The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July, 4, 1776. Influenced by Enlightenment ideals of fundamental rights and freedoms, it provided both the foundation and the guiding principles for the new nation. On July 19, 1776, Congress ordered that the Declaration be engrossed on parchment—copied and written into large hand. On August 2, 1776, members of the Second Continental Congress, including John Hancock, the President of the Congress, began signing the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. There would eventually be 56 signers of the document. Many of their portraits are in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
