LIFE Photo Collection
Why every name matters
The 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence risked their lives in pursuit of liberty. If captured, they would be hanged for treason. Their action shaped the nation, and in knowing their names we preserve the revolutionary spirit that is the American experiment.
Button Gwinnett, Georgia
At 41, he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was killed in a pistol duel less than a year later by political rival Lachlan McIntosh. His signature is considered the rarest by collectors with one of his letters going for $700,000 in a Sotheby's auction.
Josiah Bartlett, Maryland
A respected doctor who believed strongly in independence was the second to sign the Declaration. In May 1774, anti-independence loyalists burned down his house. A pioneer in his field, he treated fever with cool liquids and used quinine from Peruvian bark to treat diphtheria.
Caesar Rodney, Delaware
Battling cancer, his midnight ride traveling 80 miles through a thunderstorm to cast the deciding vote for Delaware in favor of Independence. He was also a veteran of the French and Indian War.
Abraham Clark, New Jersey
After signing he said, "It is gone so far that we must now be a free independent State, or a Conquered Country". He refused to renounce the Declaration even after his sons were captured and tortured in prison for more than 14 months. He was a champion for the ordinary citizen.
Edward Rutledge, South Carolina
He was a lawyer and the youngest signer at age 26. Though initially hesitant, he wrote to John Jay in 1776 expressing concerns that the colonies were not ready for independence. In 1780 he was captured by the British during the siege of Charleston and was imprisoned for over a year!
Lewis Morris, New York
His older brother, an officer in the British army, warned him that signing the Declaration was an act of treason. Morris replied, "Damn the consequences. Give me the pen." Less than two months later, British soldiers broke into his house, killed his cattle, and destroyed his crops.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland
Often regarded as the wealthiest man in the colonies at the time of the American Revolution, Carroll was the only Catholic to sign the Decleration. After the Revolutionary War he eventually served in the U.S. Senate. Carroll was the longest survioring signer, living until 1832.
Thomas McKean, Pennsylvania
After voting on July 2, 1776, to approve the Lee Resolution and Independence, he immediately left to lead the Pennsylvania militia and help George Washington defend New York City. He was the last person to sign the Declaration, and no one knows the exact date that he did.
Independence Hall in Philadelphia (c. 1858 - 1863) by Ferdinand RichardtThe White House
How many did you know?
Though their stories are often unknown, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence changed the course of history. By learning about them, we honor the risk that each delegate took in the fight for freedom.
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