The Declaration of Independence was adopted in Philadelphia, linking the city directly to America250.
The Second Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall. On July 4, 1776, delegates approved the final wording of the Declaration there. Philadelphia was then the largest and one of the most important cities in the British North American colonies.
The city’s role did not end with the Declaration. Philadelphia hosted the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and the new federal government operated there temporarily during the 1790s. Independence Hall and nearby historic sites now form part of Independence National Historical Park.
Washington, D.C., is the modern capital and home of the National Archives, but it did not exist in 1776. Boston and New York were also important revolutionary centers, yet the adoption of the Declaration occurred in Philadelphia.