FactSentinel

The Declaration of Independence was not signed by all delegates on July 4, 1776. On that date, the Continental Congress voted to approve the final wording of the document, but the famous handwritten copy displayed at the National Archives, known as the engrossed copy, was not prepared until weeks later. Most delegates signed it on August 2, 1776, when the parchment version was ready.

Historical records support this timeline. Congress had actually voted in favor of independence on July 2, 1776, and then spent the following days revising Thomas Jefferson's draft. After the text was adopted on July 4, it was sent to printer John Dunlap, who produced the first copies, known as the Dunlap broadsides, that night. These printed versions carried only the names of John Hancock, as president of Congress, and secretary Charles Thomson. Signing continued after August 2, since some delegates were absent that day. Historians generally agree that a few men, such as Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire, did not sign until late in 1776, when he took his seat in Congress.

The misconception persists largely because July 4 is the date printed on the document and celebrated as Independence Day. John Trumbull's well-known painting, which depicts the presentation of the draft to Congress, also fuels the impression that everyone signed together on a single day. In reality, the painting shows the drafting committee presenting its work, not a signing ceremony. Additionally, not every signer was present for the July 4 vote, and a few men who were present then never signed at all.