The Lee Resolution declared the American colonies independent 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 approved it on July 2, creating the formal political decision to separate from Great Britain.
Congress then spent two days debating and revising the Declaration of Independence, which explained the reasons for the break. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, the date that became the annual Independence Day observance and the central date of America250.
John Adams believed July 2 should eventually be celebrated as the great anniversary because it marked the decisive vote. History instead attached the holiday to the date printed on the Declaration. This distinction explains why July 2 and July 4 both appear in accounts of American independence.