The 56 delegates from the 13 colonies who signed

John Hancock (Mass.), president of the Continental Congress, later governor of Massachusetts (1780-85, 1787-93). Hancock was the only person to sign the Declaration on July 4. It was sent out with his signature. Most of the other delegates signed on August 2.

John Adams (Mass.), later served as the second president of the United States (1797-1801).

Samuel Adams (Mass.), later served as governor of Massachusetts (1794-97).

Josiah Bartlett (N.H.), later served as governor of New Hampshire (1790-94).
Carter Braxton (Va.), a member of the House of Burgesses and the Virginia Colonial Legislature (1761-1775) and supported the 1765 Virginia resolutions against the Stamp Act. Later he served in the Virginia Legislature from 1776 until his death in 1797.

Charles Carroll (Md.), was a member of the commission appointed by the Continental Congress to convince Canadians to join the war against Great Britain. He was one of the first U.S. senators from Maryland (1789-1792). He was the last survivor of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Samuel Chase (Md.), later served as a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court (1796-1811).

Abraham Clark (N.J.), was elected a member of the first Congress under the federal government and served until his death.

George Clymer (Penn.), was appointed to replace Pennsylvania delegates who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence. Although not present when it was adopted, he was allowed to sign it. He was a delegate to the Federal Convention and also signed the Constitution. He was elected to the first U.S. Congress.

William Ellery (R.I.), later served as a judge in the Rhode Island Supreme Court and with Rufus King tried to have slavery abolished in the United States.

William Floyd (N.Y.), served as a member of the first Congress under the federal government, and served in the New York state's legislature and helped rewrite the N.Y. Constitution.

Benjamin Franklin (Penn.), later a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention (1787).

Elbridge Gerry (Mass.), later served as vice president of the United States (1813-1814). He died in office.

Button Gwinnett (Ga.), was also a member of the convention that framed the Georgia Constitution (1776-77). He was killed in a duel with American general Lachlan McIntosh, his rival for the command of revolutionary troops from Georgia in 1777.

Lyman Hall (Ga.), served one term as governor of Georgia.

Benjamin Harrison (Va.), served two successive terms as governor. Elected again in 1791, he died the day after he took office.

John Hart (N.J.), was hounded by the British and Hessians for signing the Declaration and his farm, timber, livestock were ravaged and he was on the run. He died in 1780.

Joseph Hewes (N.C.), headed up the naval committee and was in effect the Secretary of the Navy. He was elected to Congress and died a few days after he resigned because of his health in November 1779.

Thomas Heyward, Jr. (S.C.), served in the Continental Congress until the end of 1778. As a captain of an artillery battalion he was wounded in the defense of Charleston and taken prisoner. He served in the South Carolina Legislature from 1782-84.

William Hooper (N.C.)

Stephen Hopkins (R.I.)

Francis Hopkinson (N.J.), composer who wrote what many consider the first American opera, "The Temple of Minerva."

Samuel Huntington (Conn.)

Thomas Jefferson (Va.), later served as the third president of the United States (1801-09).

Francis Lightfoot Lee (Va.), as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he urged resistance to Britain. He served in the Continental Congress until 1779.

Richard Henry Lee (Va.), in the Second Continental Congress introduced the resolution calling for a declaration of independence. In Letters of the Federal Farmer (1787) he urged the passage of a bill of rights.

Francis Lewis (N.Y.)

Philip Livingston (N.Y.), was one of the promoters of Kings College (now Columbia University).

Thomas Lynch, Jr. (S.C.)

Thomas McKean (Del.)

Arthur Middleton (S.C.)

Lewis Morris (N.Y.)

Robert Morris (Penn.), merchant, later raised money for George Washington's army and earned the title of "financier of the Revolution." Spent three years in a Philadelphia debtors prison after his land speculation failed.

John Morton (Penn.)

Thomas Nelson, Jr. (Va.)

William Paca (Md.), served as the chief justice of the court of appeals in admiralty cases in 1780. He later served as the governor of Maryland from 1782 to 1785.

Robert Treat Paine (Mass.)

John Penn (N.C.), served as a member of the Continental Congress from 1775 until 1780. He then became a member of the North Carolina board of war.

George Read (Del.)

Caesar Rodney (Del.), cast the third and deciding vote for Delaware's support of the Declaration.

George Ross (Penn.)

Benjamin Rush (Penn.), physician, later established the first free medical clinic in the United States.

Edward Rutledge (S.C.)

Roger Sherman (Conn.), at the Constitutional Convention (1787) introduced the Connecticut Compromise. He is the only man to have signed the Continental Association (1774), the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), and the Constitution (1787).

James Smith (Penn.)

Richard Stockton (N.J.)

Thomas Stone (Md.)

George Taylor (Penn.)

Matthew Thorton (N.H.), born in Ireland, settled in Londonderry, N.H. He was not a member of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted but was allowed, by law, to sign it on Nov. 4, 1776 the day after he arrived in Philadelphia to begin the first of two term in the Congress.

George Walton (Ga.)

William Whipple (N.H.), served in the Continental Congress until 1779. He twice took leave to lead the New Hampshire militia against the British. He was appointed a brigadier general by the state legislature and led the militia to important victories in the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga.

William Williams (Conn.)

James Wilson (Penn.), later served on the U.S. Supreme Court (1789-98) as one of its first associate justices.

John Witherspoon (N.J.), was a staunch advocate of religious liberty. He served intermittently in Congress until 1782 and was a signer of the Articles of Confederation.

Oliver Wolcott (Conn.), was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in October 1775 but had to leave Philadelphia because of an illness and his substitute William Williams signed in his stead. After he returned, he was allowed to sign, too. He served as governor of Connecticut from 1796 until he died in office in 1798.

George Wythe (Va.), drafted the protest for the Virginia House of Burgesses against the Stamp Act. He served as a member of the Federal Convention of 1787 which framed the Constitution. He was the first professor of law at the College of William and Mary and taught John Marshall, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and Henry Clay. One of the earliest abolitionists, he freed his slaves in his will.