Philadelphia hosted the Second Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence, the founding event commemorated by America250.
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia beginning in May 1775, during the American Revolutionary War. Its delegates acted as the governing body for the thirteen colonies that declared independence from Great Britain.
Congress approved the Lee Resolution for independence on July 2, 1776, and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4. Philadelphia therefore became central to the founding story remembered during the United States Semiquincentennial.
The city is also home to Independence Hall, where the Declaration and later the U.S. Constitution were debated and adopted. A common mix-up is confusing Philadelphia with Washington, D.C., which became the national capital much later, in 1800.