Michael W Smith Declaration Of Independence (2024)

FAQs

What happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? ›

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.

As President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hanco*ck was the first to sign this historic document. He used large bold script and signed under the text in the center of the page. At that time, a general practice was to sign below text on the right and by geographic location.

Future presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were among the signatories. Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) the oldest. John Hanco*ck's now-iconic signature on the Declaration is nearly 5 inches (13 cm) long.

About the signers

Two 26-year-olds from South Carolina were the youngest to sign the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Lynch Jr., and Edward Rutledge). Benjamin Franklin, 70, was the oldest.

Signing the Declaration proved to be very costly. Five signers were captured by the British and brutally tortured as traitors. Nine fought in the Revolutionary War and died from wounds or hardships. Two lost their sons in the war, and two others had sons captured.

Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer, and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) was the oldest signer.

1. President Washington never lived in Washington, D.C. George Washington is the only US president to have never occupied the White House.

When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Ford automatically assumed the presidency, taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House. This made him the only person to become the nation's chief executive without being elected to the presidency or the vice presidency.

If you mean a more general sense of the term “founding father,” then there are more answers. Jonathan Dayton was the youngest signer of the Constitution and Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer of the Declaration, both at just 26 years of age.

The exceptions were Alexander Hamilton (from the West Indies), James Wilson (Scotland), William Richardson Davie and Robert Morris (England), and the four delegates born in Ireland. Here's a look at the four men who played varying roles in the Constitution's creation.

How many original copies of the Declaration of Independence still exist? ›

Original copies are extremely rare: Only about two dozen survive, most of them held by institutions in the U.S. and a few by British institutions and private individuals. The Library of Congress holds two copies.

Who was the youngest Signer? Two of the Signers were 26 at the time of the signing. Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749) edged out Thomas Lynch Jr. (August 5, 1749) by just over three months to be the youngest Signer.

If the colonists had lost the war, there probably wouldn't be a United States of America, period. A British victory in the Revolution probably would have prevented the colonists from settling into what is now the U.S. Midwest.

Few dates in American history have been so profound. On July 4, 1826, as the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.

Historians believe seven of the 56 signatures on the document were placed there later. Two prominent delegates passed up the chance to sign: John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York.

When John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland's "First Citizen," became America's last surviving Signer of the Declaration of Independence.