The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The document announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as independent states separated from Great Britain. Congress voted for independence on July 2, but the Declaration’s adopted text was dated July 4, the date celebrated as Independence Day.
A common mix-up concerns signing. Many delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, although some signatures were added later. Thus July 4 is the adoption and commemorative date, not the date on which every signer put a name on the parchment.
America250 commemorated 250 years from the 1776 declaration. The National Archives preserves the engrossed Declaration in Washington, D.C., alongside the Constitution and Bill of Rights.