The Second Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776, preceding America’s 250th anniversary.
The resolution stated that the United Colonies were free and independent states. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced it on June 7, 1776, after Virginia’s legislature instructed its delegates to propose independence. Congress debated the proposal before voting for it on July 2.
John Adams regarded July 2 as the date likely to be remembered as American independence day. In practice, July 4 became the celebrated date because Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on that day. The Declaration supplied a public explanation and justification for the decision already expressed in the Lee Resolution.
This distinction explains why July 2 and July 4 both appear in accounts of independence. The 2026 semiquincentennial is conventionally observed on July 4, while the July 2 vote marks the formal congressional decision to separate from Great Britain.