The Declaration of Independence declared the thirteen colonies independent on July 4, 1776.
The Second Continental Congress adopted the document in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson wrote the principal draft, while Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and others edited it. The declaration explained why the colonies were separating from Great Britain and presented independence as a political and philosophical claim.
Congress voted for independence on July 2, but the final wording was approved and announced on July 4. That distinction causes a common mix-up: July 2 was the independence vote, while July 4 became the celebrated national date. Most delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, rather than on July 4.
The document’s opening principles, including the idea that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed, made it influential far beyond the Revolutionary War. America250 commemorates the 250th anniversary of the declaration in 2026.