The 56, Youth
The 56: Who signed for your state and what happened to them?
Who were The 56? There were 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. They knew that in doing so they were committing treason and would likely lose everything they had. And most did.
The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads: "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
To these men, duty to their fledgling nation was more important than even life itself.
These are their names:
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
MASSACHUSETTS
John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine
RHODE ISLAND
Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
CONNECTICUT
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
NEW YORK
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
NEW JERSEY
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
PENNSYLVANIA
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
DELAWARE
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
MARYLAND
Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca, Charles Carroll
VIRGINIA
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
NORTH CAROLINA
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
SOUTH CAROLINA
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
GEORGIA
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
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