The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, the city at the center of the 2026 America250 story.
Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall. On July 4, 1776, delegates approved the Declaration after debating the language and the decision to separate from Great Britain.
Philadelphia was the meeting place of the Continental Congress during the critical early stages of independence. It was also where the Declaration received its first public readings on July 8, 1776, after printed copies circulated.
Washington, D.C., is often associated with national anniversaries because it is the modern capital, but it did not exist as the federal capital in 1776. New York and Boston were important Revolutionary-era cities, yet neither hosted the congressional adoption of the Declaration. Philadelphia’s Independence Hall remains the specific historic site connected with that action.