The Signers of the Declaration and the Cost They Bore
When the fifty-six members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, they closed it with a solemn pledge: “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”¹ These were not reckless men. They were lawyers, merchants, farmers, physicians, planters, and ministers — many of them wealthy and well educated — who understood that to sign was, in British eyes, an act of treason punishable by death.²
The signers ranged widely in age. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, at seventy, was the oldest; Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, at twenty-six, was the youngest.³ Tradition records Franklin's grim wit at the signing: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”⁴
Many did suffer for their stand. Five signers were imprisoned by the British during the war. Four of those were captured in combat and held as prisoners of war; Richard Stockton of New Jersey appears to have been the one signer imprisoned specifically for having signed, and he was harshly treated in captivity.⁵ Several saw their homes ransacked or burned, and others lost ships, property, or fortunes to the conflict.⁶ Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Virginia raised money to supply troops and, by a well-known account, directed cannon fire at his own Yorktown mansion when it became British headquarters during the 1781 siege.⁴
A word of caution is in order, because the signers' fates have been a favorite subject of exaggeration. A widely circulated essay titled “The Price They Paid” has spread for decades by email and online, and historical societies have shown that while it contains real sacrifices, it also mixes in errors and embellishments.⁶ We have tried here to keep to what the record supports.
Six of the signers would later sign the Constitution, and two, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, would become President.³
SOURCES
1. Declaration of Independence, closing pledge; National Archives.
2. “The Price They Paid,” Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
3. “10 Things to Know About the Declaration of Independence,” The Commercial Appeal, 2018.
4. Account of Franklin's remark and Thomas Nelson, Jr.; SAR and “Whatever Became of 56 Signers?” series.
5. Fates of captured signers, incl. Richard Stockton; SAR / press summaries.
6. “Fact or Fiction? The Tragic Fates of the 56 Signers,” and Snopes review of “The Price They Paid.”
7. “Whatever Became of 56 Signers? (Part 8),” on slaveholding among signers.