The Declaration of Independence was adopted in Independence Hall, the historic Philadelphia building remembered by America250.
When the Declaration was adopted in 1776, the building was called the Pennsylvania State House. It housed Pennsylvania’s colonial legislature and served as the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress. The structure was later renamed Independence Hall because of its association with the Declaration and the United States Constitution.
The building is part of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. It is also linked to the Constitutional Convention, which met there in 1787 and produced the United States Constitution. This makes Independence Hall significant for both the country’s declaration of independence and the creation of its federal governing framework.
Carpenters’ Hall is another important Philadelphia Revolutionary-era site, but the First Continental Congress met there in 1774. Federal Hall in New York City is associated with the first Congress under the Constitution. Those nearby historical connections can make the locations easy to confuse.