Michael W Smith Declaration Of Independence (2025)

FAQs

What happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? ›

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.

The "Committee of Five" was nominated to draft the Declaration, according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. It included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. Jefferson was selected to be the main writer because of "his eloquent writing style and reserved manner."

The committee chose thirty-three year old Thomas Jefferson to draft what he called an expression of “the American mind.” Though he “turned to neither book or pamphlet,” Jefferson relied on his knowledge of philosophy as well as the sentiments of the Virginia Constitution, the Declaration of Rights and Richard Henry ...

Written in June 1776, Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence, included eighty-six changes made later by John Adams (1735–1826), Benjamin Franklin 1706–1790), other members of the committee appointed to draft the document, and by Congress.

Two signers were inventors of similarly named musical instruments that never caught on (Francis Hopkinson with the Bellarmonic, and Benjamin Franklin with the glass armonica). Between 1776 and 1783, when the states achieved independence, nine of the signers died — some in bizarre circumstances.

On July 4, 1826, as the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Most of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the document on August 2, 1776.

Thomas Jefferson, a spokesman for democracy, was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

Two future presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were among the signatories. Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer, and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) was the oldest signer.

What was omitted from the Declaration of Independence? ›

Jefferson's passage on slavery was the most important section removed from the final document.

The Continental Congress resolved on 2 July 1776 "That these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States." The next day, 3 July 1776, John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, and reflected on the event and tried to sum up what it meant for Americans of his own time and in the future.

On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed the Committee of Five to draft a declaration, including John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.

56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the engrossed Declaration of Independence. Most of the signers voted in favor of independence on July 2nd. Some delegates who voted for independence did not sign the Declaration, and some signers were not delegates to Congress at the time of the vote.

Located on the upper level of the National Archives museum, the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights.

Answer and Explanation: According to historians, 41 out of the 56 signers owned slaves.

The Extant (Existing) Documents

There are 26 known Dunlap broadsides, three of which are in British repositories.

If the colonists had lost the war, there probably wouldn't be a United States of America, period. A British victory in the Revolution probably would have prevented the colonists from settling into what is now the U.S. Midwest.

Not every man who had been present in Congress on July 4 signed the declaration on August 2. Historians believe seven of the 56 signatures on the document were placed there later.