On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, John Hancock and other members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. There is no definitive indication of which Signers signed on that day, but at least seven of the 56 Signers added their names after August 2. However, 49 of the Signers, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman who served on the committee assigned responsibility for drafting the Declaration of Independence, were in Philadelphia on August 2, and presumably most of them signed o

Interestingly, Robert R. Livingston, the fifth member of the committee with Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Sherman, did not end up signing the Declaration. Livingston was a committed Patriot who served in public office throughout the Revolution and early Republic, and his failure to sign the document was not a sign of lack of commitment to Independence. Instead it merely reflects that Livingston had to return to New York and his seat was taken by his cousin Philip Livingston, who did sign the Declaration.

The engrossed copy of the Declaration on parchment that was signed on August 2 was prepared by Timothy Matlack, a Philadelphia merchant, politician, militia officer and rabble rouser noted for his excellent penmanship and commitment to Independence. He would end up in the field during the Trenton campaign and served in various elected offices in Pennsylvania during and after the Revolution.

Sources: https://civicsforlife.org/the-other-day-of-independence/; https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/signing; https://www.thebulwark.com/p/declaration-of-independence-signing-august-2-1776; https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-declaration-of-independence-is-officially-signed; Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. V at p. 626; https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/robert-r-livingston-the-chancellor/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Matlack; Hogeland, Declaration at

On this day 250 years ago the news of the Declaration of Independence had finally reached South Carolina. On that day the Declaration was published in the South Carolina & American General Gazette.

Source: Display at the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello