Declaration Signers Risked Capture, Ruin and Treason Charges in Fight for Independence

As the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the lives of the 56 signers show the personal cost of pledging “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence committed themselves to a cause that carried the risk of imprisonment, financial ruin, destroyed homes and execution for treason.

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption, the lives of the signers remain central to the history of the nation’s founding. According to a detailed account by The Epoch Times, none of the signers died because of his signature, but the war brought serious consequences for many of them. Five were captured, 12 lost their homes, and 17 lost their fortunes before the conflict ended. None voluntarily renounced the cause of independence.

The anniversary marks the July 4, 1776, adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s revised draft of the Declaration of Independence. The document, however, was not signed by all 56 men on that day. It took months for every signer to add his name.

Several major figures from the founding era are not among the signers. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and others were serving in military roles or other capacities when the document was approved.

Jefferson, the Declaration’s principal author, became the best-known signer. During the war, he nearly fell into British hands while serving as governor of Virginia and was forced to flee Monticello. His escape later produced accusations of “cowardice,” leading Virginia lawmakers to conduct a formal inquiry. Jefferson was acquitted.

After the war, Jefferson served as U.S. ambassador to France, secretary of state under President George Washington and vice president under President John Adams. His election as president, later called the “Revolution of 1800,” helped elevate the Declaration’s principles as a defining statement of the American founding.

Benjamin Franklin also played a central role in shaping the document. Though Jefferson wrote the original draft, Franklin is credited with one of the Declaration’s most famous edits. Jefferson had written, “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” Franklin revised the phrase to read, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”

Franklin, remembered as a scientist, writer, diplomat and advocate of colonial unity, later served as ambassador to France and helped negotiate the agreement that ended the war with Great Britain. He also served as Pennsylvania’s “president,” or governor, from 1785 to 1788 and was a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Shortly before his death in 1790, Franklin supported a petition urging the federal government to abolish slavery.

John Adams, who later became the nation’s second president, was among the earliest and strongest advocates for independence in the Continental Congress. His defense of the cause earned him the description “the Atlas of American Independence.”

Adams nearly faced capture by British warships in February 1778 while traveling to Paris on a diplomatic mission with his son. He reportedly took up a musket during the encounter, and the ship escaped through a combination of navigation and a storm. Had Adams been taken, he likely would have faced imprisonment in the Tower of London and execution for treason.

Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration’s adoption. Adams’s final words were reportedly, “Jefferson still lives,” though Jefferson had died hours earlier at Monticello.

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia played a decisive role before the Declaration was adopted. He authored the resolution stating that the 13 colonies “are, and of Right ought to be, free and independent States.” The Second Continental Congress adopted the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776. Adams believed that date, rather than July 4, would become America’s Independence Day and predicted it would be marked with “pomp and parade … from one end of this continent to the other.”

Lee suffered financially during the war as international shipping and the tobacco trade were disrupted. His property was also targeted, and the strain affected his health. After the Revolution, he became one of Virginia’s first U.S. senators, serving alongside William Grayson, and aligned with the anti-Federalists in opposing a stronger national government. Lee died in June 1794 at age 62.

Caesar Rodney of Delaware became one of the Declaration’s most consequential signers after riding 80 miles to Philadelphia while suffering from facial cancer. His arrival allowed him to cast Delaware’s tie-breaking vote in favor of independence. Because unanimous support from the colonies was required to approve the Lee Resolution, Rodney’s vote was critical.

Rodney later served as Delaware’s “president,” or governor, until 1781. He died of facial cancer in 1784 at age 55.

John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, became the first signer of the Declaration. His large signature became so well known that his name eventually became a common American term for a signature. Hancock is also the only person who actually signed the document on July 4, 1776.

A wealthy Massachusetts merchant and revolutionary leader, Hancock risked his fortune and family’s future if the independence effort failed. He avoided capture during the war, but several of his properties were destroyed or occupied by British forces. He also spent nearly half of his wealth supporting the independence cause. Hancock later became the first governor of independent Massachusetts and died in 1793 at age 56.

Thomas McKean of Delaware was likely the final signer, though historians dispute the exact date. Some estimates place his signature in early 1777, while others say it may have been as late as 1781. Like several delegates, McKean left Congress to join the war effort after voting for independence.

McKean helped defend New York City and Delaware during the war. By 1781, he was president of the Continental Congress, making him the civilian authority overseeing the Battle of Yorktown, the decisive battle that ended the war. After independence, he served as chief justice and governor of Pennsylvania. During the War of 1812, he joined a civilian defense group and took up arms again. He died in 1817 at age 83.

Richard Stockton of New Jersey is believed to be the only signer who renounced his signature, but historians say he did so under coercion after British captivity. Stockton signed a parole agreement pledging not to continue participating in the war and resigned from the Continental Congress. Before his death in 1781 at age 50, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the United States.

Several signers took up arms or otherwise served directly in the war. McKean, Rodney, Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, Thomas Nelson Jr. of Virginia and William Floyd of New York all participated in the conflict.

Others became prisoners of war. George Walton was wounded and captured during the Battle of Savannah, spent months in British custody and was later freed. He went on to serve Georgia as governor, chief justice and U.S. senator.

Thomas Heyward Jr., Arthur Middleton and Edward Rutledge were captured during the Battle of Charleston and held for months in St. Augustine, Florida. All three survived captivity. Heyward was the last of the group to die, passing away in 1809 at age 62.

Many signers also suffered through the loss or occupation of homes and estates. In addition to Lee and Hancock, Francis Lewis of New York had his property destroyed by the British. His wife, Elizabeth Annesley Lewis, was captured and held for months without adequate food or a change of clothes. She was later released through a prisoner exchange negotiated by Washington but died soon after from the effects of the ordeal.

New York signers William Floyd, Philip Livingston and Lewis Morris also saw their estates occupied by British forces and used as barracks or stables.

John Hart of New Jersey was forced to flee his home and leave his wife’s deathbed when Hessian troops attacked his farm and mills.

Charles Carroll of Maryland became the longest-living signer and the last survivor among the 56. The only Catholic signer of the Declaration, Carroll became the final living signatory after Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. Franklin had died more than 40 years earlier.

In his final years, Carroll became a living link to the founding generation. Young Americans and reporters sought his recollections during the 1820s and early 1830s as the early Republic entered a new era. He also helped mark that transition by laying the first stone of the B&O Railroad, an early step toward the nation’s later transcontinental rail development.

Carroll died in 1832. His death was widely noted as the passing of the last member of the Declaration’s first generation.

Near the end of his life, Carroll wrote, “Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings. … I do hereby recommend to the present and future generations the principles of that important document … and pray that the civil and religious liberties they have secured to my country may be perpetuated.”

The stories of the 56 signers show that the Declaration was more than a political statement. For the men who signed it, the document carried immediate personal risk, placing their homes, property, reputations, liberty and lives behind the cause of independence.