Declaration of Independence: 1776
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the history of the
United States. It marked an official step taken by the American colonies toward independence
from British rule under the monarchy of King George III.
Many colonists were unhappy with laws that collected taxes but did not give them a say in
government. The Stamp Act of 1765, for example, collected taxes on items made of paper such
as legal documents, newspapers, and even playing cards. The Townshend Acts of 1767 were a
series of acts that involved taxing the colonies to raise revenue for Great Britain. The Boston Tea
Party in 1773, when men boarded a ship full of British tea and dumped it into Boston Harbor,
was a protest against taxation.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), delegates to the Second Continental
Congress met in the summer of 1776 to discuss independence from Great Britain. On June 7,
Richard Henry Lee, a statesman from Virginia, proposed a motion specifically calling for the
Congress to declare independence. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert
R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman were then instructed to draft a resolution.
Writing the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was originally written by Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson
had finished his draft, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson met to make changes. This
version was sent to the Second Continental Congress on July 2, and after two days of debate and
revisions, the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. On
July 19, Congress ordered that an official copy of the document be made; the actual signing took
place on August 2, 1776.
The opening paragraphs of the document outline the natural rights afforded to all people, calling
them self-evident truths, and using them to form the basis of a governmental system. The second
portion of the document describes how King George III had disregarded those natural rights to
establish a tyranny over the colonies and sets up a justification for American independence.
One of the most famous phrases in the Declaration is the second sentence: “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 those are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Writing and signing the Declaration of Independence took courage, since the signers would be
acting against authority and could be accused of treason. The drafting of the document was an
important step in the founding of our Government.
Signing the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4,
1776, but it was not signed until almost a month later. The Congress did not have the approval of
all 13 colonies until July 9, 1776. On July 19, Congress ordered that an official copy of the
document be created. The order called for handwritten ornamental script to be used on
parchment paper with the title "The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of
America." Using a quill pen, this took some time to finish. The actual signing finally took place
on August 2, 1776.
As President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock was the first to sign this historic
document. He used large bold script and signed under the text in the center of the page. At that
time, a general practice was to sign below text on the right and by geographic location. Using
this protocol, signatures of the New Hampshire delegates began the list with the column on the
right. Delegates from Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, the southernmost states,
ended the list with the column on the left. Some of the delegates were not in Philadelphia on that
day, but signed the document later. One of the New Hampshire delegates, Matthew Thornton,
added his signature later at the bottom of the right column. Not all delegates signed the
document.
1. Who made a proposal calling for the Congress to declare independence from Britain?
2. What do the opening paragraphs of the document describe?
3. What does the second portion of the document describe?
4. Who was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence?