The Second Continental Congress adopted the United States Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776.
Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House, a building now known as Independence Hall. On July 4, 1776, delegates approved the final wording of the declaration, which announced that the Thirteen Colonies were independent from Great Britain.
Philadelphia was the meeting place of both the First and Second Continental Congresses for much of their work. The city was a major political and publishing center in the colonies, making it a natural location for debates, resolutions, and the printing of the declaration.
A common mix-up concerns the declaration’s adoption and signing. Congress adopted the document in the Pennsylvania State House, while most historians place the primary signing of the engrossed copy on August 2, 1776. The famous document is now preserved at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.