Were their any Catholic signers to the Declaration of Independence?
Catholics participated in the Constitutional Convention that drew up the original Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. Two of the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution were Catholic citizens of considerable distinction and influence in their communities. In the nature of things, they had to be rather outstanding because they represented overwhelmingly Protestant states. These two were Daniel Carroll, of Maryland, and Thomas Fitzsimmons, of Pennsylvania. Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was originally chosen to represent Maryland, but declined the appointment, because as a member of the state legislature of Maryland he felt that he ought to stay at home in order to attend to the business of the legislature, particularly to work against a threatened issue of paper money by the state. While it is of no great significance, perhaps it is interesting to note that, while there were only two Catholic signers of the Constitution and thirty-seven no
