On what date did the United States Declaration of Independence pass in 1776?

The United States Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.

The Second Continental Congress approved the document in Philadelphia after debating a draft prepared mainly by Thomas Jefferson. Its adoption formally announced that the thirteen colonies regarded themselves as independent states rather than possessions governed by Great Britain.

July 4 is celebrated as Independence Day because it marks the congressional adoption of the Declaration. The date is sometimes confused with July 2, 1776, when Congress passed the Lee Resolution declaring that the colonies were free and independent states. It is also confused with August 2, when most delegates signed the engrossed parchment copy.

The Declaration did not end the Revolutionary War; fighting continued until the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Its opening political principles, including natural rights and government by consent, later became central to American civic identity and made July 4 the symbolic date commemorated by America250.