When Was the Declaration of Independence Signed

The handwritten version of the United Sates Declaration of Independence that was signed by the Congress has the date July 4, 1776 on it. There has been a lot of debate on whether or not these signatures were actually completed on the date listed. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all wrote in other documents that the Declaration had received its signatures from Congress on July 4. However, in 1796 Thomas McKean, a signer, disputed that the Declaration of Independence had not been signed on July 4, and stated that some signers were not present at the time, such as many who were not in Congress at the time.

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