The Lee Resolution was the independence resolution passed on July 2, 1776, before the Declaration of Independence.
Introduced by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee, the resolution stated that the United Colonies should be free and independent states. The Second Continental Congress approved it on July 2, two days before approving the Declaration’s explanatory text.
The Declaration did not itself begin the congressional decision to seek independence; it announced and justified a decision already taken through the Lee Resolution. John Adams believed July 2 would become the celebrated independence date, but July 4 became dominant because it was printed on the Declaration and associated with its adoption.
This distinction is a frequent source of confusion in accounts of America250. July 2 marks Congress’s formal independence decision, while July 4 marks approval of the Declaration. Both actions occurred in Philadelphia during the same revolutionary debate.