Introduction. A clarification: the real Independence Day
New Hampshire. Josiah Bartlett: the signer immortalized on The West Wing
William Whipple: the singer who fought for freedom
Matthew Thornton: the singer who led "The nation of New Hampshire"
Massachusetts. John Adams: the signer everyone loved to hate
Samuel Adams: the signer whose bravery went bust
Elbridge Gerry: the signer who gave us gerrymandering
John Hancock: the signer who signed first
Robert Treat Paine: the signer who objected to, well, everything
Rhode Island. William Ellery: the signer who is two degrees from Kevin Bacon
Stephen Hopkins: the signer with the worst penmanship
Connecticut. Samuel Huntington: the signer who became the first U.S. President, sort of...
Roger Sherman: the signer who signed everything
William Williams: the signer who was certain he would hang
Oliver Wolcott: the signer who melted King George's heart (and then some)
New York. Philip Livingston: the prince of New York
William Floyd: the signer whose home was turned into a stable
Francis Lewis: the signer whose wife was imprisoned
Lewis Morris: the signer buried in one of America's poorest neighborhoods
New Jersey. Abraham Clark: the signer whose sons were imprisoned
John Hart: the signer who slept in caves
Francis Hopkinson: the signer who designed the U.S. flag
Richard Stockton: the only signer who recanted the Declaration
John Witherspoon: the signer who was also a minister
Pennsylvania. John Morton: the first signer to die
Benjamin Franklin: the signer known throughout the world
James Wilson: the signer who went broke on shady land deals
Robert Morris: the signer who financed the war, and ended up in debtors' prison
George Clymer: the signer whose homes were targeted by the British
George Ross: the signer related to America's most famous seamstress
Benjamin Rush: the signer who loved to gossip about other signers
George Taylor: the signer who started out as an indentured servant
James Smith: the signer who was coy about his age
Delaware. Caesar Rodney: Delaware's famous midnight rider
George Read: the only signer who voted against Independence
Thomas McKean: the signer who waited five years to sign
Maryland. Charles Carroll of Carrollton: the last signer to die
Samuel Chase: the signer better remembered as "Old Bacon Face"
William Paca: the signer who dared to acknowledge his illegitimate child
Thomas Stone: the signer who died of a broken heart
Virginia. Carter Braxton: the signer who had eighteen children
Benjamin Harrison: the singer who played Falstaff to Congress
Thomas Jefferson: the signer who wrote the Declaration
Richard Henry Lee: the six-fingered signer
Francis Lightfoot Lee: the signer who lived in his brother's shadow
Thomas Nelson Jr.: the signer who ordered troops to fire on his own home
George Wythe: the signer who was poisoned by his nephew
North Carolina. Joseph Hewes: the signer who worked himself to death
William Hooper: the signer who feared democracy
John Penn: the signer who taught himself how to read and write
South Carolina. Thomas Lynch Jr.: the signer buried at the bottom of the sea
Arthur Middleton: the signer also known as Andrew Marvell
Edward Rutledge: the signer who delayed Independence by a month
Thomas Heyward Jr.: the signer-songwriter
Georgia. Lyman Hall: the signer who dragged Georgia into the Union
George Walton: the signer who was orphaned, impoverished, abused, shot, and imprisoned
Button Gwinnett: the signer with the $7000,000 autograph
Appendixes. Text of the Declaration of Independence
The miscellany of independence