The Lee Resolution formally declared the American colonies independent on July 2, 1776.
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced the resolution in the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776. It stated that the colonies were “free and independent States” and should be released from allegiance to the British Crown. Congress approved the independence resolution on July 2.
The Declaration of Independence followed as a public explanation of that decision. Congress adopted its final wording on July 4, which is why Independence Day is celebrated on that date. John Adams believed July 2 would become the principal anniversary, but July 4 became the enduring national holiday.
The Lee Resolution is therefore an important America250 distinction: the legal-political decision for independence and the later publication of its justification were separate events. The resolution’s name comes from Richard Henry Lee, not from Thomas Jefferson, who drafted most of the Declaration’s text.