Research Highlights

"Devoted to his country's cause, The rights of Man and equal laws, His hallow'd pen was given; And now those rights and laws to save, From sinking to an early grave, He comes, employ'd by Heaven. - "The People's Friend", Lyrics by Rembrandt Peale, music...

56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. Signing began on August 2, 1776, but not every delegate signed at that time. Virginia delegates George Wythe and Richard Henry Lee signed later in the fall. Elbridge Gerry and Oliver Wolcott signed later, as...

The Declaration of Independence was an act of treason. The men that signed the parchment Declaration of Independence, now in the National Archives, were literally pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They knew that their support of an act of...