Which 1776 document is commemorated by the United States Semiquincentennial?

The United States Semiquincentennial commemorates the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.

Congress formally adopted the resolution for independence on July 2, 1776, and approved the Declaration's final text on July 4. The document announced that the 13 American colonies regarded themselves as independent states rather than part of the British Empire.

Thomas Jefferson drafted the document, with assistance and revision from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Its opening explanation of natural rights and government became one of the most widely recognized statements in American political history.

The semiquincentennial is therefore an anniversary of independence, not the Constitution's adoption in 1787 or the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Declaration was signed by delegates over a period beginning in August 1776, so adoption, public release, and signing are related but separate events.