<P> The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, with 12 of the 13 colonies voting in favor and New York abstaining . The date that the Declaration was signed has long been the subject of debate . Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that it was signed by Congress on the day when it was adopted on July 4, 1776 . That assertion is seemingly confirmed by the signed copy of the Declaration, which is dated July 4 . Additional support for the July 4 date is provided by the Journals of Congress, the official public record of the Continental Congress . The proceedings for 1776 were first published in 1777, and the entry for July 4 states that the Declaration was engrossed and signed on that date (the official copy was handwritten). </P> <P> In 1796, signer Thomas McKean disputed that the Declaration had been signed on July 4, pointing out that some signers were not present, including several who were not even elected to Congress until after that date . "No person signed it on that day nor for many days after", he wrote . His claim gained support when the Secret Journals of Congress were published in 1821 . The Secret Journals contained two previously unpublished entries about the Declaration . </P> <P> On July 15, New York's delegates got permission from their convention to agree to the Declaration . The Secret Journals entry for July 19 reads: </P> <P> Resolved That the Declaration passed on the 4th be fairly engrossed on parchment with the title and stile of "The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America" & that the same when engrossed be signed by every member of Congress . </P>

Who from new jersey signed the declaration of independence