America250 commemorates July 4, 1776, the date the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The Congress met in Philadelphia while the Thirteen Colonies were breaking political ties with Great Britain. It approved the Declaration after adopting the Lee Resolution, which formally announced independence on July 2. The Declaration then explained the reasons for that decision and presented the colonies as free and independent states.
July 4 became the date associated with American independence because it appears on the official engrossed document and marks its adoption. The main signing ceremony probably occurred later, primarily on August 2, although the precise signing timeline has long been debated.
America250 uses the 1776 adoption date as the central anniversary milestone. The observance is therefore tied to the Declaration’s adoption, not to the later ratification of the Constitution or the end of the Revolutionary War.