Josiah Bartlett (born November 21, 1729, Amesbury, Massachusetts—died May 19, 1795, Kingston, New Hampshire, U.S.) was an American physician and statesman who earned a reputation as a competent doctor and a respected politician. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence - Founding Document, US History, Revolutionary War: The Declaration of Independence was written largely by Jefferson, who had displayed talent as a political philosopher and polemicist in his A Summary View of the Rights of British America, published in 1774. Discover the hidden stories of the men who risked everything to sign America’s founding document. Image license via iStockphoto.com Most Americans know the names Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, but the Declaration of Independence bore the signatures of 56 men—many of whom history has largely forgotten. These lesser-known patriots faced dire consequences for their bold act, enduring John Morton (1725-1777)—John Morton was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence to die and was one of nine signers from Pennsylvania. He was elected to the Second Continental Congress from 1774-77, and was the chairman of the committee that reported the Articles of Confederation. The American Revolution (1775–83) was an insurrection carried out by 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies, which won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and many North American colonists. Brief but detail-rich biographies of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence. What was the American Revolution? The American Revolution —also called the U.S. War of Independence—was the insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain ’s North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America, founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. John Witherspoon was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University); he was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. After completing his theological studies at the University of Edinburgh (1743), he was called to The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July, 4, 1776. Influenced by Enlightenment ideals of fundamental rights and freedoms, it provided both the foundation and the guiding principles for the new nation. On July 19, 1776, Congress ordered that the Declaration be engrossed on parchment—copied and written into large Timeline of significant events related to the Declaration of Independence. The document proclaimed that the 13 original colonies of America were “free and independent states.” It was the last of a series of steps that led the colonies to final separation from Great Britain. James Wilson was a colonial American lawyer and political theorist, who signed both the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1787). Button Gwinnett was an American merchant, patriot, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, known chiefly because his autographs are of extreme rarity and collectors have forced their value to a high figure. (In 2001 one of his 36 autographs sold at public auction for $110,000.) Gwinnett The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence occurred primarily on August 2, 1776, at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, later to become known as Independence Hall. To ensure the support of all the colonies for the Declaration and the war for independence, the delegates dropped the clause. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, a date subsequently celebrated in the United States as Independence Day. An official copy of the Declaration was written out on parchment. List of some of the major causes and effects of the Declaration of Independence. Several years of armed conflict eventually secured international recognition of what the Declaration had proclaimed: the American colonies became independent of Great Britain and formed the United States of America. Many important people in the early history of the United States signed the Declaration of Independence. Famous signers include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Samuel Adams. Signers of the Declaration of Independence Download this Information in PDF Format Who actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776? No one. Although the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, the “engrossed” copy of the document wasn’t ready for signatures until nearly a month later. Born on April 13, 1743, near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. List of key facts related to the Declaration of Independence. This document, approved on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress, announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.
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