Conservatives love preaching to us about the Founding Fathers. For Independence Day, Far-right Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted (Xed):
“The average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 was 44 years old, but more than a dozen were 35 or younger:
Thomas Jefferson: 33
John Hancock: 39
James Madison: 25
Alexander Hamilton: 21
James Monroe: 18
Aaron Burr: 20
Paul Revere: 41
George Washington: 44.”
But only Jefferson and Hancock actually signed the document. The other six didn’t. And why didn’t she list them all? An article by Talia Jane at the The New Republic on July 8, 2024 is titled
Marjorie Taylor Greene Roasted After Flunking Basic History Lesson. And another article by James Bickerton at Newsweek on July 10, 2024 is titled Marjorie Taylor Greene Trashed by Historians over Independence Declaration Claim.
There is a web page at the National Archives titled Signers of the Declaration of Independence that lists ages (and occupations) for all 56 signers. Their mean age is 44.52. Thirteen were 35 or younger, as Marjorie claimed:
Samuel Chase: 35
Elbridge Gerry: 32
Thomas Heyward Jr.: 30
William Hooper: 34
Thomas Jefferson: 33
Thomas Lynch Jr.: 26
Arthur Middleton: 34
William Paca: 35
Dr. Benjamin Rush: 30
Edward Rutledge: 26
Thomas Stone: 33
George Walton: 35
James Wilson: 33
Divided into ten-year ranges, and listed alphabetically they are as follows:
25 to 34: 10
Elbridge Gerry: 32
Thomas Hayward Jr.: 30
Willian Hooper: 34
Thomas Jefferson: 33
Thomas Lynch Jr.: 26
Arthur Middleton: 34
Dr. Benjamin Rush: 30
Edward Rutledge: 26
Thomas Stone: 33
James Wilson: 33
35 to 44: 18
John Adams: 40
Carter Braxton: 39
Charles Carroll of Carrolton: 38
Samuel Chase: 35
George Clymer: 37
William Floyd: 41
Button Gwinnett: 41
John Hancock: 40
Francis Hopkinson:38
Francis Lightfoot Lee: 41
Richard Henry Lee: 44
Thomas McKean: 42
Robert Morris: 42
Thomas Nelson Jr.: 37
William Paca: 35
John Penn: 36
George Read: 42
George Walton: 35
45 to 54: 19
Samuel Adams: 53
Josiah Bartlett: 46
Abraham Clark: 50
William Ellery: 48
Lyman Hall: 52
Benjamin Harrison: 50
Joseph Hewes: 46
Samuel Huntington: 45
Lewis Morris: 50
John Morton: 52
Robert Treat Paine: 45
Caesar Rodney: 47
George Ross: 46
Robert Stockton: 45
William Whipple: 46
William Williams: 45
John Witherspoon: 53
Oliver Wolcott: 49
George Wythe: 50
55 to 64: 6
Francis Lewis: 63
Philip Livingston: 60
Roger Sherman: 55
James Smith: 57
George Taylor: 60
Matthew Thornton: 62
65 or more: 3
Benjamin Franklin: 70
John Hart: 65
Stephen Hopkins: 69
So 28 were aged 26 to 44, while the other 28 were aged 45 to 70.
An image of the Declaration came from Wikimedia Commons.
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