What founding document does America250 commemorate on its 250th anniversary in 2026?

America250 commemorates the Declaration of Independence on the document’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776. It announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states rather than territories subject to British rule.

Thomas Jefferson drafted the initial text, while Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston helped revise it as the Committee of Five. Congress debated and edited the document before approving its final wording.

The Declaration is often treated as the nation’s founding document, but it did not create the later federal government. The Articles of Confederation provided the first national framework, and the Constitution replaced that arrangement in 1789. America250 specifically centers on the 1776 declaration and the independence it proclaimed.