Which congress adopted the United States Declaration of Independence, the document commemorated by America250?

The Second Continental Congress adopted the United States Declaration of Independence.

The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War. On July 4, 1776, it unanimously adopted the Declaration, which announced that the thirteen colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states rather than parts of the British Empire.

The First Continental Congress had met in 1774 to coordinate colonial resistance to British policies, but it did not declare independence. The later Congress took responsibility for the war effort, diplomacy, finances, and the formal decision to separate from Great Britain.

The Declaration was debated and revised before adoption. Thomas Jefferson wrote the original draft, while Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston served with him on the Committee of Five. Most delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, a date often confused with the July 4 adoption date celebrated by Independence Day.