5 Forgotten Signers of the Declaration of Independence | Intellectual Takeout

5 Forgotten Signers of the Declaration of Independence | Intellectual Takeout
"On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress made a momentous decision: it voted to “dissolve the connection” with Great Britain.
The war had entered a new stage and everyone knew it.
“We are in the very midst of a revolution,” John Adams wrote, “the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable of any in the history of nations.”
We celebrate the Declaration of Independence today, but the men signing it knew they could be signing their own death warrants. 

Bear in mind, up until July 1776, the conflict had been relatively tame. 

But by putting their name to a document declaring independence, the signers were committing public treason. 

There was no going back. If the colonies failed, they would likely hang. 

But they signed, putting their lives and fortunes at risk.
Many of the names of the signatories are familiar to us. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, future presidents. 

John Hancock, president of the congress and the first man to sign the Declaration. Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, members of the prestigious Virginia family. 

There was, of course, Ben Franklin, America’s renaissance man. Dr. Benjamin Rush, the enlightened surgeon. 

Other names—Livingston, Gerry, Morris, Wythe, etc.—are also familiar, if vaguely so.
But what about the rest? 

Fifty-six delegates signed the Declaration of Independence (probably on Aug. 2, 1776, but possibly on July 4, or a combination of the two dates). Who were they?
The majority of names on the Declaration mean nothing to us, or almost nothing. 

They are forgotten to all but historians, history buffs, and a smattering of people claiming lineage to a signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

In many cases, they were men equally great or close to it. 

Here are five you may not be familiar with:

1. John Witherspoon (1723–1794)

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