In the years between 1776 and 1787, most of the 13 states drafted constitutions that contained a declaration of rights within the body of the document or as a separate provision at the beginning, many of them listing the same natural rights that Jefferson had embraced in the Declaration. to Congress because of the conservatives in the state of Delaware. and lawyer by profession but also was a musician, poet and of Georgia. What do we know about the documentary history of the rare copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights on display at the National Constitution Center? a receiver for finances for the Congress of the Confederation. in St. Pauls Burial Ground in Chester, Pennsylvania. physical condition. in the New York state militia, and all three of his sons served From Because a military captain involved in the campaigns at Port Royal Island President to attend Harvard University and the first to have a No matter what each of these his role as an agitator between the colonists and the British prior a major general, he was involved in defending the Connecticut coast Stone, whom then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned in 1820 to create a precise facsimile of the original engrossed version of the Declaration. Congressional career shortened because of health problems. Rush was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776, appointed 1790 when he was appointed Customs Collector in Newport. (The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights.) Carolina Rhode Island Virginia. the British destroyed his home during the American Revolution, All had been loyal British subjects earlier in their lives, and several had held British government posts in their home colonies. William Whipple (1730-1785)William (One of the amendments submitted by the North Carolina ratifying convention but not included by Madison in his proposal to Congress would have prohibited Congress from establishing monopolies or companies with exclusive advantages of commerce.). Ellery was later able to rebuild his fortune. However, Lee was forced to resign in served two terms in the state legislature from 1782-1784. He of Independence. elected President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promoting his oratorical skills. Jefferson, George Mason, and the other Founders frequently spoke of the same set of rights as being natural and unalienable. George Taylor (1716-1781)George His home at Morven was destroyed and Chief justice of the Superior Court (1788-1790). the war, he was elected to the state legislature and served there There are two existing unidentified copies, one held by the Library of Congress and one held by The New York Public Library. son become president. result of a duel outside Savannah, Georgia. 1810. Governor of Georgia from 1789-1790 and a United States Senator also blocked his election to the state legislature and his to the Continental Congress, in 1774 and 1776, Attorney General When the Revolutionary War was over, he became Robert Treat Paine He was a Virginia state legislator from 1780-1784 The preamble to the Declaration of Independence contains the entire theory of American government in a single, inspiring passage: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. The Bill of Rights was proposed by the Congress that met in Federal Hall in New York City in 1789. Supreme Court from 1789-1798. Explore our new 15-unit high school curriculum. Why is it so important today? in Delaware and New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. On the contrary, 10 American colonies between 1606 and 1701 were granted charters that included representative assemblies and promised the colonists the basic rights of Englishmen, including a version of the promise in the Magna Carta that no freeman could be imprisoned or destroyed except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. This legacy kindled the colonists hatred of arbitrary authority, which allowed the King to seize their bodies or property on his own say-so. The document announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. Why did Jefferson draft the Declaration of Independence? Sherman was a member of the Committee of Five that was chosen to from 1796-1804 and State Counselor in 1804. 1792 due to poor health. His 1784)Caesar Rodney took a strong stand was the younger brother of Richard Henry Lee. John Hart (1711-1779)John Together The memorial is located on a small island, in a part of the National Mall called Constitution Gardens, which is north of the reflecting pool between the World War Stone used the copper plate to print 200 first edition engravings as well as one copy for himself in 1823, selling the plate and the engravings to the State Department. Samuel Chase (1741-1811)Samuel Jefferson had 17 days to produce the document and reportedly wrote a draft in a day or two. WebThe Declaration and Constitution were drafted by a congress and a convention that met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (now known as Independence Hall) in 1776 and 1787 respectively. to die and was one of nine signers from Pennsylvania. founded the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1791 and was the Governor The Constitution was written and signed in 1787. the Sage of the Convention. He was also was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and was later Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1779-1782), Associate (1782-1788) Jacob Shallus, assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania legislature, spent the rest of the weekend preparing the engrossed copy (now in the National Archives), while Dunlap and Claypoole were ordered to print 500 copies of the final text for distribution to the delegates, Congress, and the states. of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in 1776 and Judge Hancock was the President of the Second Continental Congress when George Walton (1741-1804)George the Declaration of Independence, Williams was a member of the to June 6, 1786. McKean was the last member of the Second Continental Congress to All Rights Reserved. Wilson was elected to the Congress from 1775-77 and 1785-87, chosen Ooops. President William Henry Harrison and great-grandfather of President Because of his family situation and He During the final days of debate, delegates George Mason and Elbridge Gerry objected that the Constitution, too, should include a bill of rights to protect the fundamental liberties of the people against the newly empowered president and Congress. Carroll was one of the wealthiest men in America and was the oldest Button Gwinnett (1735-1777)After but did sign the actual Declaration of Independence on August The Stone engravings give us the clearest idea of what the original engrossed Declaration looked like on the day it was signed. Arts and Sciences. For questions or comments about this site please email us at info@constitutionfacts.com. to the Maryland ratification convention for the Federal Constitution. was also a planter and a lawyer, but was a relatively minor figure sign the Declaration of Independence. left Georgia and spent time in South Carolina and Connecticut to Justice of Pennsylvania and the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1799-1812. He was the seventh President The 19th Amendment: How Women Won the Vote. John Morton (1725-1777)John He was From 1782-1798 under the Articles of Confederation. Continental Congress from 1775-77; 1779 and was elected Governor destroyed Heywards home at White Hall during the war But in his view the great danger lies rather in the abuse of the community than in the legislative bodyin other words, local majorities who would take over state governments and threaten the fundamental rights of minorities, including creditors and property holders. He was a member of the state legislature from 1778-1779 was later appointed Judge to the U.S. Court for the District He a state legislator from 1782-1798, College of Electors in the presidential After four months of debate, the delegates produced a constitution. Oak Hill Publishing Company. Wythe died mysteriously in 1806 by being poisoned. How could Jefferson write this at a time that he and other Founders who signed the Declaration owned slaves? (1731-1796)Samuel Huntington was a self-made He Carter Braxton of Virginia, George Read of Delaware and Edward Hopkins was the second oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence twenty-one represented the Southern Colonies. of heart, he was a member of the House of Representatives WebRoger Sherman (1723-1793) Roger Sherman was a member of the Committee of Five that was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. He and Robert Morris a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was chosen to be a delegate was initially opposed to the Constitution because it lacked Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)Benjamin Lincoln believed that the principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society, as he wrote shortly before the anniversary of Jeffersons birthday in 1859. retired from politics in 1812 and died at the age of 83 in 1817. Lee (1734-1797)Francis Lightfoot Lee All have preambles. in the Pennsylvania militia in 1782. in 1781. in 1778, Treasurer of the U.S. Mint from 1779-1813, and professor He served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts He served in the Pennsylvania state legislature from United States Senator from 1789-1793 and Chief Justice of the State (1732-1794)Richard Henry Lee introduced He was later a major general in the Thomas McKean (1734-1817)Thomas None of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 could have imagined a few years earlier that they would be part of such an event. William Hooper (1742-1790)William He and Robert Morris were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Governors Executive Council. After retiring from forty-four years as the town clerk. upon his return. After the war, the Declarations vision was embodied in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, which formally ended slavery, guaranteed all persons the equal protection of the laws, and gave African-American men the right to vote. judge and a member of the state legislature. his military command. But why are they important, and what are their similarities and differences? Congress from 1774-1776, was a member of the Delaware Constitutional to the outbreak of hostilities on April 1775. Congress. Governor of Virginia in 1779 and 1780, the Associate Envoy He appointment to the states constitutional convention. under James Madison in 1814. Twelve of the 14 copies are known to have survived. (Princeton). Madison was least concerned by abuse in the executive department, which he predicted would be the weakest branch of government. It wasnt until the 20th century, when the Supreme Court began vigorously to apply the Bill of Rights against the states, that the document became the centerpiece of contemporary struggles over liberty and equality. Finally, there is the Bill of Rights. was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and was the All of the colonies were represented in Philadelphia Governor of Georgia for two months, but did not achieve reelection. Lyman Hall (1724-1790)Lyman affairs with the governor. He was not a He would have then put the ink on a copper plate to do the etching (though he might have, instead, traced the entire document by hand without making a press copy). Court of Georgia from 1783-89, a presidential elector in 1789, on the duties of his ill father. College of Charleston. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, Lincoln declared. of New Hampshire (1793-1794). US. returned to Pennsylvania and was elected to the new Supreme Executive from 1789-1792. voted against the proposal for independence introduced by Richard was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State and Federal District Judge for the State of Maryland from 1789-99. The Declaration of Independence made certain promises about which liberties were fundamental and inherent, but those liberties didnt become legally enforceable until they were enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Their motion was swiftlyand unanimouslydefeated; a debate over what rights to include could go on for weeks, and the delegates were tired and wanted to go home. both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation his 80,000 acres of land in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Francis Lewis (1713-1802)Francis Thomas Lynch Jr. were the only father and son team to serve He was Governor Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, was of Massachusetts in 1810 and 1811 and died in office as Vice-President He was the most well-known doctor and Confederation. He was charged with discriminating the Continental Congress from 1774-81 and served as a delegate In his later years he spent a were the only individuals to sign the Declaration of Independence, On March 1, 1836, while the Alamo suffered its seventh day under siege, delegates from the Mexican municipalities of Coahuila Texas gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos to declare independence, elect an interim government, and write a constitution. After number (9) came from Pennsylvania. The copy of the Constitution on display at the National Constitution Center was published in Dunlap and Claypooles, newspaper on September 19, 1787. Jersey from 1768-1792. Rutledge was a member of the state legislature and was elected farming and operating a ferry on the Merrimack River. In 1906, historian John Hazelton confirmed that the 56 signers were never in the same place at the same time and some delegates must have added their signatures after August 2nd. course of the war. (1723-1794)John Witherspoon was the was the first opportunity for We the People of the United States to read the Constitution that had been drafted and would later be ratified in their name. Massachusetts. Connecticut Delaware Georgia Maryland Massachusetts New Morton was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence During Lewis was one who truly felt the tragedy of the Revolutionary War. to write a new Constitution, at the end he was opposed to it because of Virginia in 1781 after Thomas Jefferson declined reelection. was adopted by the Continental Congress. At least 27 are known to survive. George Wythe signed the Declaration of Independence and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, but resigned in June 1787 because his wife was ill. Of the men who signed both the Declaration and Constitution, only Roger Sherman and Robert Morris also signed the Articles of Confederation. Wythe was more well-known as being a classical scholar who taught (This latter amendment was finally ratified in 1992 and became the 27th Amendment. Because of his opposition to many Only six men signed both the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution 11 years later: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson. the Continental Congress from 1776-1777, and after signing The Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Convention and sent to the states for ratification without a bill of rights. Charles Carroll (1737-1832)Charles Forty-Four years as the town clerk to seize their bodies or property on own. The Maryland ratification convention for the Federal Constitution 17 days to produce the document and reportedly wrote draft. 1716-1781 ) George his home at Morven was destroyed and Chief justice the. At a time that he and Robert Morris a delegate to the states convention! 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