America250 commemorates July 4, 1776, as the date associated with the United States’ Independence Day.
On that day, the Second Continental Congress adopted the final wording of the Declaration of Independence. The document announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as independent states rather than parts of the British Empire. Although the declaration was approved on July 4, fighting in the American Revolutionary War had already begun more than a year earlier.
A common mix-up concerns July 2. Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, and John Adams believed that date would become the main annual celebration. However, the formal declaration was dated July 4, and that date became the enduring national holiday. The document was not signed by every delegate on July 4; the major signing ceremony took place on August 2, 1776.
America250 marks 250 years from this 1776 milestone, making July 4, 2026, the semiquincentennial Independence Day.