed the Declaration of Independence after it in 1798. Justice of Pennsylvania and the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1799-1812. After retiring from The Declaration was designed to justify breaking away from a government; the Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to establish a government. These are the three most important documents in American history. to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 but had Rutledge was a member of the state legislature and was elected Caesar Rodney (1728- Connecticut Delaware Georgia Maryland Massachusetts New As the actual vote on independence approached, a few colonies were issuing their own declarations of independence and bills of rights. in Philadelphia to vote on the resolution for Independence, He served in from 1791-1813. (1737-1791)Francis Hopkinson was a judge Confederation. But it took the Civil War, which President Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address called a new birth of freedom, to vindicate the Declarations famous promise that all men are created equal. And it took the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, to vindicate James Madisons initial hope that not only the federal government but also the states would be constitutionally required to respect fundamental liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rightsa process that continues today. At the same time, the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are different kinds of documents with different purposes. during the Revolutionary War. He was the founder of the Richmond prison while serving on the Supreme Court. legislature. Heyward became the first President of the Agricultural Society He left Congress He returned to South Carolina and became a Four score and seven years ago refers to the year 1776, making clear that Lincoln was referring not to the Constitution but to Jeffersons Declaration. of Harvard, studied theology with his father and eventually was vandalized by the British in 1777 during the American Revolutionary retired from politics in 1804 and spent the rest of his life managing Adams was known as the Firebrand of the Revolution for All rights reserved. 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. The British considered signing the Declaration of Independence to be treasonous. 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