The United States Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
The Second Continental Congress approved the final text in Philadelphia after debating Thomas Jefferson’s draft and revisions proposed by other delegates. The document formally explained why the thirteen colonies were separating from Great Britain and asserted that they were becoming free and independent states.
July 4 marks adoption of the Declaration, but several nearby dates are often confused. Congress voted for independence through the Lee Resolution on July 2, while the engrossed parchment was signed primarily on August 2. The Declaration was also read publicly in several communities on July 8. These events all belong to the same dramatic sequence, but July 4 became the date celebrated as Independence Day.
The document’s title originally referred to a unanimous declaration by the thirteen United States. Its famous opening principles, including equality and unalienable rights, later became central reference points in American political history and are especially prominent in anniversary discussions such as America250.