How Many of the Founding Fathers Do You Know?
By Space Coast Daily // July 4, 2013
56 Sign Declaration of Independence
ABOVE VIDEO: In the mini series: “John Adams”, the signing of the Declaration of Independence was re-enacted.
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation.
Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
See an image of the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives.
As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the nation. In 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly-independent nation was 2.5 million. This year, the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau estimate is 313.9 million.
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, and establishing the United States Constitution.
Signers of the Declaration of Independence – How Many Do Yo Know?
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John Adams
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Samuel Adams
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Josiah Bartlett
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Carter Braxton
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Charles Carroll
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Samuel Chase
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Abraham Clark
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George Clymer
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William Ellery
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William Floyd
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Benjamin Franklin
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Elbridge Gerry
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Button Gwinnett
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Lyman Hall
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John Hancock (presiding)
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Benjamin Harrison
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John Hart
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Joseph Hewes
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Thomas Heyward, Jr.
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William Hooper
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Stephen Hopkins
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Francis Hopkinson
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Samuel Huntington
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Thomas Jefferson
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Francis Lightfoot Lee
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Richard Henry Lee
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Francis Lewis
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Philip Livingston
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Thomas Lynch, Jr.
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Thomas McKean
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Arthur Middleton
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Lewis Morris
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Robert Morris
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John Morton
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Thomas Nelson, Jr.
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William Paca
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Robert Treat Paine
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John Penn
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George Read
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Caesar Rodney
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George Ross
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Benjamin Rush
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Edward Rutledge
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Roger Sherman
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James Smith
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Richard Stockton
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Thomas Stone
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George Taylor
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Charles Thomson, Secretary (attesting)
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Matthew Thornton
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George Walton
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William Whipple
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William Williams
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James Wilson
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John Witherspoon
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Oliver Wolcott
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George Wythe