Which body approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the founding document honored by America250?

The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the founding document honored by America250.

The congress met in Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War. It served as the governing body for the Thirteen Colonies and later directed the revolutionary war effort. On July 4, 1776, its delegates unanimously approved the final text of the Declaration.

The document explained why the colonies were separating from Great Britain and presented political and philosophical arguments for independence. It followed the Lee Resolution, which Congress passed on July 2 to declare the colonies free and independent states.

The First Continental Congress had met in 1774 to coordinate a colonial response to British policies, but it did not declare independence. The Constitutional Convention met a decade later, in 1787, to draft the United States Constitution. These bodies are often grouped together in accounts of the founding era, but they had different purposes and dates.