Twelve colonies voted "unanimously" on 2 July, 1776, with NY abstaining, to resolve that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States" and on 4 July, the
Declaration of Independence was adopted by congress.
A committee was chosen on 11 June, earlier that year, to draft what became the declaration of independence in case it would become needed.
The committee consisted of
Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin,
Roger Sherman, and
Robert R. Livingston.
The first draft was written by
Thomas Jefferson who was a respected political philosopher. Later it was revised by the committee. The revisions included expanding the charges against the king of England,
deleting a portion that condemned British people,
deleting a reference to "Scotch & foreign mercenaries",
and deleting the portion that denounced the African slave trade
(reasons being the trades and origins of some of the delegates).
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
State
Name Ethnic origin Religion Occupation represented
John Hancock English Congregational Merchant MA
Button Gwinnett English Episcopal Merchant GA
Lyman Hall English Congregational Physician GA
George Walton English Episcopal Mechanic-Lawyer GA
William Hooper English Congregational Lawyer NC
Joseph Hewes English Episcopal Merchant NC
John Penn English Episcopal Lawyer NC
Edward Rutledge English Episcopal Planter-Lawyer SC
Thomas Heyward, Jr. English Episcopal Lawyer SC
Thomas Lynch, Jr. Irish-Dutch-English Episcopal Lawyer SC
Arthur Middleton English Episcopal Planter SC
Samuel Chase English Episcopal Lawyer MD
William Paca Italian-English Episcopal Lawyer MD
Thomas Stone English Episcopal Lawyer MD
Charles Carroll of Carrollton Irish Roman Catholic Planter MD
George Whyte English Episcopal Lawyer VA
Richard Henry Lee English Episcopal Planter VA
Thomas Jefferson English Episcopal Planter-Lawyer VA
Benjamin Harrison English Episcopal Planter VA
Thomas Nelson, Jr. Scottish-English Episcopal Merchant-Planter VA
Francis Lightfoot Lee English Episcopal Planter VA
Carter Braxton English Episcopal Planter VA
Robert Morris English Episcopal Merchant PA
Benjamin Rush English Epis., Presb. Physician PA
Benjamin Franklin English Deist Printer PA
John Morton Swedish-English Episcopal Farmer PA
George Clymer English Episcopal Merchant PA
James Smith Scotch-Irish Epis., Presb. Lawyer PA
George Taylor Scotch-Irish Episcopal Ironmaster PA
James Wilson Scottish Presbyterian Lawyer PA
George Ross Scottish Episcopal Lawyer PA
Caesar Rodney English Episcopal Planter DE
George Read Irish-Welsh Episcopal Lawyer DE
Thomas McKean Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Lawyer DE
William Floyd Welsh-English Presbyterian Landowner NY
Philip Livingston Dutch-Scottish Presbyterian Merchant NY
Francis Lewis Welsh Episcopal Merchant NY
Lewis Morris English-Dutch Episcopal Landowner NY
Richard Stockton English Presbyterian Lawyer NJ
John Witherspoon Scottish Presbyterian Clergyman NJ
Francis Hopkinson English Episcopal Lawyer-Writer NJ
John Hart English Baptist Farmer NJ
Abraham Clark English Presbyterian Surveyor NJ
Josiah Bartlett English Congregational Physician-Judge NH
William Whipple English Congregational Merchant-Judge NH
Matthew Thornton Scotch-Irish Congregational Physician NH
Samuel Adams English Congregational Politician MA
John Adams English Unitarian Lawyer MA
Robert Treat Paine English Unitarian Lawyer MA
Elbridge Gerry English Episcopal Merchant MA
Sephen Hopkins English Quaker Surveyor-Merchant RI
William Ellery English Congregational Lawyer RI
Roger Sherman English Congregational Cobbler-Lawyer CT
Samuel Huntington English Congregational Lawyer CT
William Williams English Congregational Merchant CT
Oliver Wolcott English Congregational Lawyer CT
Source: Encyclopædia Britannica, volume 7. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc, 1965.