Congress Voting Independence

Around 1803, Edward Savage set about engraving a print depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but the plate remained unfinished at his death some fourteen years later. Completed figures include-at center stage-John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, handing a document to John Hancock of Massachusetts, president of the Congress. Seated in the front (left to right) are Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania (in Windsor chair), and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland, who, when he died in 1832, was the last surviving signer. On the far right is Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, wearing, in accord with Quaker practice, his hat.