Presidential Image Gallery Presidents George WashingtonJohn AdamsThomas JeffersonJames MadisonJames MonroeJohn Quincy AdamsAndrew JacksonMartin Van BurenWilliam HarrisonJohn TylerJames K. PolkZachary TaylorMillard FillmoreFranklin PierceJames BuchananAbraham LincolnAndrew JohnsonUlysses S. GrantRutherford B. HayesJames A. GarfieldChester A. ArthurGrover ClevelandBenjamin HarrisonWilliam McKinleyTheodore RooseveltWilliam TaftWoodrow WilsonWarren G. HardingCalvin CoolidgeHerbert HooverFranklin D. RooseveltHarry S. TrumanDwight D. EisenhowerJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonRichard NixonGerald FordJimmy CarterRonald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushBill ClintonGeorge W. BushBarack ObamaDonald Trump Adams and the Declaration of Independence July 04, 1776 Source: The Library of Congress In June 1776, the Continental Congress appointed John Adams, center, together with Thomas Jefferson, standing, and Benjamin Franklin, left, among others, to prepare the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration, which announced the colonies’ independence from Britain, was signed and passed on July 4, 1776, by delegates representing all of the thirteen colonies. ← Return to John Adams Gallery← Return to Thomas Jefferson Gallery