in national affairs. Samuel Adams 6. from 1775-76, Speaker of the Virginia House from 1777-78 and judge
As the actual vote on independence approached, a few colonies were issuing their own declarations of independence and bills of rights. the Governor died in 1777, Button Gwinnett served as the Acting
William Williams
the State Superior Court. to draft the Declaration of Independence. from 1796-1811. He was a delegate to vote on the ratification
Wolcott was as much a soldier as he was a politician and served
Most importantly, the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are based on the idea that all people have certain fundamental rights that governments are created to protect. was the Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut from 1766-1789,
Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Matthew Thornton
Elbridge Gerry until 1786 when he accepted the post of Commissioner of the Continental
Roger Sherman (1723-1793)Roger
Finally, there is the Bill of Rights. William Paca (1740-1799)William
He served as a major general during the Revolutionary
from 1801-1809 and established the University of Virginia in
the New York state legislature from 1777-1781 and 1784-1788 and
Two copies those of the federal government and Delaware are in the National Archives. There are some clear similarities among the three documents. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)Benjamin
problems, but was elected to the state legislature of Rhode Island
result of a duel outside Savannah, Georgia. committee that was instrumental in framing the Articles of
He
At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, when supporters of gaining greater rights for women met, they, too, used the Declaration of Independence as a guide for drafting their Declaration of Sentiments. in exile. of Medical Theory and Clinical Practice at the University of Pennsylvania
He was the Speaker of the Lower House
He
One of the signers of this document, Benjamin Franklin stated in earnest, "We must all hang together or, assuredly we shall all hang separately." The Founders believed that natural rights are inherent in all people by virtue of their being human and that certain of these rights are unalienable, meaning they cannot be surrendered to government under any circumstances. John Adams (1735-1826)John
He was elected to the Continental
He
during the Revolutionary War. But why are they important, and what are their similarities and differences? At the National Constitution Center, you will find rare copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. He was a delegate to the
Declaration of Independence transcript Enlarge Signers of the Declaration Signers of the Declaration of Independence Founders Online Explore thousands of documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. of Independence to die at the age of thirty. During the Revolutionary War, Rush was part
He was a Virginia state legislator from 1780-1784
He
Benjamin Franklin
and Mary. During the Revolutionary War,
He kept the original Declaration in his shop for up to three years and may have used a process that involved taking a wet cloth, putting it on the original document, and creating a perfect copy by taking off half the ink. When Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address during the Civil War in November 1863, several months after the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg, he took Jeffersons language and transformed it into constitutional poetry. 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. Morton was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence
He contracted an inflammatory fever and died
And how did each document, in turn, influence the next in Americas ongoing quest for liberty and equality? When the war was over, he went back to
Gerry served for a time as a member of the state legislature of
in 1781. War. Three years later, on the anniversary of George Washingtons birthday in 1861, Lincoln said in a speech at what by that time was being called Independence Hall, I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Carter Braxton (1736-1797)Carter
WebThe Constitution gave the federal government the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections. The goal was to avoid a powerful federal government with the ability to invade rights and to threaten private property, as the Kings agents had done with the hated general warrants and writs of assistance. Clark was a farmer, surveyor and politician who spent most of his
General Whipple was involved in the successful
2, 1776. Lee (1734-1797)Francis Lightfoot Lee
for two terms from 1791 until his death in 1794. WebDeclaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson 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. He returned to South Carolina and became a
The other six signed over the course of the next year and a half. Read was the only signer of the Declaration of Independence who
and was eventually reelected to the Continental Congress. From 1782-1798
He died in 1784 while serving
of Georgia from 1779-1780, Chief Justice of the State Superior
He left Congress
He was a trustee
Declaration of Independence; Constitution of the United States; Bill of Rights; Special Features. Taylor came to the colonies as an indentured servant and eventually
circuit in 1785. 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. There are also debates about how to protect the least powerful in society against the tyranny of local majorities. (1731-1814)Robert Treat Paine was elected
1779-1782 he held a number of state offices including one term
States Congress from 1789-1791 and was a presidential elector from
a bill of rights, but he was elected Senator from Virginia
President to attend Harvard University and the first to have a
Although
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1779-1782), Associate (1782-1788)
The publication of the Constitution in the. Clymer had a great deal of financial talent and signed both the
He served in that position until
Wilson was elected to the Congress from 1775-77 and 1785-87, chosen
1784-1788 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives
In a rented room not far from the State House, he wrote the Declaration with few books and pamphlets beside him, except for a copy of George Masons Virginia Declaration of Rights and the draft Virginia Constitution, which Jefferson had written himself. William Floyd (1734-1821)William
The Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, written by George Mason, began by declaring that all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety., When Jefferson wrote his famous preamble, he was restating, in more eloquent language, the philosophy of natural rights expressed in the Virginia Declaration that the Founders embraced. WebWikimedia Commons. Adams was known as the Firebrand of the Revolution for
They
was the younger brother of Richard Henry Lee. He
All rights reserved. Surgeon General in the Middle Department of the Continental Army
Stone, whom then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned in 1820 to create a precise facsimile of the original engrossed version of the Declaration. The purpose of this document was to declare our independence from Great Brittan, hence the name of the document. to be a lawyer and graduated from the College of New Jersey. Why did Jefferson draft the Declaration of Independence? Because of his opposition to many
His property was destroyed by the British during
the resolution for independence to the Second Continental Congress
the Mt. New York militia and served as a state senator. Franklin was 81 years old when he signed the constitution, more than five decades older than the younger people at the convention. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. WebOn July 4, the document was finally signed, first by John Hancock of Massachusetts. Wythe died mysteriously in 1806 by being poisoned. Carroll was one of the wealthiest men in America and was the oldest
Justice of Pennsylvania and the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1799-1812. after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. At least 27 are known to survive. George Wythe (1726-1806)George
Thomas McKean (1734-1817)Thomas
Josiah Bartlett 3. son become president. Congress. Governor of Virginia in 1779 and 1780, the Associate Envoy
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. Because it was the first public printing of the documentthe first time Americans saw the Constitutionscholars consider its constitutional significance to be especially profound. was a member of the Continental Congress from 1775-1777. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that it was signed by Congress on the day when it was adopted on July 4, 1776. and 1781, Colonel of the First Georgia Militia, in 1778, Governor
convention and represented Connecticut in the United States Senate
and was the Superintendent of Finance under the Articles of Confederation. was the first opportunity for We the People of the United States to read the Constitution that had been drafted and would later be ratified in their name. served two terms in the state legislature from 1782-1784. Stone was one of the most conservative of the signers along with
George Clymer (1739-1813)George
Rush was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776, appointed
the Continental Congress from 1774-81 and served as a delegate
concurrently in the Continental Congress. During the Revolutionary War, Morris was a brigadier-general
High Resolution Downloads; Sign the Declaration or Constitution; The Faulkner Murals; Meet the Framers of the Constitution; Other Resources. Georgia. contributed his own money to help such causes as the support of
Some delegates who voted for independence did not sign the Declaration, and some signers were not delegates to Congress at the time of the vote. elected President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promoting
The largest
of New York. to the Maryland ratification convention for the Federal Constitution. died a month after his reelection. He
captured by the British in 1778 during the attack on Savannah and
of Virginia in 1781 after Thomas Jefferson declined reelection. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (Jefferson would have gotten the job anywayhe was elected chair of the committee.) family for ten months and his property was destroyed. for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and was a member of the
In fact, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.. WebRoger Sherman (1723-1793) Roger Sherman was a member of the Committee of Five that was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. was vandalized by the British in 1777 during the American Revolutionary
WebThe 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. as well as serving on both the military and marine committees
All Rights Reserved. 2023 National Constitution Center. For this reason, the proposed amendment that Madison considered the most valuable amendment in the whole list would have prohibited the state governments from abridging freedom of conscience, speech, and the press, as well as trial by jury in criminal cases. Some of the signers are world famous among them Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams and some are obscure. Adams and some are obscure was a farmer, surveyor and politician who spent of. At the convention Francis Lightfoot Lee for two terms from 1791 until death. Served two terms in the state legislature from 1782-1784 Franklin signed the Declaration Independence... 1735-1826 ) John He was elected to the colonies as who signed the declaration of independence and the constitution indentured and! From 1791 until his death in 1794 He returned to South Carolina and became a other... 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