The first colony that specifically empowered its delegates to support Independence was North Carolina by action of its Provincial Congress on April 12, 1776. These instructions were not communicated to the Continental Congress for several weeks. In the meantime, on May 10, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution of John Adams urging the various colonies to form governments on their own.  The preamble of this created more heated debate than the resolution itself as it called for the full exercise of local government and the suppression of all royal authority.  Some delegates from the middle colonies objected and sentiment among them continued to be more uncertain than those from the New England colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Adams, often prone to superlatives and premature pronouncements, regarded this as "the most important resolution that ever was taken in America", interpreting it as meaning independence.  It called for local actions and, while waiting for a more formal statement on behalf of all the colonies, the impatient New Englander noted that every day by every post, "independence rolled in like a torrent".  The delegates began getting letters from their constituents.

The strongest current flowed from the largest of the colonies, Virginia, where a convention was meeting that May.  Leading patriots such as Patrick Henry and Peyton Randolph were there instead of Philadelphia, and Jefferson deeply regretted that he could not be, for something important was sure to happen. The day after Jefferson returned to Philadelphia his countrymen in Williamsburg adopted a resolution that not only authorized Virginia's delegates in Philadelphia to vote for and sign a declaration that the colonies were free and independent states but also instructed them to propose that Congress make one.  Coupled with these instructions were references to foreign alliances and a confederation.  The Virginia resolution, along with the earlier one from North Carolina, was presented to the Continental Congress on May 27, where it lay on the table for ten days while the delegates debated other matters.  On June 7, Richard Henry Lee, changing the wording somewhat, presented a resolution that embodied these three explicit propositions:

That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for framing foreign alliances.

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

 

RICHARD HENRY LEE (1732-1794)
Oil, Charles Willson Peale, 1784.  Independence National Historical Park.

The aristocratic Lee had long been one of the most active of the patriot leaders, both at home and in Congress, and in eloquence was rated only a little below Patrick Henry.  The ranking member of the Virginia delegation, he had received a larger number of votes electing him a delegate than any of the others in the provincial convention of the previous summer, Thomas Jefferson being second.  The motion was seconded by John Adams, and the working alliance between Massachusetts and Virginia was thus renewed.  Adams and Lee were leaders of the debate, along with George Wythe, the legal luminary who had taught so many of the budding lawyers in Williamsburg. His pupil, Jefferson, who was even more ardent but who loathed debating just as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin did, sat silent and kept the notes on which the knowledge of these proceedings were later known.

The chief opponents of the resolution were those colonies who had not yet made up their minds: Pennsylvania, New York and South Carolina. As Jefferson said: they "were not yet matured for falling from the parent stem," though fast advancing to that degree of ripeness.

JOHN DICKINSON (1732-1808)
Oil, Charles Willson Peale, 1770.  Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

In the debates John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, spoke eloquently against the resolution, not so much for its content as for its timing.

Meetings were being held, or scheduled to be held, in the middle colonies and there was strong sentiment to wait until these had occurred.  While the sentiment of the majority was clear, it was important to present a unanimous, united front to the world.  A vote on independence was postponed to July 1.

 

A COMMITTEE OF FRAMERS FORMED

Since there seemed little doubt about the eventual vote for independence, Congress named a committee composed of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman (of CT) and Robert R. Livingston (of NY) to draw "a proper paper ". The committee presented its work on June 28.  On July 1 discussion of Lee's resolution of June 7 was resumed.  It lasted two days.  The resolution was heard by the Congress, acting as a committee of the whole.  It carried by a vote of nine colonies, with Pennsylvania and South Carolina voting no, the two delegates from Delaware split, and an abstention by New York (who was awaiting the expected authorization to vote yes).  This committee of the whole reported back to the Congress which alone could take formal action.  Because of a lack of unanimity the matter was deferred another day.

JOHN ADAMS (1735-1826)
Oil, Charles Willson Peale, 1791.  Independence National Historical Park.

Adams saw no real point in any sort of debate, since all the arguments had been heard before, not only in Congress but in print and conversation around the land.  Nevertheless, he presented the arguments in favor of the resolution for independence again because no one else seemed disposed to do so and also because a fresh delegation had just arrived from New Jersey and they insisted upon hearing the argument.  Adams claimed he had made no special preparation for the task and, although he wished he had the talents and eloquence of an orator, he never pretended he did.  Jefferson later remarked that his old colleague "was not graceful nor eloquent, nor remarkably fluent, but he came out occasionally with a power of thought and expression that moved us from our seats".  Jefferson referred to Adams as "our Collosus on the floor". Richard Stockton, of the New Jersey delegation, called him "the Atlas of American independence".

The South Carolinians had implied that they would give in the next day for the sake of unanimity, as they did.  On July 2, a majority of the delegates present from Pennsylvania were favorable, two of the opponents having stayed away, and the affirmative vote was thus increased to eleven.  New York still abstained, waiting for authorization from home, while Delaware, still deadlocked, summoned ts absent delegate, Caesar Rodney. Rodney rode eighty miles by night and day through rain and thunder, arriving in time to break Delaware's deadlock.  Now that the vote of the body was unanimous, that is, no negative votes and one abstention, the committee of the whole could now recommend action to the Congress stating that the vote was unanimous by all the colonies that voted.  The concurrence of New York was expected, and was given on July 9 by a convention in New York, although word did not reach Philadelphia and Congress until July 15.

The precise hour of the day of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence is not known from any record in existence.  The record shows that Congress entered upon direct consideration of the question of independence on July 1, 1776, by voting to resolve itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration the resolution introduced by Richard Henry Lee, and to refer the draft of the declaration to this committee.  Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, was called upon to chair, and after a prolonged debate consuming the entire day the resolution was adopted. The committee of the whole then rose, and the president, John Hancock, resumed the chair, whereupon Mr. Harrison reported that the committee had adopted the resolution.  The Congress voted to postpone action on the resolution as reported until the next day, July 2, on which date the resolution was adopted.  Upon the adoption of the resolution Congress resolved itself immediately into the committee of the whole, "to consider draft of a Declaration of Independence, or the form of announcing the fact to the world".  Debate on the draft continued throughout the 3rd and 4th of July.

On the evening of the 4th the committee arose, President Hancock resumed the chair, and Benjamin Harrison reported the draft of declaration as having been agreed upon, which was adopted.

The Signing of the Declaration of Independence
Oil, John Trumbull, Completed Between 1786-1797. Yale University Art Gallery.

Congress ordered that the Declaration be authenticated and on July 4th President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson signed it. The printing of the document had also been ordered and the committee of drafters were assigned the task of overseeing this. If Jefferson himself saw it through the press, he permitted certain departures from the manuscript, which is preserved in his papers. As one historian wrote: "It has been wittily said that the capitalization and punctuation followed 'neither previous copies, nor reason, nor the custom of any age known to man', and the people who have bothered about the matter have generally blamed the first printer. The copy (which has not survived) may have been hard to follow, and John Dunlap had to work fast." Dunlap printed the Declaration that night in a broadside.

A black space had been left for it in the Journal of Congress, and on the next day it was attached there by a wafer. Because New York had not yet cast their affirmative vote, it was not a "Unanimous Declaration" of the thirteen states, so it was modestly called "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States in General Congress Assembled", and it bore no signatures except those of Hancock and Thomson.

Congress ordered that copies of the Declaration be sent to the several assemblies and conventions, to the committees and councils of safety, and to the commanding officers of the continental troops in order that it might be proclaimed in every state and to the army. The first such copy reached the Philadelphia Committee of Safety but it took several days to arrange a suitable celebration.

The draft was ordered to be engrossed on the 19th of July and on August 2, 1776 the engrossed copy was signed by 50 members.  (Wythe signed about August 27, Richard Henry Lee, Gerry, Wolcott, in September, Thornton in November, McKean later, probably in 1781.)  It would have been signed by 51 that day but for the absence of Mr. Houston, of Georgia, who had been sent by the Congress to follow Dr. Zubly, a delegate from the same State, who had fled posthaste from Philadelphia to Georgia, with the intention of apprising the Crown governor what was going on behind the closed doors of Congress respecting independence.  It appears that Zubly was giving away the secrets of executive sessions, and was accused of such on the floor of Congress by Mr. Chase, of Maryland.  Zubly denied the allegations and challenged for proof.  The proof was so strong that the guilty delegate fled to Georgia.  Congress directed Houston to follow him and to circumvent his intent.  By the time they reached Georgia, however, the Crown governor had already been deposed by the people and he had escaped and taken refuge in an armed British vessel lying in Savannah Harbor.  Zubly's treachery came to naught, but it cheated Houston out of his opportunity to sign.  For this reason, Georgia had only three signers, Gwinnett, Walton and Hall.

Click here to read Jefferson's own description of the consideration and adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

THE FIRST PUBLIC READING

The Declaration of Independence was first read in public in the Old State House yard, at Philadelphia, on July 8, 1776. The stand from which it was proclaimed to the people had been built in 1769, by the American Philosophical Society for astronomical observation, and was located on the northeastern end of the yard. It was a wooden structure surrounded by a balcony and railing, reached by a stairway from the outside. A historian of the time described the event:

FIRST PUBLIC READING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
At High Noon, July 8, 1776
Oil by C. O. De Land

"There was a large assembly of people in the yard who had been summoned by the tolling of the Liberty Bell as there had been many times before on the occasion of some public event. Passing through the assembled crowd the procession of officials, who had charge of proclaiming this State paper to the people, reached the platform, at which time the Liberty Bell ceased ringing. Colonel John Nixon, to whom the High Sheriff of Philadelphia had delegated the reading, stood up in the silence. He was a strong-voiced and open featured man. He began reading with the words 'In Congress, July 4, 1776, a Declaration of the Representatives of the United States of America' and read through the important document, and it was accepted with general applause and heartfelt satisfaction."

At the conclusion of the reading the bell ringer tolled the Liberty Bell once more. One hostile observer noted: "very few respectable people" were present and it certainly should not be supposed that enthusiasm was universal. John Adams reported that there was a great crowd of people, most of them plain ordinary people, and they left no doubt of their approbation. Adams described the reading as having occurred on "that awful stage", perhaps referring to its scientific setting. There was great popular exultation. Cheers rose to the sky, the bells rang all day and almost all night, even the chimers of the eminently respectable and conservative Christ Church joining in, and despite the shortage of gun powder there were volleys from the militia. Similar celebration quickly spread. General Washington, in New York at the time, had several brigades of the army drawn up at 6 p.m. on July 9 to hear it read. That night the equestrian statue of King George III was torn down. In distant Boston, the Declaration was read on July 18 from the balcony of the State House. Afterwards the King's arms were taken down and burned, as were other vestiges of royal authority around the city.  Remote Georgia, usually reached by sail then, did not receive the news until mid-August. The Declaration was read at the Liberty Pole in Savannah.

Click here to learn more about the Liberty Bell.

The unanimity of Congress did not mirror that of the emerging nation, nor was it seen as binding on all people living in the land.  The Loyalists, also called Tories, would not bow to this authority unless forced to, yet this group comprised roughly one-third of the total population and included many of the more prosperous people, especially in the North.  The presence of many and influential Loyalists was one of the main reasons why the middle colonies had been reluctant to vote for independence.  The Patriots, or Whigs, had assumed control and they knew that besides the King they had the Loyalists to contend with, and many indifferent people to win over.  By resolving to seek independence they assumed a grave risk.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence represented many vocations. Twenty-four were lawyers, fourteen agriculturists, four physicians, one minister of the gospel, and three who were prepared fo rthat calling but chose other avocations, one manufacturer, and nine merchants. The longevity of the signers is remarkable. Three lived to be over 90 years of age, ten over 80, eleven over 70, fourteen over 60, eleven over 50, six over 44, and one, Mr. Lynch, who lost his life by accidental drowning at sea, was 30 years of age.  Thus, the average age of the signers was over 62.

Click here to learn more about Jefferson's drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and to see his own handwritten draft.

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