 In addition, some historians believe that the Declaration was not signed on July 4, as shown in "1776", but was instead signed on August 2, 1776.Others point out that the final, official copy of the document was signed by the delegates not on a single date, but over several weeks and months, commencing in July but not being completed until as late as September.The authors of "1776" had the delegates sign the Declaration on July 4 for dramatic reasons.