Transcript Document

Colonists who did not
wish to remain British
subjects declared
themselves "Patriots" -those who remained
faithful to England
called themselves
"Loyalists." The
Revolutionary War
broke out on April 19,
1775, at the Battle of
Lexington and Concord.
The Continental Congress met in June 1776. They decided
that the thirteen colonies should be free and independent
states, but they needed to write up a specific document to
declare their independence from Great Britain.
The Continental Congress decided to have
Thomas Jefferson write the first draft of the
Declaration of Independence.
When he wrote the
Declaration of
Independence,
Jefferson went to the
Graff house that was
located outside of the
city limits. The
house was
surrounded by field
and a stable. Thomas
Jefferson could write
without being
bothered.
The only thing that did bother him was the horseflies
from the barn!!!
The Graff
House had been
built in 1775.
The house later
became a print
shop and a diner.
The house was restored in 1975
from old pictures.
Thomas Jefferson, was assisted by John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and
Roger Sherman when writing the final copy of
the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of
Independence:
The document that stated the
reasons for the desire of the
American colonies to be
independent of Great Britain
rule.
John Hancock
•New Hampshire
•Josiah Bartlett
•Wm. Whipple
•Matthew Thornton
•Rhode Island
•Step. Hopkins
•William Ellery
•Connecticut
•Roger Sherman
•Sam'el Huntington
•Wm. Williams
•Oliver Wolcott
•New York
•Wm. Floyd
•Phil. Livingston
•Frans. Lewis
•Lewis Morris
•New Jersey
•Richd. Stockton
•Jno. Witherspoon
•Fras. Hopkinson
•John Hart
•Abra. Clark
•Pennsylvania
•Robt. Morris
•Benjamin Rush
•Benj. Franklin
•John Morton
•Geo. Clymer
•Jas. Smith
•Geo. Taylor
•James Wilson
•Geo. Ross
•Massachusetts-Bay
•Saml. Adams
•John Adams
•Robt. Treat Paine
•Elbridge Gerry
•Delaware
•Caesar Rodney
•Geo. Read
•Tho. M'Kean
•Maryland
•Samuel Chase
•Wm. Paca
•Thos. Stone
•Charles Carroll of Carrollton
•Virginia
•George Wythe
•Richard Henry Lee
•Th. Jefferson
•Benj. Harrison
•Ths. Nelson, Jr.
•Francis Lightfoot Lee
•Carter Braxton
•North Carolina
•Wm. Hooper
•Joseph Hewes
•John Penn
•South Carolina
•Edward Rutledge
•Thos. Heyward, Junr.
•Thomas Lynch, Junr.
•Arthur Middleton
•Georgia
•Button Gwinnett
•Lyman Hall
•Geo. Walton
This powerful advocate of liberty
was born in 1743 in Albermarle
County, Virginia, inheriting from his
father, a planter and surveyor,
some 5,000 acres of land, and from
his mother, a Randolph, high social
standing. He studied at the College
of William and Mary, then read law..
Freckled and sandy-haired, rather
tall and awkward, Jefferson was
eloquent as a correspondent, but he
was no public speaker. In the
Virginia House of Burgesses and the
Continental Congress, he
contributed his pen rather than his
voice to the patriot cause. As the
"silent member" of the Congress,
Jefferson, at 33, drafted the
Declaration of Independence.
Signer of the Declaration
of Independence who was
also a wealthy
Massachusetts merchant
who liked to defy the
British authorities. He was
also president of the
Continental Congress and
governor of
Massachusetts. His main
contribution, however, to
the American Revolution
was using his fortune to
help finance the struggle.
Carroll was elected to represent Maryland on
the 4th of July, and though he was too late to
vote for the Declaration, he did sign it.
Charles Carroll was
the last surviving
member of those who
signed the
Declaration. He died,
the last survivor of
the signers of the
Declaration, in 1832
at the age of ninety
six.
Ben stands alone as the only
person to have signed all four of
the documents which helped to
create the United States: the
Declaration of Independence
(1776), the Treaty of Alliance,
Amity, and Commerce with
France (1778), the Treaty of
Peace between England, France,
and the United States (1782), and
the Constitution (1787). He
actually helped to write parts of
the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution. No other
individual was more involved in
the birth of our nation.
Born: February 22, 1732
Died: December 14, 1799
The first president of the United States,
George Washington, is often referred to as
the Father of Our Country. He was known
for his love of the land and farming, and his
dislike of war. He was a distinguished
general and commander in chief of the
colonial armies in the American Revolution.
You might have thought that George Washington was in
Philadelphia with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John
Adams and the other delegates of the Continental Congress as
they wrote the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn't. In
July 1776, Washington was in New York with his troops. On July
9, he received his copy of the Declaration with a note from John
Hancock telling Washington to share the news with the troops.
Can you imagine how the troops reacted?
It was July 1776. Fighting between the American
colonists and the British forces had been going on
for over a year. The Continental Congress had been
meeting since June, wrestling with the question of
independence. Finally, late in the afternoon on July
4th, 1776 twelve of the thirteen colonies reached
agreement to formally declare the new states as a
free and independent nation. New York was the lone
holdout. That evening John Hancock ordered
Philadelphia printer John Dunlap to print
broadside copies of the agreed-upon declaration
that was signed by him as President and Charles
Thomson as Secretary of the Continental Congress
John Dunlap is thought to have printed
between 200 to 500 Broadsides that July
4th evening which were distributed to the
members of Congress on July 5th.
Contrary to popular belief, this printed
document with only Hancock and
Thomson's names was the actual
document delivered to King George III in
England later that year. The names of the
other delegates who voted for
Independence were not published until
1777.
There are twenty-four surviving
copies of the first printing of the
Declaration of Independence done by
Philadelphia printer John Dunlap on
the evening of July 4,1776, known as
the "Dunlap Broadside".
Have you ever wondered what happened to the
fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of
Independence? According to this anonymous
essay, they each paid a heavy personal price to
stand up for freedom and the independence of
their country. Five signers were captured by the
British. Twelve had their homes ransacked and
burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary
army, another had two sons captured. Nine of
the fifty-six fought and died from their wounds
or other hardships of war
Only two people signed the
Declaration of Independence on July
4th, John Hancock and Charles
Thomson. Most of the rest signed on
August 2, but the last signature
wasn't added until 5 years later.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the 50th
anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
Click here to read about the
Declaration of Independence.