The document was initially presented to the congress on July 2 by the Committee of Five, which drafted the document. Yet two of the colonies’ delegations, South Carolina and Delaware, would not agree to the document as presented, leading to two days of intense debate and compromises.
As Thomas Jefferson later recalled, South Carolina came on board once language in the Declaration condemning slavery was removed. Delaware, which had a split vote between its two delegates, moved to approve once a third delegate from that state rode through the night to Philadelphia and broke the deadlock.
By the evening of July 4, 12 of the 13 colonies had agreed to accept the Declaration as amended. Still, representatives from New York abstained because they had not yet received instructions from state leaders back in Albany, thus the matter of when exactly the Declaration was signed is a matter of academic debate.
Those who hold that it was signed July 4 include some heavy hitters – Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams among them, according to letters they later wrote. In addition, the Journals of the Continental Congress, the official public record of the congress which was published the following year, records that the “foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and signed by the following members,” after which it lists the names of the 56 signers.
Yet there are equally strong arguments that suggest it was signed later. Clearly, the New York delegates did not sign it on July 4 as they were on record as abstaining from the vote.
In addition, Thomas McKean, a representative from Delaware, claimed it was not signed on July 4 because a number of the signing delegates were not present at that meeting. As the congress’s secretary did not record attendance, it is not possible to ascertain who was or was not present. In fact, McKean notes, some of the signers were not even elected to the Continental Congress until after July 4, which is true. So perhaps the Journals was incorrectly amended later, as some suggest, in the early 1820s by editors as they prepared for the 50th anniversary of the signing.
And finally, some scholars have suggested that Jefferson’s use of the word “signed” was intended to mean the delegates “signaled” or “indicated” their acceptance of the document, not that they actually put pen to paper.
At any rate, New York’s delegation announced its intention to sign on July 9. On July 19, the Journals seems to contradict its earlier record by proposing “the Declaration passed on the 4th be fairly engrossed on parchment with the title and stile of ‘The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America’ & that the same when engrossed be signed by every member of Congress.” Two weeks later, on Aug. 2, the Journals records that on this date “The declaration of independence being engrossed & compared at the table was signed by the Members.”
Some scholars suggest that about 34 of the delegates may have signed on July 4 and that the remaining delegates signed thereafter, with all 56 having signed on or before August 2.
From a local perspective, this conclusion might address another oddity. After South Carolina representative, Edward Rutledge, signed his name, the second signer, Thomas Heyward, skipped a space, as if he were leaving room between his name and Rutledge’s open for someone who may not have been present. South Carolina’s remaining two delegates, Thomas Lynch Jr. and Arthur Middleton, however, signed immediately underneath Heyward, leaving an unexplained blank spot between the state’s first two delegates’ names.
South Carolina Signers
The decision to sign the Declaration of Independence was not taken lightly by congressional delegates, as doing so would be punishable by death should the British capture them or prevail in the war. So who were these bold South Carolinians?
At 26, Edward Rutledge was the youngest of the 56 signers. He was also the youngest of seven children born to Scotch-Irish parents Dr. John and Sarah (neé Hext) Rutledge. In some ways, it’s interesting to compare Edward with his oldest brother, John. John served in the First Continental Congress, Edward in the Second. Edward signed the Declaration; John was an author of the U.S. Constitution. John was the 31st governor of South Carolina, Edward the 39th.
John built a grand townhouse at 116 Broad Street, while Edward bought an older residence across the street at 117 Broad Street. Both escaped the Great Fire of 1861, which destroyed many of their neighbors, and are still there today. Both are registered National Historic Landmarks.
According to legend, Edward died from a stroke upon hearing news of George Washington’s death. He is buried at St. Michael’s churchyard. John reposes at St. Philip’s.
Marrying Henrietta Middleton in 1774, Edward was the brother-in-law of another of South Carolina’s signers, Arthur Middleton. Middleton came from a wealthy family whose legacy is a virtual history in and of itself reflective of each epoch in America’s history. He inherited the family plantation, Middleton Place, which today is a popular museum site and formal garden located south of Summerville on the Ashley River. Though the main house was burned in the Civil War, one wing of the mansion and the gardens have been refurbished. Middleton died at age 44. His remains lie in the family tomb at the plantation.
Thomas Heyward is believed to have been the last signer of the Declaration of Independence, probably on Aug. 2, so perhaps the unexplained space below Rutledge’s signature was for Heyward, who then signed with a smaller signature than expected.
At any rate, Heyward returned to Charleston to resume his law career. In 1778 he presided over a trial finding several Loyalists guilty of treason. He convicted and executed them within sight of the British line.
Like Rutledge’s and Middleton’s, Heyward’s residence at 86 Church Street has survived and is now a house museum operated by The Charleston Museum. Also a National Historic Landmark, it is better known today as the Heyward-Washington House, in remembrance of President Washington’s stay there during his 1791 visit to Charleston.
Three of South Carolina’s signers, Heyward, Rutledge and Middleton were captured when Charleston fell to the British in 1780 and sent to prison in St. Augustine, Fla. While there, Heyward rewrote the lyrics of a popular British tune “God Save the King” to become “God Save the States.” All three of the imprisoned signers were released in a prisoner exchange the next year. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the fourth South Carolina signer, Thomas Lynch Jr.
Born at Hopsewee Plantation on the North Santee River outside of Georgetown, Lynch was the second youngest signer of the Declaration, being just three months older than Edward Rutledge. His father, Thomas Lynch Sr., was also a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
Lynch Jr. was serving as company commander of the First South Carolina regiment in June 1775, when he became very ill. As he was recuperating, he received news that his father, who was in Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress, had also take ill.
On March 23, 1776, the S.C. General Assembly appointed Lynch Jr. to serve with his ailing father as a delegate to the congress. Although he himself was not yet recovered, Lynch Jr. traveled to Philadelphia where he signed the Declaration of Independence. Could the open space have been optimistically left open for Thomas Lynch Sr. to come in and sign?
If so, that never happened. Lynch Sr. did not improve and died as he was accompanied by his ill son on the return trip to Hopsewee. They were the only father and son to serve together in the Continental Congress.
Thomas Jr. was still recovering from his illness two years later, when friends suggested a change in scenery might help. He and his young bride left for Europe aboard the Polly, which stopped briefly at St. Eustatius in the West Indies before departing Dec. 17, 1779. It was the last time the ship or its passengers were ever seen. The second-youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence became the first of the 56 signers to perish.
Because of his illness and early death, only one of Thomas Jr.’s letters is known to survive, as do his signatures on several documents. Given their rarity, his autographs are highly sought after by collectors, selling for as much as $250,000.
An only son with no male heirs, Lynch left his estate to his sister on the condition she change her last name, and those of her children, back to Lynch, which they did. Charleston fell to British forces five months later.
