The Lee Resolution was the 1776 resolution that declared the United Colonies independent from Great Britain.
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced the resolution in the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776. Its central proposal stated that the colonies should be free and independent states, separated from British rule.
Congress approved the independence resolution on July 2, two days before adopting the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration served as a public explanation of the decision, listing grievances against King George III and presenting arguments for separation.
The two dates are therefore related but distinct. July 2 was the date Congress resolved on independence, while July 4 was the date it approved the Declaration’s final wording. John Adams even predicted that July 2 would be remembered as the great anniversary, but July 4 ultimately became the national holiday.