Congress approved the final text of the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The date is the foundation of Independence Day and the reason America250 is scheduled for July 4, 2026. Congress had already voted for independence through the Lee Resolution on July 2, but it spent additional time debating and editing the Declaration’s wording.
The distinction between July 2, July 4, and August 2 causes frequent confusion. July 2 marked Congress’s independence resolution; July 4 marked approval of the Declaration’s final text; and August 2 was the primary date when delegates signed the engrossed parchment copy.
The final document explained the colonies’ reasons for separating from Great Britain and asserted that they were free and independent states. Its adoption, rather than the later signing process, is the event commemorated by the July 4 anniversary.