The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

On view in the American Art before 1900 galleries

John Trumbull began The Declaration of Independence in Paris, probably at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson, who provided a firsthand account of the event. In consultation with Jefferson, Trumbull portrayed the moment when the appointed committee submitted Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration for the Continental Congress’s consideration. All five men—John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin—present the document to John Hancock, rather than Jefferson alone, which would have been historically accurate. The painting also depicts all congressmen, including those who were not actually present or who opposed the Declaration and did not sign. In creating this romanticized interpretation of recent American history, Trumbull felt his primary goal was not absolute truth but, rather, authenticity for the portraits; he spent thirty-four years obtaining the delegates’ likenesses.