Which newspaper first reported Congress’s approval of the Lee Resolution?

The Pennsylvania Evening Post first reported Congress’s approval of the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776. Its report announced that the Continental Congress had declared the United Colonies free and independent states.

The newspaper was published in Philadelphia, where the Second Continental Congress was meeting. News of the resolution appeared that evening, making the report an early public account of the formal independence decision.

The Pennsylvania Gazette followed with a report the next day. This distinction matters because both newspapers are associated with the announcement, but the Evening Post published first. The report concerned the Lee Resolution, not the later approval and printing of the Declaration of Independence.