Signing of the Constitution of the United States

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952): Christy's Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States is a painting depicting members of the Constitutional Convention, painted in 1940. In the portrait, George Washington, who presided over the convention, is the figure standing on the dais. The other central figures of the portrait are Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison. The work is located in the U.S. Capitol.

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III in NYC

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel's painting ‘Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, NYC’, ca 1859, depicts citizens destroying a statue of King George after the Declaration of Independence was read in New York City on July 9, 1776.

The United States Declaration of Independence

This is an 1823-facsimile of the engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, created on June-July 1776 and ratified on July 4, 1776. The location of Engrossed copy is at the National Archives and the rough draft is at Library of Congress. It is signed by 56 delegates to the Continental Congress to announce and explain separation of the United States from Great Britain.

The United States Declaration of Independence announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain became independent and thus were no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, over a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The US Independence Day is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.

To read the Declaration, click on the image and use the magnified version.

US $2 bill featuring Declaration of Independence

This US $2 bill features 40 of the 47 figures from John Trumbull's 1919 painting, ‘Declaration of Independence’. Two other unknown person’s figures are superimposed in the engraving in between Samuel Chase and Lewis Morris and between James Wilson and Francis Hopkinson, bringing the total number of figures on the reverse of the two-dollar bill to 42. John Dickinson is painted in the portrait, but was not actually present at the signing of the declaration.

USA: Declaration of Independence

Image: John Trumbull's 1919 painting, ‘Declaration of Independence’, depicts the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress. Artist: John Trumbull, Type: oil-on-canvas; Dimensions: 365.76 cm x 548.64 cm (144 in x 216 in); Location: United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., United States of America

File: dimension: 1600 x 1051, size: 170 KB (Original: 3000 x 1970; size: 5.16 MB). Click on the image for a larger view.

John Trumbull's oil painting ‘Declaration of Independence’ is in the United States Capitol Rotunda. It depicts the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Congress, an event that took place on June 28, 1776. The oil-on-canvas painting was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the rotunda in 1826.

The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration. Trumbull wanted to include all 56 signers, but was unable to obtain likenesses for all of them. Because the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time, the membership in the Congress changed and the men in the painting had never all been in the same room at the same time.