Richard Henry Lee introduced the resolution declaring the colonies independent.
Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, presented his independence resolution on June 7, 1776. It proposed that the colonies should be declared free and independent states, that political ties with Britain should end, and that a plan for foreign alliances and government should be prepared.
Congress postponed the final vote while a committee worked on the wording of a formal declaration. On July 2, Congress approved the independence resolution. Two days later, it adopted the Declaration of Independence explaining the decision.
Lee is sometimes confused with Thomas Jefferson because Jefferson wrote the Declaration's main draft. Their roles were different: Lee introduced the political resolution, while Jefferson drafted the explanatory document that Congress later adopted.