The United States Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.
The Second Continental Congress approved the final wording on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. The document announced that the Thirteen Colonies considered themselves free and independent states rather than colonies subject to the British Crown. Its famous arguments about natural rights and the right to change an unjust government gave the political decision a formal explanation.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the initial draft after Congress appointed a Committee of Five consisting of Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Congress revised Jefferson’s text during late June and early July, including removing a passage criticizing the transatlantic slave trade.
A frequent confusion concerns July 2 and August 2. Congress voted for independence through the Lee Resolution on July 2, while it approved the Declaration’s final text on July 4. Most delegates signed the engrossed parchment copy primarily on August 2. Independence Day nevertheless commemorates July 4 because that is the date attached to the adopted declaration and its public publication.