declaration
...he document to Congress. Congress made some alterations, but the basic document was still Jefferson’s. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By the next day, John Dunlap, the official printer to the Congress, printed copies. These copies were dispatched to members of Congress, various committees and assemblies, and to the Commander of the Continental Troops. This version contained only the signatures of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress and Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. It is unknown how many copies were actually printed, but only 24 are known to be in existence today. American institutions own seventeen of these copies; British institutions own two and five are privately owned. - 2 - On July 19, 1776 Congress ordered that the document be “fairly engrossed on parchment.” Timothy Matlock, who served as the assistant to Charles Thomson, probably completed this process. The engrossing was completed and the document signed on August 2, 1776. John Hancock signed the document first with delegates signing in order to their geographic location. In the end, 56 delegates signed. Non-signers included John Dickinson and Robert Livingston. Congress ordered a second printing of the document on January 18, 1777. This copy contained the names of all the people who signed it. Copies were printing by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore, MD, and were sent to each of the United States. ...