Key Figures

The Liberator

John Adams

1735 - 1826

John Adams was a delegate to both of the Continental Congresses. Adams was one of five chosen man that represented the colony, Massachusetts. Adams was very active during the Second Continental Congress. He was also a stern advocate of freedom and the leading man in promoting independence from Britain. He ferociously supported Thomas Jefferson's Declaration draft and was chosen as the new French Ambassador by the Congress. During the May of 1776, one of his suggestions led to the idea of the Declaration of Independence.

The Commander

George Washington

1732 - 1799

George Washington was one of seven Virgina delegates that attended both Continental Congresses. Unsatisfied with Congress, He presided over the Second Continental Congress. It was during this time that he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the colonial armies by Congress due to his war experience gained since the French and Indian Wars of 1754. He did not sign the Declaration of independence but would later wait with his soldiers to hear it being read in Lower Manhattan on July 9, 1776

The Justifer

Thomas Jefferson

1743 - 1826

Thomas Jefferson was a Virginian delegate of the Second Continental Congress. He was selected along with four other delegates to create a draft for the declaration of independence. Among the five delegates, Thomas Jefferson was given the task of actually writing it while the others would make changes. Thomas Jefferson did not like changes made to his writing, especially the removal of a paragraph regarding the slave trade. However, it was through many revisions that Thomas Jefferson's draft became the Declaration of Independence as it is known today.

The First American

Benjamin Franklin

1706 - 1790

Benjamin Franklin was a Pennsylvanian delegate of the Second Continental Congress. He was a part of the five-member committed assigned to create the draft for the declaration of independence. He helped edit Jefferson's draft since he was unable to write it himself due to his poor health. However, he later help form a alliance between France and the colonies, which financed the American Revolution.

The President

John Hancock

1737-1793

John Hancock was a early supporter of independence from Great Britain among a circle of loyalists. He was a Massachusetts delegate and the president of the Continental Congress in 1775. Hancock was shown to had a great hatred for the abuse of authority. He was one of the most wanted man by the British during the American Revolution for his actions. He would later send a copy of the Declaration of Independence to George Washington. The declaration would then motivate the troops.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean

Pennsylvania: George Clymer, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, James Smith,

George Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Ross, James Wilson

Massachusetts: John Adams, John Hancock, Eldridge Gerry, Samuel Adams,

Robert Treat Paine

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, Mathew Thornton, William Whipple

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

New York: Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis, Philip Livingston, William Floyd

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, George Walton, Lyman Hall

Virginia: Richard Harry Lee, Carter Braxton, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Benjamin Harrison, George Wythe

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton, Thomas Heyward Jr.

New Jersey: Abraham Clark, Francis Hopkinson, John Witherspoon, John Hart, Richard Stockton

Connecticut: Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Roger Sherman, Oliver Wolcott

Maryland: Charles Carroll, Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, William Paca