Which document’s 250th anniversary is commemorated by America250?

America250 commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.

The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776. The document announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as independent states and explained the political principles used to justify separation from Great Britain.

Thomas Jefferson drafted the principal text, working with the Committee of Five. The committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Congress debated and revised the draft before adopting it.

A common mix-up is to treat the Declaration and the Constitution as the same founding document. They are not. The Declaration announced independence in 1776; the Constitution, drafted in 1787 and effective in 1789, established the federal government’s framework. America250 is centered on the 1776 declaration and the independence milestone it represents.