The Second Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution before America250’s anniversary date in 1776.
Introduced by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee, the resolution declared that the United Colonies should be free and independent states. Congress passed it on July 2, 1776, two days before adopting the Declaration of Independence. That sequence is why some historians note that the legal vote for independence occurred on July 2, even though the national holiday is July 4.
The Declaration of Independence explained and justified the break with Great Britain, while the Lee Resolution supplied the formal decision to pursue independence. The Declaration’s famous opening and list of grievances gave the political action a public argument and broad ideological framework.
The resolution’s wording is often confused with the Declaration itself. They were related but separate congressional actions. America250 commemorated the independence tradition primarily on July 4, the date printed on the Declaration and established in public memory as Independence Day.