The Lee Resolution declared the Thirteen Colonies independent before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced the proposal in the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776. Its central motion stated that the colonies should be free and independent states, severing their political connection with Great Britain. Congress approved the independence resolution on July 2, 1776.
The Declaration of Independence followed as a public explanation of that decision. A five-member committee selected Thomas Jefferson to draft the text, which Congress revised and adopted on July 4. The two dates therefore describe different steps: July 2 was the formal independence vote, while July 4 marked adoption of the Declaration.
The resolution is named for Lee, although the decision was made by Congress rather than by him acting alone. Remembering the Lee Resolution helps distinguish the legal-political decision to separate from the document that announced and justified it.