56 SIGNATURES,
ONE REVOLUTION

The ‘Paul Revere’ of the Declaration

As late as July 1, 1776, some in the Continental Congress were still undecided about declaring independence. Caesar Rodney, one of Delaware’s three representatives, was at home when he heard a vote would be taken the next day. The other two in the Delaware delegation were deadlocked. So Rodney rode 80 miles from Dover to Philadelphia, through the night and in a thunderstorm. He cast the deciding vote for independence still wearing his muddy boots and spurs.

Two days later, on July 4, the representatives approved the Declaration of Independence.

The Adams-Lee Faction

By early 1776, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee had become part of a faction pushing Congress toward independence. Virginia’s support mattered. It was the largest colony, and its backing would show that the Revolution was not just Massachusetts’s fight.

On May 15, 1776, Virginia’s delegates received permission from their state’s legislature to declare for independence. Richard Henry Lee introduced the resolution in the Continental Congress on June 7, and John Adams seconded it. Adams later urged Thomas Jefferson to write the draft, explaining that Jefferson was a Virginian, was less controversial and could “write 10 times better” than Adams himself could.

The youngest signer

At 26 years old, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina was the youngest signer in the youngest delegation. (All four South Carolinians were under 35.) South Carolina had instructed its delegates to oppose independence, but by July 4, 1776, they had shifted their views and were ready to sign.

Teacher and student together

Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, was among the youngest signers, at 33. A lawyer, Jefferson had studied under another signer, 50-year-old George Wythe. Wythe would later design the Great Seal of Virginia, with the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis, or “Thus Ever to Tyrants.”

The sage of Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin, 70 at the time, was the oldest signer. His experience as a printer, publisher, scientist and diplomat proved valuable. Franklin had already won international acclaim for his experiments with electricity and his work as a public thinker.

Along with John Adams, Franklin edited the Declaration as Thomas Jefferson drafted it. Franklin also urged Congress to unite behind independence, warning famously: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.”

By the time of his death in 1790, Franklin had negotiated an alliance with France, signed the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain and served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

The doctor who prescribed independence

Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania was a prominent American physician and served as a surgeon general in the Continental Army. A supporter of public education, he became known for his work in early American medicine.

Often called the “Father of American Psychiatry,” Rush argued that mental illness should be understood as a medical condition rather than a moral failing.

What's more, Rush helped reconcile John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after their years of political estrangement, reconnecting two signers whose lives would remain intertwined long after independence.

He gave the full measure of devotion

Thomas Nelson Jr. was elected to fill George Washington’s seat in the Continental Congress when Washington left to command the Army during the Revolution. Nelson carried to Philadelphia instructions to vote for independence, sent from the Virginia legislature to the Virginia delegation in the Congress.

Born to wealth and leadership, Nelson had been an early supporter of independence, providing supplies to Boston during the British blockade and spending his own money to raise and equip a militia in Virginia. He was never repaid.

In 1781, as governor of Virginia, Nelson commanded the state militia during the British siege of Yorktown, his hometown. According to legend, when British officers occupied his house, he directed artillery fire on it. He died eight years later at 50, financially ruined.

Button Gwinnett

Button Gwinnett was killed in a 1777 duel with Lachlan McIntosh, a Continental Army general. Gwinnett had challenged McIntosh because McIntosh had blamed Gwinnett for a failed military expedition.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson carried the spirit of the Declaration into national leadership as U.S. presidents.

Adams, a Harvard-educated lawyer from Massachusetts, had defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, proving his dedication to the rule of law over popular sentiment.

Jefferson, a Virginia planter and lawyer, had been the principal drafter of the Declaration.

The two men were friends, then rivals, then friends again. From 1812 until their deaths, they resumed a warm correspondence.