The Pennsylvania State House hosted the Second Continental Congress when it adopted the Declaration of Independence; the building is now called Independence Hall.
The State House stood in Philadelphia, which served as the meeting place of the Continental Congress during the crucial months of 1776. Congress debated independence there, approved the Declaration on July 4, and later used the building for other major founding-era proceedings.
The name Independence Hall became associated with the building because of these events. It was originally known as the Pennsylvania State House, a name that appears in accounts of the Declaration’s adoption and early public readings.
The building is also connected with the United States Constitution, which was drafted and signed there in 1787. That overlapping history makes Independence Hall one of the most important surviving sites linked to both the 1776 independence milestone and the constitutional founding that followed.