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Fifty-six delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia signed the United States Declaration of Independence, a proclamation asserting that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. ==Date of signing== The date that the Declaration was signed has long been the subject of debate. Within a decade after the event, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that the Declaration had been signed by Congress on July 4, 1776.〔Warren, "Fourth of July Myths", 242–43.〕 This seemed to be confirmed by the signed copy of the Declaration, which is dated July 4. Additional support was provided by the ''Journals of Congress'', the official public record of the Continental Congress. When the proceedings for 1776 were first published in 1777, the entry for July 4, 1776, stated that the Declaration was engrossed (the official copy was handwritten) and signed on that date.〔Warren, "Fourth of July Myths", 246; Burnett, ''Continental Congress'', 192.〕 In 1796, signer Thomas McKean disputed that the Declaration had been signed on July 4, pointing out that some signers were not then present, including several who were not even elected to Congress until after that date.〔Hazelton, ''Declaration History'', 299–302; Burnett, ''Continental Congress'', 192.〕 "()o person signed it on that day nor for many days after", he later wrote.〔Hazelton, ''Declaration History'', 302.〕 Although Jefferson and Adams disagreed with McKean, his claim gained support when the ''Secret Journals of Congress'' were published in 1821.〔Warren, "Fourth of July Myths", 243–45.〕 The ''Secret Journals'' contained two previously unpublished entries about the Declaration. The entry for July 19 reads: The entry for August 2 stated: In 1884, historian Mellen Chamberlain argued that these entries indicated that the famous signed version of the Declaration had been created following the July 19 resolution, and had not been signed by Congress until August 2.〔Warren, "Fourth of July Myths", 245–46.〕 Historian John Hazelton confirmed in 1906 that many of the signers had not been present in Congress on July 4, that the fifty-six signers had never been together as a group, and that some delegates must have added their signatures even after August 2.〔Hazelton, ''Declaration History'', 208–19; Wills, ''Inventing America'', 341.〕 While it is possible that Congress signed a document on July 4 that has since been lost, historians do not think that this is likely.〔Maier, ''American Scripture'', 150; Warren, "Fourth of July Myths", 242. Boyd (''Papers of Jefferson'', 1:306–08) believed that, despite historical consensus to the contrary, an informal signing on July 4, followed by a formal signing on August 2, was at least "plausible". Wills (''Inventing America'', 342–43) called Boyd's reasoning "farfetched", arguing that a July 4 signing "makes no sense".〕 Although most historians have accepted the argument that the Declaration was not signed on July 4, and that the engrossed copy was not created until after July 19, legal historian Wilfred Ritz wrote in 1986 that "the historians and scholars are wrong".〔Ritz, "Authentication", 179.〕 Ritz argued that the engrossed copy of the Declaration was signed by Congress on July 4, as Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin had stated, and that it was implausible that all three men had been mistaken.〔Ritz, "Authentication", 182.〕 Ritz believed that McKean's testimony was questionable,〔Ritz, "Authentication", 198–200.〕 and that historians had misinterpreted the July 19 resolution. According to Ritz, this resolution did not call for a new document to be created, but rather for the existing one to be given a new title, which was necessary after New York had joined the other twelve states in declaring independence. Ritz argued that the phrase "signed by every member of Congress" in the July 19 resolution meant that delegates who had not signed the Declaration on the 4th were now required to do so.〔Ritz, "Authentication", 190–200.〕 Ritz argued that about thirty-four delegates signed the Declaration on July 4, and that the others signed on or after August 2.〔Ritz, "Authentication", 194.〕 Historians who reject a July 4 signing maintain that most delegates signed on August 2, and that those eventual signers who were not present added their names later.〔Hazelton, ''Declaration History'', 208–19.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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