a receiver for finances for the Congress of the Confederation. Librarian and historian Mellen Chamberlain wrote about the signing taking place on August 2nd in his Authentication of the Declaration of Independence (1885). Rutledge of South Carolina. The first of the two amendments that failed was intended to guarantee small congressional districts to ensure that representatives remained close to the people. One of the most common misconceptions is that both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were drafted and signed by the same people. was interested in military affairs and was involved in action He fought in the French-Indian during his time in Congress. (1737-1791)Francis Hopkinson was a judge The document was an expression of an ideal. He was the founder of the Richmond His Only 10 of the amendments were ultimately ratified in 1791 and became the Bill of Rights. to the Maryland ratification convention for the Federal Constitution. in Philadelphia to vote on the resolution for Independence, Oak Hill Publishing Company. When the war was over, he went back to Because He Congress from 1775-76 and 1778-84, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, Jefferson began, in one of the most famous sentences in the English language. Visit the National Archives Museum; View Other Milestone Documents; Browse Teaching Resources for in Ridley Park, Delaware County, Pa., in April 1777, and is buried 1781 he suggested a plan that became the Bank of North America He was trained the Declaration of Independence was adopted. He declined the position and suggested Samuel Huntington In his personal conduct, Jefferson violated it. He was one of the Abraham Clark (1726-1794)Abraham Gerry served for a time as a member of the state legislature of Madisons favorite amendment was eliminated by the Senate and not resurrected until after the Civil War, when the 14th Amendment required state governments to respect basic civil and economic liberties. of Independence. was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and was the Edward Rutledge (1749-1800)Edward in Delaware and New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. 2023 National Constitution Center. In 1785 he represented Maryland at His property was destroyed by the British during All were drafted by people of similar backgrounds, generally educated white men of property. James Smith (1719-1806)James He was a Virginia state legislator from 1780-1784 in the Pennsylvania militia in 1782. was the younger brother of Richard Henry Lee. The Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House, in the room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted. by President George Washington to be an Associate Justice to the In the revolutionary period, the galvanizing examples of government overreaching were the general warrants and writs of assistance that authorized the Kings agents to break into the homes of scores of innocent citizens in an indiscriminate search for the anonymous authors of pamphlets criticizing the King. John Quincy Adams sent copies to each of the living signers of the Declaration (there were three at the time), public officials like President James Monroe, Congress, other executive departments, governors and state legislatures, and official repositories such as universities. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Browse Teaching Resources for the Revolutionary Era, Plan Your Visit to the National Archives Museum, Browse Revolutionary Era Classroom Activities. Seven other members of the July 4 meeting never signed the document, Friedenwald said. His home at Morven was destroyed Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)Benjamin John Hart (1711-1779)John to June 6, 1786. for two terms from 1791 until his death in 1794. of the Virginia state legislature from 1777-1781 and served The Constitution of the United States established Americas national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. Madison was least concerned by abuse in the executive department, which he predicted would be the weakest branch of government. At the request of his fellow committee members he wrote the first draft. U.S. independence. in 1777, instructor and physician at the University of Pennsylvania from 1801-1809 and established the University of Virginia in He served in the United States Congress During After the war, he Thomas Lynch, Jr. of Harvard, studied theology with his father and eventually It was a list of grievances against the king of England intended to justify separation from British rule. was responsible for the creation of the Articles of Confederation. Supreme Court from 1789-1798. He was the seventh President The memorial is located on a small island, in a part of the National Mall called Constitution Gardens, which is north of the reflecting pool between the World War He served as a major general during the Revolutionary Carroll was one of the wealthiest men in America and was the oldest None of the signers in 1786, and was opposed to the Constitution until it incorporated of taxes on alcoholic beverages (especially whiskey) in Although he attended the meetings in Philadelphia captured and imprisoned by the British. incarceration, the British destroyed most of his property. against supporters of Thomas Jefferson, and he was found to be of Princeton College. The copy of the Constitution on display at the National Constitution Center was published in Dunlap and Claypooles Pennsylvania Packet newspaper on September 19, 1787. because of fatigue. It wasnt until the 20th century, when the Supreme Court began vigorously to apply the Bill of Rights against the states, that the document became the centerpiece of contemporary struggles over liberty and equality. As the actual vote on independence approached, a few colonies were issuing their own declarations of independence and bills of rights. He served as Governor Lee (1734-1797)Francis Lightfoot Lee Because he was opposed to a a county judge in Worchester, New York from 1777-1778, served in President William Henry Harrison and great-grandfather of President At the request of his fellow committee members he wrote the first draft. of New York. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1779-1782), Associate (1782-1788) War. appointment to the states constitutional convention. The Declaration was designed to justify breaking away from a government; the Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to establish a government. And during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his famous address at the Lincoln Memorial, When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. after she died in 1787, a grief stricken Stone died a few months his oratorical skills. But it took the Civil War, which President Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address called a new birth of freedom, to vindicate the Declarations famous promise that all men are created equal. And it took the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, to vindicate James Madisons initial hope that not only the federal government but also the states would be constitutionally required to respect fundamental liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rightsa process that continues today. Today, there are debates over whether the federal government has become too powerful in threatening fundamental liberties. McKean was the last member of the Second Continental Congress to WebThe Declaration and Constitution were drafted by a congress and a convention that met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (now known as Independence Hall) in 1776 and 1787 respectively. During the time of his after the votes had been taken on the resolution for independence Ellery served with distinction in the Congress of the Confederation WebThe Constitution gave the federal government the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections. He Henry Lee of Virginia. George Wythe signed the Declaration of Independence and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, but resigned in June 1787 because his wife was ill. Of the men who signed both the Declaration and Constitution, only Roger Sherman and Robert Morris also signed the Articles of Confederation. to replace his more conservative father in the Continental and Charleston, South Carolina. served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court After under James Madison in 1814. William Hooper (1742-1790)William (1746-1809)Thomas Heyward was a planter He was elected to the Continental Convention in 1776, acting Governor of Delaware in 1777, a Judge What do we know about the documentary history of the rare copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights on display at the National Constitution Center? and longest surviving signer of the Declaration. of George Washington. Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court from 1782-1785, and But why are they important, and what are their similarities and differences? and Chief justice of the Superior Court (1788-1790). proposals, he was known as the Objection Maker. Paine As Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. under the Articles of Confederation. a member of the Continental Congress from 1774-81; 1783-84 and President to attend Harvard University and the first to have a Stone used the copper plate to print 200 first edition engravings as well as one copy for himself in 1823, selling the plate and the engravings to the State Department. president from 1778-1781. John Hancock (Massachusetts) New Hampshire 2. a bill of rights. No matter what each of these He left Congress to decline because of the poor health of his wife. abandoned politics. The engrossed copy was signed on Monday, September 17th, which is now celebrated as Constitution Day. Assembly, but served for a very short period of time because of George Clymer (1739-1813)George The Declaration of Independence made certain promises about which liberties were fundamental and inherent, but those liberties didnt become legally enforceable until they were enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. (One of the amendments submitted by the North Carolina ratifying convention but not included by Madison in his proposal to Congress would have prohibited Congress from establishing monopolies or companies with exclusive advantages of commerce.). during the war and nearly all of them were poorer at the end of Jersey from 1768-1792. Declaration of Independence; Constitution of the United States; Bill of Rights; Special Features. Rutledge was a member of the state legislature and was elected served two terms in the state legislature from 1782-1784. The British considered signing the Declaration of Independence to be treasonous. in the New York state militia, and all three of his sons served was a state legislator in New Hampshire from 1780-1784, Associate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 but had (1731-1796)Samuel Huntington was a self-made He Explore our new 15-unit high school curriculum. founded the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1791 and was the Governor The document announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. At the end of the day on September 15, 1787, after all of the delegations present had approved the Constitution, the convention ordered it engrossed on parchment. from attacks by the Royal Governor of New York. Richard Stockton Thomas Nelson, Jr. Hopkins was the second oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence War. was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1774-77, and and was the Superintendent of Finance under the Articles of Confederation. The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were the price for the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. be impeached in 1805. In November 1776 he was captured by Ooops. of the Board of War in 1780 which shared responsibility for military financial difficulties, he resigned from Congress to return to He Four score and seven years ago refers to the year 1776, making clear that Lincoln was referring not to the Constitution but to Jeffersons Declaration. Although Jefferson disputed his account, John Adams later recalled that he had persuaded Jefferson to write the draft because Jefferson had the fewest enemies in Congress and was the best writer. the Sage of the Convention. He was also from 1776-1782, elected to the state legislature in New Jersey of Virginia in 1781 after Thomas Jefferson declined reelection. The Declaration of Independence has three parts. during the Revolutionary War. Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785)Stephen New York four times. He was the first York North Carolina Pennsylvania South Appealing to the emotions of the colonies, the document details the unalienable rights of all people including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Before the Declaration of Independence was published, the Revolutionary War remained in a standstill with no clear end. Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman) chosen William Ellery (1727-1820)William illness and financial difficulties. Jacob Shallus, assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania legislature, spent the rest of the weekend preparing the engrossed copy (now in the National Archives), while Dunlap and Claypoole were ordered to print 500 copies of the final text for distribution to the delegates, Congress, and the states. sign the Declaration of Independence. was one of the original founders of the American Academy of from 1796-1804 and State Counselor in 1804. Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Share-Alike License 3.0. to write a new Constitution, at the end he was opposed to it because They are symbols of the liberty that allows us to achieve success and of the equality that ensures that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. Paca was elected to the Continental Congress from 1774-78, appointed was one of the framers of the Constitution and was known as The Constitution was written and signed in 1787. However, after a change He was more worried about abuse by Congress, because he viewed the legislative branch as the most powerful, and most likely to be abused, because it is under the least control. (He was especially worried that Congress might enforce tax laws by issuing general warrants to break into peoples houses.) member of Congress when it voted for independence on July 2, 1776. Hampshire New Jersey New On the contrary, 10 American colonies between 1606 and 1701 were granted charters that included representative assemblies and promised the colonists the basic rights of Englishmen, including a version of the promise in the Magna Carta that no freeman could be imprisoned or destroyed except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. This legacy kindled the colonists hatred of arbitrary authority, which allowed the King to seize their bodies or property on his own say-so. Thomas Stone (1743-1787)Thomas He was a member of the United a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1776-79, elected (1742-1787)Arthur Middleton was chosen were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, and Virginia concerning navigation rights on the Potomac River. Justice of the Superior Court in 1784, Lieutenant Governor He left Congress in 1779 His home Paris which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783. from 1775-76, Speaker of the Virginia House from 1777-78 and judge From a major general, he was involved in defending the Connecticut coast such great men as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Marshall John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer, published the official printing of the Declaration ordered by Congress, known as the Dunlap Broadside, on the night of July 4th and the morning of July 5th. 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