Congress approved the Lee Resolution declaring independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776.
Introduced by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee, the resolution stated that the United Colonies should be free and independent states. The Second Continental Congress passed it after the colonies debated whether to sever their political ties with the British Crown.
Two days later, on July 4, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, a formal explanation of the reasons for separation. This distinction explains why July 4 became the national holiday even though the legal independence resolution came on July 2. John Adams believed July 2 would be remembered as the great anniversary, but history followed the date printed on the Declaration.
The Lee Resolution was not the same as the Declaration’s text. It established the decision to declare independence; the Declaration justified and announced that decision in a widely circulated document.