Ronald H. Walker
Director
National Park Service

Contents

Part I
Signers of the Declaration:
Historical Background		[1]
Part II
Signers of the Declaration:
Biographical Sketches		[25]
John Adams • Massachusetts[33]
Samuel Adams • Massachusetts[36]
Josiah Bartlett • New Hampshire[39]
Carter Braxton • Virginia[41]
Charles Carroll • Maryland[43]
Samuel Chase • Maryland[45]
Abraham Clark • New Jersey[47]
George Clymer • Pennsylvania[49]
William Ellery • Rhode Island[51]
William Floyd • New York[53]
Benjamin Franklin • Pennsylvania[55]
Elbridge Gerry • Massachusetts[59]
Button Gwinnett • Georgia[62]
Lyman Hall • Georgia[65]
John Hancock • Massachusetts[67]
Benjamin Harrison • Virginia[70]
John Hart • New Jersey[71]
Joseph Hewes • North Carolina[73]
Thomas Heyward, Jr. • South Carolina[75]
William Hooper • North Carolina[77]
Stephen Hopkins • Rhode Island[79]
Francis Hopkinson • New Jersey[81]
Samuel Huntington • Connecticut[83]
Thomas Jefferson • Virginia[85]
Francis Lightfoot Lee • Virginia[90]
Richard Henry Lee • Virginia[92]
Francis Lewis • New York[94]
Philip Livingston • New York[96]
Thomas Lynch, Jr. • South Carolina[99]
Thomas McKean • Delaware[100]
Arthur Middleton • South Carolina[103]
Lewis Morris • New York[104]
Robert Morris • Pennsylvania[106]
John Morton • Pennsylvania[109]
Thomas Nelson, Jr. • Virginia[110]
William Paca • Maryland[113]
Robert Treat Paine • Massachusetts[115]
John Penn • North Carolina[116]
George Read • Delaware[118]
Caesar Rodney • Delaware[120]
George Ross • Pennsylvania[122]
Benjamin Rush • Pennsylvania[123]
Edward Rutledge • South Carolina[127]
Roger Sherman • Connecticut[129]
James Smith • Pennsylvania[132]
Richard Stockton • New Jersey[133]
Thomas Stone • Maryland[135]
George Taylor • Pennsylvania[137]
Matthew Thornton • New Hampshire[139]
George Walton • Georgia[140]
William Whipple • New Hampshire[142]
William Williams • Connecticut[144]
James Wilson • Pennsylvania[145]
John Witherspoon • New Jersey[149]
Oliver Wolcott • Connecticut[152]
George Wythe • Virginia[154]
Part III
Signers of the Declaration:
Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings		[157]
Huntington Birthplace, Conn.[164]
Huntington House, Conn.[165]
Williams Birthplace, Conn.[166]
Williams House, Conn.[168]
Wolcott House, Conn.[169]
The White House, D.C.[170]
College Hill, Ga.[173]
Meadow Garden, Ga.[175]
Tabby Cottage, Ga.[176]
Whipple Birthplace, Maine[177]
Carroll Mansion, Md.[179]
Carrollton Manor, Md.[180]
Chase-Lloyd House, Md.[181]
Deshon-Caton-Carroll House, Md.[183]
Doughoregan Manor, Md.[185]
Habre-de-Venture, Md.[186]
Paca House, Md.[188]
Peggy Stewart House, Md.[189]
Adams (John) Birthplace, Mass.[191]
Adams (John Quincy) Birthplace, Mass.[192]
Adams National Historic Site, Mass.[193]
Elmwood, Mass.[195]
Gerry Birthplace, Mass.[197]
Hancock-Clarke House, Mass.[198]
Bartlett House, N.H.[199]
Moffatt-Ladd House, N.H.[201]
Thornton House, N.H.[203]
Hopkinson House, N.J.[204]
Maybury Hill, N.J.[206]
Morven, N.J.[207]
President’s House, N.J.[208]
Tusculum, N.J.[209]
Floyd Birthplace (Fire Island National
Seashore), N.Y.[210]
General Floyd House, N.Y.[212]
Iredell House, N.C.[213]
Nash-Hooper House, N.C.[214]
Independence National Historical Park, Pa.[216]
Parsons-Taylor House, Pa.[226]
Shippen-Wistar House, Pa.[228]
Summerseat, Pa.[229]
Taylor House, Pa.[230]
Governor Hopkins House, R.I.[231]
Heyward-Washington House, S.C.[233]
Hopsewee-on-the-Santee, S.C.[234]
Middleton Place, S.C.[236]
Rutledge House, S.C.[237]
Berkeley, Va.[239]
Elsing Green, Va.[240]
Menokin, Va.[242]
Monticello, Va.[243]
Mount Airy, Va.[246]
Nelson House (Colonial National
Historical Park), Va.[247]
Poplar Forest, Va.[249]
Stratford Hall, Va.[251]
Tuckahoe, Va.[253]
Wythe House, Va.[255]
Appendix
The Declaration and Its History[257]
Text of the Declaration[259]
History of the Document[262]
Suggested Reading[268]
Criteria for Selection of Historic Sites of National Significance[270]
Acknowledgments[272]
Art and Picture Credits[274]
Index[281]
Map: Signers of the Declaration—Historic Sites of National Significance[162–163]
All photographs are indexed.

Part One
Signers of the Declaration:
Historical Background

At Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, the Delegates to the Continental Congress courageously signed a document declaring the independence of the Thirteen American Colonies from Great Britain. Not only did the Declaration of Independence create a Nation, but it also pronounced timeless democratic principles. Enshrined today in the National Archives Building at Washington, D.C., it memorializes the founding of the United States and symbolizes the eternal freedom and dignity of Man.

* * * * *

By the time the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration in July 1776, the War for Independence had been underway for more than a year. Failing to obtain satisfactory redress from the mother country for their economic and political grievances during the previous decade, the colonists had finally resorted to armed conflict. These grievances had come to a head shortly after the French and Indian War (1754–63). Long and costly, the war depleted the royal treasury and added the financial burden of administering the vast territory acquired from France. Britain levied new, direct taxes in the Colonies and tightened customs controls.

The colonists, accustomed to considerable economic freedom, resented these measures. A number of Americans also felt that some sort of conspiracy existed in England to destroy their liberties and self-government. They believed that the mission of the large force of redcoats assigned to the Colonies actually was internal suppression rather than protection from a nonexistent external threat, especially since the French had been expelled. Particularly aggravating was the realization that the new tax levies supported the force. Some of the discontent was regional in nature. Indebtedness to British creditors irritated Southern planters. Commercial interests in the Middle Colonies disliked the prohibition on manufacturing certain products. Frontier settlers and speculators were irked at restrictions on westward expansion and the Indian trade.