Which body adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, setting the historical focus of America250?

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The congress was a gathering of delegates from the thirteen American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Meeting in Philadelphia, it acted as the revolutionary government and directed the war effort against Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, it approved the final wording of the Declaration.

The Declaration announced that the colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states. Its adoption is the historical event at the center of the United States Semiquincentennial, which commemorates 250 years since that break with Britain.

The First Continental Congress is a frequent wrong answer because it met earlier, in 1774, to coordinate colonial resistance. The Constitutional Convention came later, in 1787, and drafted the U.S. Constitution. The Second Continental Congress therefore has the specific connection to the 1776 Declaration.