Signers of Declaration of Independence (Part 1) Quiz

Answer:

The delegates representing New Jersey who signed the Declaration of Independence were Abraham Clark, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, John Witherspoon, and Richard Stockton.

=== Abraham Clark (1725-1794) was a surveyor and "poor man's counselor", someone who offered free advice and assistance with legal matters. He advocated for prisoners' rights; two of his sons were captured and tortured by the British. He would later become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
=== John Hart (1711-1779) was a farmer and legislator, whose home was raided by the British during the war. He would perish from exhaustion and exposure to the elements during all the time he spent fleeing and hiding from militias.
=== Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791) was a lawyer, musician, and artist, who was most likely the actual designer of the first American flag, known as the "Hopkinson flag"(sorry Betsy Ross). He later became first federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, appointed by President George Washington
=== Richard Stockton (1730-1781) was a prominent lawyer and Princeton trustee. He was the only signer from New Jersey who was captured by the British in 1776 and imprisoned and mistreated in the harsh conditions of Provost jail in New York City. It led to his early death.
=== John Witherspoon (1723-1794) was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey, which became Princeton University. He was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration, and later helped draft the Articles of Confederation, and supported the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Pennsylvania was the largest delegation and their representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence were George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Morton, George Ross, Benjamin Rush, James Smith, George Taylor, and James Wilson.

=== George Clymer (1739-1813) partnered with Robert Morris to use his own fortune to bankroll the Continental Army, even melting down his own silver to mint bullets. The wealthy merchant and politician served in the First Continental Congress (1774) helping to draft the Articles of Confederation, and later co-founded the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He is one of only six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Constitution.
=== The legendary elder statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was also a scientist, inventor, diplomat, printer, publisher, writer...what wasn't he is more the point. He was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence at 70 years old), and later on in 1778, he negotiated the Treaty of Alliance with France.
=== Robert Morris (1734-1806) was a statesman, but also a wealthy merchant and financier, known as the "Financier of the Revolution" using his personal wealth and business sense to secure loans and supplies. He raised over $1.4 million for the Continental Army's Yorktown campaign, helping pay troops and suppliers. He would later establish the Bank of North America (America's first central bank).
=== John Morton (1725-1777) was a farmer and legislator, who wound up casting the decisive Pennsylvania vote for independence. The Pennsylvania delegation was split on the vote as two delegates voted yes, two voted no, and two abstained. Morton was initially undecided, but then cast the deciding vote in favor of independence, ensuring Pennsylvania's support. John Morton died from tuberculosis In the spring of 1777, John Morton died at age 51 from tuberculosis, making him the first of the 56 signers to die.
=== George Ross (1730-1779) was a lawyer and judge, who served in the Pennsylvania provincial legislature, and was vice president of Pennsylvania's first constitutional convention. A committed advocate for American independence, he was also the uncle of John Ross who married Elizabeth Griscom, aka Betsy Ross.
=== Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), physician, social reformer, educator, and civic leader, pioneered mental health treatment, and was the only medical doctor to sign the Declaration of Independence. He also signed many abolitionist petitions. A trusted medical advisor to George Washington, Rush served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army's Middle Department during the Revolutionary War.
=== Lawyer and surveyor James Smith (1719-1806) was appointed to the Pennsylvania provincial convention in 1775 and the state constitutional convention in 1776, then elected to the Continental Congress. He would however, later oppose the U.S. Constitution, believing it created a government that was too centralized and powerful.
=== Born in Ireland, George Taylor (1716-1781) was one of the few signers who had been an indentured servant in his youth. He worked his way up in the iron industry, and became the only ironmaster to sign the Declaration of Independence, and as such, supported the War by producing cannonballs and munitions for the Continental Army at his ironworks.
=== James Wilson (1742-1798) was a lawyer, statesman, and constitutional theorist. A key architect of the U.S. Constitution, he is also one of only six men to sign both that document and the Declaration of Independence. He later became a Supreme Court Justice.

Amongst the wrong answers, Johnn Alsop was indeed a delegate to the Continental Congress, but the New York merchant did not sign the Declaration of Independence, because he favored reconciliation with Britain, and feared economic chaos from a revolution.

=== John Butler was a staunch British supporter and was a commander of Butler's Rangers, a Loyalist militia. The British landowner allied with Mohawk tribesman and was a fierce enemy of the signers. He was a staunch Loyalist (British Supporter).
=== George Clinton wasn't a delegate of the first continental Congress, but was elected by the Provincial Congress, to be one of New York's delegates to the Second Continental Congress. However, his role as brigadier general in New York's state militia, he missed many sessions of the Continental Congress. Although he supported American independence, he resigned his seat before New York's delegates voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence.
=== Thomas Hutchinson was the last civilian royal governor of Massachusetts and was a leading Loyalist who strongly opposed American independence and believed that the colonies should remain under the British Crown's rule.
=== Timothy Matlack (1736-1829) hand-calligraphed the official parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence, but did not sign it as he was not a delegate to the continental Congress. His parchment creation is now in the National Archives.
=== Anglican clergyman and Loyalist pamphleteer Samuel Seabury, opposed independence, defending British authority, arguing that argued that revolting was illegal, immoral, and destined to fail.