The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, the city at the center of the America250 origin story.
The Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House, a building later renamed Independence Hall. On July 4, 1776, delegates approved the final wording of the Declaration, which announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states.
Philadelphia was the meeting place of the Continental Congress and an important political and publishing center during the American Revolution. The Declaration was debated and edited there before being sent to printer John Dunlap for broadside publication.
Boston is strongly associated with the opening conflicts of the Revolution, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Boston Tea Party. Williamsburg was Virginia's colonial capital, while New York City later became the first capital under the U.S. Constitution. None of those cities hosted the adoption of the Declaration.