Philadelphia is the historical birthplace of the Declaration of Independence commemorated by America250. The Second Continental Congress met there, and the Declaration was adopted in the city in 1776.
Philadelphia was the largest city in British North America during much of the colonial period and served as an important center of commerce, printing, and political debate. The city’s Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall, hosted both the Declaration debates and the Constitutional Convention.
Boston played a major role in the opening stages of the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. New York City was an important wartime and early national capital, while Washington, D.C., became the permanent federal capital later. None of those cities was the site where Congress adopted the Declaration.