The Second Continental Congress adopted the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776.
Proposed by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee, the resolution declared that the United Colonies were free and independent states and no longer politically connected to Great Britain. Congress approved the independence portion after weeks of debate and efforts to secure instructions from the colonial governments.
The Declaration of Independence followed two days later. Its purpose was to explain and justify the decision that the Lee Resolution had made. July 4 therefore became the better-known anniversary date, even though July 2 was the formal date of the independence vote.
John Adams famously predicted that July 2 would become the great anniversary festival, but public celebrations instead centered on July 4. The signing of the engrossed Declaration is also associated with August 2, another date often confused with the resolution’s adoption.